Post by @corbin@awful.systems

2026-11-08 18:51 UTC

Emacs and GNU can’t stop failing to uphold the mission of Free Software. This mailing-list post has been going around and I think that it is a very good indicator of how head-up-ass the GNU project has become. Note that this email is not from RMS; the problem can’t be blamed on a particular BDFL. The following quote from the email is sufficient to completely end my interest in contributing to GNU ever again: The Free Software movement doesn’t pursue the goal of “liberty for all humanity”. If you think it does, you are gravely mistaken. Our goals are different, and are well described elsewhere. While the topic is about accepting chatbot contributions, it could also e.g. be about accepting contributions from members of Suckless or other fascist organizations; in the email, our brave GNU hero says that they’d accept contributions made with slave labor, too.

Replies (3)

@BlueMonday1984@awful.systems 2026-11-08 19:33

The Free Software movement doesn’t pursue the goal of “liberty for all humanity”. If you think it does, you are gravely mistaken. Our goals are different, and are well described elsewhere. Never thought I’d see someone make a moral argument against Free Software, but here we are.

Open ##5503590
@mirrorwitch@awful.systems 2026-11-08 19:35

Taking thread opportunity to highlight the existence if ethical software licenses, including the anti-capitalist software license. It’s past time to evolve beyond Freedom 0.

Open ##5503603
@jaschop@awful.systems 2026-11-08 21:48

Any other answer [than accepting code produced by slave labour] is a first step towards splitting our community along the many lines of political and ideological divides that have nothing to do with software freedoms. I’ve been reading Means and Ends recently, and this reminded me of syndicalist unions being hung up about political neutrality, because interacting with “politics” would interfere with their overarching mission. Believing your work is metapolitical seems to be a good trick to shut down that embarassing self-reflection part of your brain.

Open ##5504094