@freemo @mur2501 Martin Luther King had some failed protests that got violent, his marriage was falling apart and FBI records the family kept suppressed showed he might have beaten women. You already mentioned Gandi. He peacefully pulled a nation away from the Raj, but his weird practices in trying to keep from being aroused and his nieces are weird. Orwell was started to make lists of people who shouldn't have jobs or be arrested based on their opinions, towards the end of his life.
If any of these people had lived a few more years, our image of them might be very different. If RMS had passed away two years ago, there would probably be some stuff in his honour. Some people would still hate him, but I don't think as many people would shit on his memory because there's no point.
> "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." -The Dark Knight Rises
> "Our people will get more from the idea he represented, than the Jelly bean he actually was" -Rick and Morty
@mur2501 while thats valid for Gandhi I wouldnt say its so fitting for RMS. I do not have a view of RMS as being particularly virtuous, nor do I have a view of him as someone who is particularly evil.. To me he is just a person who has zero tolerance for political correctness and happens to be more honest with both himself and others in a way that most aspies are, and as is typical of aspies that is used against him. But aside from being an aspie he is mostly just a middle of the road guy who doesnt really cause much harm or persue many crusades for good either. He just wants freedom in software and wants to enable others to have the same.