gnu.org/gnu/gnu-struct
> The GNU Project is led by the Chief GNUisance, Richard Stallman, the founder of the project [...] responsible in principle for all significant decisions, including the overall philosophy and standards, and directs the project in carrying them out.
Conversation
GNU has many contributors and makes widely used software.
FSF is an ineffective advocacy organization and contributes to the GPL having no teeth.
The GNU project is a hell of a lot more relevant than the silly bureaucracy.
Not sure why people talk about RMS as if he went away.
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The developers of the software choose to be part of the GNU project. That means choosing to be led by RMS. They're free to develop the projects outside of GNU and stop using the branding. That's what they would do if they truly didn't want to be part of an RMS led organization.
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It's not proprietary software. It can simply be moved out from under his umbrella. That's the point of Free Software. He's only a dictator via their consent.
Similarly, if you truly don't support RMS, don't provide hosting, mirrors or funding for the projects under his control.
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sure, the projects can move. a few things -
* capital GNU used to be a badge of honor. I bet it still is linked to funding etc. for some projects.
* it will take time for these projects to get off of GNU infra / websites if they make that decision. 1/
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RMS has been RMS for years. It's not like he recently did something awful. It has always been this way, and they've always chosen to associate themselves with him and work under him. As far as I can tell, that's what most of the developers want, and they'll continue to want it.
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you could be right, but I hope there's change coming. Most of these folks probably just thought he was eccentric; I don't think everyone contributing to GNU is an acolyte if they've even spent a lot of time thinking about this.