Yesterday I read about a comment from RMS at Software Freedom Day in Boston. He referred to Miguel de Icaza as "basically a traitor to the Free Software community". Sorry, but this is too much, even for him.
RMS was a driving force early on and is responsible in large part for the open source movement. Since then, I believe he's done far more to harm the community than he's done to help it. From silliness like the famegrab that is the term GNU/Linux, to the attempts to fight Tivoization of Linux with the GPLv3 (notice that the Linux kernel is still GPLv2? This isn't an accident.), he's shown himself to be out of touch with the needs and desires of the community as a whole.
At a time when Free Software is bigger than ever and becoming more and more important in the commercial space, the last thing we need is a 'leader' who actively fights against anything that doesn't fit his exact model of freedom. At some point, you have to take a step back and realize that blind idealism does nothing but stop forward movement.
Miguel: Keep up the great work. From Gnome to Mono, you've shown an active interest in improving the Free Software desktop and haven't hesitated to make change where you thought it was necessary.
RMS: Start thinking objectively about the effect your words have on the community. I respect you for sticking to your guns, but your position requires you to see the big picture too.
- Cody Brocious (Daeken)