I always knew it was bad, but never this bad. The #RMS resignation from #FSF seems to have shaken loose all the conspiracy theorists and devotees. Its mailing lists and forums are full of them, still distracting from the public charitable interest of the non-profit.
So many blinded by hero worship that they don't realize the viral poison said hero had on the #FreeSoftware movement. The immaturity of these folks is arguably the biggest blocker of software freedom from widespread adoption.
1/2
@downey Many of us knew these folks existed. My experiences with them have included the following:
1. Being called a "bad soldier" for not supporting some action RMS wanted to do during a protest.
2. Seeing someone from the above mentioned group on TV as part of a study on cults
3. I talked about some problematic stuff by the SFLC and was called a Microsoft shill and other such names
(...)
That's a burn.
@emacsen @downey Ouch :-/ I contributed to Trisquel for a few months this year. Decided to leave as, like with the FSF, the visible public discussion is often full of extreme views, conspiracy theories, and is extremely unwelcoming to people who don’t share the same thoughts. The people doing the work on the project are friendly, and pleasant to interact with - but they are few, and the hostility of the forum is certainly reducing uptake and involvement.
@downey
4. One Free Software supporter I met in the early 2000s told me that he went into the phone book and cold called people to talk to them about Free Software
5. Another Free Software supporter I met in DC told me he called offices of Congresspeople and told them they should switch to Linux
These kinds of actions don't progress our movement forward. I pointed out the problematic behavior to RMS who said that he was glad they existed because they made him seem more moderate.