In an article published Wednesday by BBC News, Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, blasts Bill Gates on the occasion of his retirement. Not only does he go after Microsoft, but he swings at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which does an enormous amount of good around the world:
Gates' philanthropy for health care for poor countries has won some people's good opinion. The LA Times reported that his foundation spends five to 10% of its money annually and invests the rest, sometimes in companies it suggests cause environmental degradation and illness in the same poor countries. [From BBC NEWS | Technology | It's not the Gates, it's the bars]
Stallman clearly has an irrational obsession with vilifying Gates, evening bringing up the infamous Gates letter to computer hobbyists from 1976:
The letter is 32 years old and dates to a completely different era of computing. It's an interesting historical footnote, yes, but isn't it time to give it a rest as a serious argument against proprietary software? Shouldn't the argument be about the success and advantages of open source?
Gates' villainy -- real or imagined -- has clearly become an idee fix for Stallman, who even goes as far as to insinuate that Gates is a Bush crony:
Microsoft persistently engages in anti-competitive behaviour, and has been convicted three times. George W Bush, who let Microsoft off the hook for the second US conviction, was invited to Microsoft headquarters to solicit funds for the 2000 election. [From BBC NEWS | Technology | It's not the Gates, it's the bars]
I am a supporter of free and open software, but Stallman's behavior makes it more difficult to whole-heartedly support the Free Software Foundation. When he pens polemics this vitriolic, he seriously hurts the GNU cause in the court of public opinion.
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