The backlash against the return of Richard M Stallman (RMS), founder and former president of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), is gaining momentum. Linux giant RedHat has confirmed that it is withdrawing funding.

Stallman’s announcement that he had returned to the FSF board last weekend has not gone down well with the community, and Red Hat is the latest group to express disappointment.

CTO Chris Wright tweeted overnight: “I am furious at the FSF’s decision to reinstate RMS. This is a step backwards at a time of growing awareness of diversity and inclusion.”

Red Hat described itself as “shocked” by Stallman’s return to the FSF board and said it had decided to take action “in light of the circumstances surrounding Richard Stallman’s initial resignation in 2019”.

“We will immediately suspend all Red Hat funding to the FSF and any FSF-sponsored activities. In addition, many Red Hat contributors have told us that they no longer plan to participate in fSF-led or supported events, and we support them, “Red Hat said.

A governance statement issued by the FSF earlier this week in relation to transparency in appointing directors did little to assuage Red Hat’s ire, saying bluntly that the announcement did not amount to “any meaningful commitment to positive change”.

The Linux distribution maker said it needed “fundamental and lasting changes to its governance” to restore community confidence.

Browser biz Mozilla has joined the uproar, signing a petition calling for Stallman to be removed. “We can’t demand better from the Internet if we don’t demand better from our leaders, our colleagues and ourselves,” the group tweeted.

Melissa Di Donato, CEO of veteran Linux maker SUSE, signed a petition on behalf of her organization calling for his ouster, Twitter. When bad decisions are made, there is a time to speak up and take a stand. That time is now.”

Other groups such asOpen.UK 和 Electronic Frontier FoundationAlso expressed disappointment.“Said the latter. Stallman’s re-election sends a wrong and hurtful message to the free software movement and those who have left the free software movement because of Stallman’s previous actions.”

Stallman resigned in 2019 after making highly insensitive comments downplaying the alleged rape and trafficking of a 17-year-old girl orchestrated by convicted sex offender and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Epstein’s victim said she was coerced as a teenager into having sex with Marvin Minsky, the now deceased M.I.T. professor, who was 73 at the time of the alleged assault. On the same topic at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab list Server, he also referred to Epstein’s victims as “harem.” The comments led to calls for his resignation and increased scrutiny of Stallman’s past behavior and other distasteful comments recorded on his personal blog and elsewhere.

Red Hat’s move marks an escalation in the war of words over Stallman’s return. As a longtime donor and contributor to the code, the IBM-owned company’s actions are likely to give the FSF pause for thought, while thousands of angry tweets probably won’t.

FSF chairman Geoffrey Knauth said yesterday that he would “step down as FSF officers, directors and voting members as soon as there is a clear path to new leadership”.

The Register asked The FSF for comment on Red Hat’s statement. The group has yet to respond.

Red Hat Branch Free Software Foundation Funding over Richard Stallman’s return; By Richard Speed.