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Comment by thomastjeffery | Hacker News Reader

It seems like most of those traits stem from an overall consistency in ethical perspective.

I think Stallman figured out early on how much he valued collaboration over competition, and liberty over authority; and moved on naturally from there.

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There’s enough stories about Stallman’s “eccentricities” that aren’t the result of ethical choices. The man’s hygiene is sort of legendary at this point. None of this is to say he’s wrong or argue against his ethical consistency or the admirable fidelity to which he holds to his ethics, but the dude is odd for reasons beyond his choice of email client.

Choosing not to manage hygiene is a pretty common anti-authoritarian move.

Sure, I would argue that good hygiene is a useful tool for liberal collaboration, but that doesn't make his behavior ideologically inconsistent.

Not OP but I think it is good to balance a healthy respect for disregarding cultural norms with a perceived understanding of your outsider perspective and the given cost. I'm a big fan of Stallman and have worked people of similar dispositions. while they provide very clear insight and intermittent productivity spurts, it comes at a huge social cost that in some cases can make or break a team. In the long-term they could be right, but in the short-term it becomes an all-or-nothing crusade. I've been there myself and I've reassembled the pieces of a team after others did the same. Anti-authoritarianism is noble and justified, but it is no rational excuse for poor hygiene if you want to connect with other people and have a non-imaginary impact on the world.

> can make or break a team

I don't think Stallman cares about that nearly as much as you do. He already resolved that problem by making his work about collaboration instead of competition. That's really the whole point of free software in the first place.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm here to encourage idiosyncrasies. My entire point is that you aren't going to win such a person over with an appeal to authority, because that was their point already.

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