On 09/04/2021 08:37, John Darrington wrote: > > Nobody is suggesting that RMS should be regarded by everyone or indeed > anyone as "mein Führer". I think he would be very much concerned if anyone > tried to confer a cult hero status on him. > > Sooner or later, if for no reason other than his age, RMS will have to step > down as leader of GNU. Rather than calling for his head on a block it > would be more constructive to think to the future. Unfortunately to date, > I have not seen anyone who in my opinion would have the qualities necessary > to take over the role. >
And I don't think people (at least, not many) are "calling for his head". My thought is that he should be encouraged to step down from all his positions within GNU, FSF, gcc, and any other projects he is involved with. Retire now, while he can do so with dignity and without harm to the free and open source software worlds. It is only if it is left too late that people will be /forced/ to call for his head. You can be very sure that complaints about his behaviour and attitudes will not diminish - they will grow, and the result will not be good for RMS, GNU, gcc, users, developers, or anyone else except the sellers of tabloid newspapers. I would rather see him leave quietly now with respect, than be hounded out later and his statues pulled down - along with the careers and reputations of many who work with him. (I am not saying that such a destruction would be correct or appropriate - I am saying it will happen in the end if the free software community is not careful.) (I agree that there are few, if any, people who had the qualities of RMS to do the job he did. But IMHO that role is over - we don't need someone to fill his shoes.) David Brown
