I can't think of a better illustration of the fundamentally selfish, libertarian foundation of the free software movement than a GNU maintainer loudly affirming that contributions known to be produced by slave labor are welcome without reservation https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2026-11/msg00128.html
@alexandra "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."
this is a villain speech
@kyle_pegasus @alexandra that's so deeply disappointing
@Rob_J @kyle_pegasus @alexandra
"Ends justify the Means" ethical cowardice is always deeply sad.
@alexandra @and “Any other answer 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.”
Wake up, Eli: the split is already happening, you have no choice except which side to stand on.
@fivetonsflax Eli is on the side of reason.
The GNU project cannot and will not exclude changes that are leaglly validly, conformant to the project goals, make sense for the package, and are/or authored by people or things you dislike.
@amszmidt @fivetonsflax @alexandra @and it’s always a good illustration of one’s character when slave labor is obscured into “things you don’t like”.
@CynAq So you think it is acceptable to check who you are, where you are from, maybe your gender, country location, if your are human or no, and based on that decide if you can contribute?
That is what the “Human” Emacs project is suggesting. _That_ is absurd, racist, misogynistic, ableist, ..
If anything, just caring about the legalese is the only sensible option.
And if the legal option is problematic, it is a far bigger problem than FOSS, or an editor.g
@amszmidt you're a huge fucking loser
@alexandra I'm trying to wrap my head around this argument (if you feel it's inappropriate, please let me know and I'll stop, don't block me!)
I have serious ethical misgivings about people who drive cars, for the very same reasons, it's unjust, violent, etc. and advocate for a fairer city. Based on this reasoning, would I also need to reject contributions from people who drive cars?
Nov 8, 2026, 4:00 PMyet you participate in driving. curious!
@alexandra
I wouldn't call free software "libertarian". In fact I'm pretty sure Richard Stallman is a hardcore leftist. Sure, there are some bad apples, but the movement itself is a net positive for society.