Instead, the world discovered that RMS was back on the board of the Free Software Foundation when he self-announced it at the FSF’s LibrePlanet conference this March. RMS declared, “I’m [back] on the Free Software Foundation board of directors […] that’s how it is. And I’m not planning to resign a second time.”
The board went on to state that “the announcement by RMS at LibrePlanet was a complete surprise to staff, [LibrePlanet organizers], to LibrePlanet speakers and to the exhibitors” and that the board “had hoped for a more inclusive and thoughtful process.”
Apart from the board’s own shock at RMS’ self-announced return, the most salient part of its statement was its reason for approving RMS’ return in the first place:
We decided to bring RMS back because we missed his wisdom. His historical, legal and technical acumen on free software is unrivaled. He has a deep sensitivity to the ways that technologies can contribute to both the enhancement and the diminution of basic human rights. His global network of connections is invaluable. He remains the most articulate philosopher and an unquestionably dedicated advocate of freedom in computing.
The FSF statement acknowledges that “his personal style remains troubling for some,” but the FSF states that a majority of the board “feel[s] his behavior has moderated.” The foundation also believes that “his thinking strengthens the work of the FSF in pursuit of its mission.”
Stallman’s personal April 12 statement
Stallman opens his own statement by declaring, “Ever since my teenage years, I felt as if there were a filmy curtain separating me from other people my age” and that he eventually realized his own failure to understand “the subtle cues that other people were responding to.”
Although potentially relatable, this sets the tone for RMS’ entire statement: for better or for worse, it’s about him. He does acknowledge his own social failings, saying, “Some have described me as being ‘tone-deaf,’ and that is fair.” Unfortunately, he goes on to demonstrate this by declaring, during a discussion of his defense of the late Marvin Minsky, that he “knew Minsky only distantly”—and he continues, in the same paragraph, to declare without obvious connection that “police brutality makes me angry.”