The fact that he even uses the term "adversaries" in this post is disheartening. It's really disappointing that someone who could potentially be such a force for good in the world gets derailed by what is basically tribalism.
Two parties can disagree on 99% of their beliefs, yet still find ways to come together on the 1% that they happen to agree on. These parties can work together to each others' mutual benefit, and the world is better for it. But nooooooooo, not RMS. He has to demonize anyone who is not 100% in lockstep with him on everything, to everyone's detriment, and throw his "adversaries" into a trash bin labelled "Others".
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's easy to drive people apart in the name of some ideal. It takes actual leadership to drive otherwise separate people together to actually accomplish something. I have wished for so many years that RMS would care enough to provide the latter instead of the usual former.
> It's easy to drive people apart in the name of some ideal. It takes actual leadership to drive otherwise separate people together to actually accomplish something.
Right there is the crux of the matter. RMS is only focused on the ideal. To him, "accomplishing something" is only relevant when the accomplishment is free software that can't be locked away in proprietary codebases.
Viewed through that lens, his actions and beliefs have been remarkably consistent for the past 30 years.
He really grates on people who don't share his idealism, and he's looked up to by people who do. He can be quite polarizing, to say the least.
Standard response: rms has probably done more for free software than anyone else in the world. We should be glad at least someone has such uncompromising idealism. Even if it's annoying and inconvenient from time to time.
> It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's easy to drive people apart in the name of some ideal. It takes actual leadership to drive otherwise separate people together to actually accomplish something.
The thing is that RMS doesn't want to accomplish something in the generic sense, he wants to accomplish something in the specific sense (and that something is "reduce, and ideally eliminate, the production and distribution of non-free software").
People get frustrated that RMS's actions are incompatible with the specific things they want to acheive, which are often superficially similar goals to RMS's, but different -- very commonly, something like "promote the continued development and distribution of free software", either in general or some particular piece of free software.
This isn't really so much ideology getting in the way of shared goals -- its not that RMS lets his ideals for means get in the way of achieving shared goals -- its a fundamental conflict of goals preventing cooperation.
I don't see how he is demonizing anyone by calling them adversaries, the word "adversary" doesn't imply any evil at all, you really are just talking from your personal ego.
What you are calling for is Argument to moderation[1]. Its a common fallacy, which asserts that the truth can be found as a compromise between two opposite positions. Working towards a goal without compromise with those who actively make that goal harder is not wrong.
When I have seen RMS labelled people as the "Others", it been when someone has done actions that is direct detriment to free software. If your goal is to build something, and someone else comes with a hammer and start tearing it down, I will give you some permission to be annoyed.
Two parties can disagree on 99% of their beliefs, yet still find ways to come together on the 1% that they happen to agree on. These parties can work together to each others' mutual benefit, and the world is better for it. But nooooooooo, not RMS. He has to demonize anyone who is not 100% in lockstep with him on everything, to everyone's detriment, and throw his "adversaries" into a trash bin labelled "Others".
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's easy to drive people apart in the name of some ideal. It takes actual leadership to drive otherwise separate people together to actually accomplish something. I have wished for so many years that RMS would care enough to provide the latter instead of the usual former.