Days after speaking at Microsoft Free Software Foundation president Richard Stallman resigns

Somewhat ironically, days after Microsoft managed to entice Richard Stallman, the head of the Free Software Foundation, to talk to the company on Open Source Software, Stallman has resigned his post over controversy regarding his views on Jeffrey Epstein and his victims.

Stallman, who famously called Microsoft the “Great Satan” was apparently confused about whether a child could consent to sex with an adult, and in an MIT discussion thread had called Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre “entirely willing,” when she claimed to have sex age 17 with MIT AI pioneer Marvin Minsky.  Giuffre has claimed that she was being held as a slave on Epstein’s island, and there are allegations that much younger children in their early teens were also present there.

The thread was leaked, leading to calls for his resignation.

On the 14th he posted:

Many years ago I posted that I could not see anything wrong about sex between an adult and a child, if the child accepted it.

Through personal conversations in recent years, I’ve learned to understand how sex with a child can harm per psychologically. This changed my mind about the matter: I think adults should not do that. I am grateful for the conversations that enabled me to understand why.

This did not relieve calls for his resignation and on the 16th he posted:

16 September 2019 (Resignation)
To the MIT community,

I am resigning effective immediately from my position in CSAIL at MIT. I am doing this due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations.

Richard Stallman

One could argue that Microsoft’s conversion to an open-source advocate means Stallman’s work is done, but the news follows reports recently that Bill Gates himself had some contact with Epstein, and Ars Technica editor Peter ‘Dr Pizza’ Bright being arrested for soliciting a child, which makes one question what exactly was going on amongst the old guard of technology.

Via Engadget