[BrS96bVxXBLzf5B]

That's interesting! He was definitely playing an antagonistic character ("I have a bad ear", "I can't hear you" whenever someone said something disagreeable; one person didn't get it and kept repeating their sentence more loudly to no change). I could imagine him having that more liberal private stance whilst keeping the public one consistently firm.

[neilv]

RMS seems absolutely uncompromising on his principles (whether publicly, or in smaller groups), but I think his principles aren't only about libre software.

Maybe the difference between the two anecdotes was details of what was being weighed against libre software. In his value system, maybe the success of an underdog's mission (maybe for a different kind of freedom) is more important than lives saved? Or maybe he was just feeling punchy in one of the meetings?