People can fight a limited number of battles at a time. More to the point, whether or not Stallman's critics are hypocrites doesn't invalidate their points.

As another commenter pointed out, Stallman as a person is a complete dirtbag. And this has nothing to do with him being neurodivergent or an anti-conformist or anything else. To say so does a great disservice to the million of people out there with those labels who are problematic like he has shown himself to be.

Are people using the issues with Stallman the person to score points against Stallman's causes and his politics? I suppose so, and it isn't a surprise. But that's because Stallman loaded a gun full of social justice bullets and handed it to his critics.

Being dismissive of the criticism leveled against Stallman because you agree with his politics, and waving them away as the criticisms of hypocrites and opportunists is just wrong. The right response is "let's separate the politics of free/libre from the social issues around Stallman" and address each one on it's own. Not to dismiss one just because you dismiss the other, even though they are coming as a package deal right now. De-package them, address them separately.

Stallman is no saint from what we are seeing, and anyone who is going to judge the entire institution of MIT based on their involvement with Epstein, but giving FSF a pass for their involvement with Stallman, is rather off base, I think, particularly after drawing the MIT/Epstein connection in an effort to discredit via hypocrisy. Pots and kettles and all of that.

J.Ja