In the case of his well-publicized distaste for
the term "open source," the unwillingness to
participate in recent coalition-building projects seems
understandable. As a man who has spent the last two
decades stumping on the behalf of free software,
Stallman's political capital is deeply invested in the
term. Still, comments such as the "Han Solo" wisecrack
at the 1999 LinuxWorld have only reinforced the
Stallman's reputation in the software industry as a
disgrunted mossback unwilling to roll with political or
marketing trends.
"I admire and respect Richard for all the work he's
done," says Red Hat president Robert Young, summing up
Stallman's paradoxical political nature. "My only
critique is that sometimes Richard treats his friends
worse than his enemies."
Stallman's unwillingness to seek alliances seems
equally perplexing when you consider his political
interests outside of the free software movement. Visit
Stallman's offices at MIT, and you instantly find a
clearinghouse of left-leaning news articles covering
civil-rights abuses around the globe.
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