Eben Moglen moves on from the Free Software Foundation’s board

I never expected this: Eben Moglen, one-time general counsel of the Free Software Foundation and the legal genius behind it, has decided to move on:

But this long drafting project, which has displaced most of the rest of my professional life (and, it sometimes seems, all of my personal life as well) is winding down at last. Which means it’s time to return to some of what I’ve missed. Writing and teaching, for example. Time to reorganize time. As I return to teaching at Columbia I need to concentrate more of my remaining spare time and effort on the affairs of the Software Freedom Law Center, which is inevitably going to mean less involvement with the affairs of other organizations I care very much about.

In particular, it’s time for me to leave the board of directors of the Free Software Foundation, where I’ve been since 2000. FSF is in great shape under the continued leadership of Richard Stallman and his executive director, Peter Brown. Completing GPLv3 successfully underlines the credibility with which FSF combines the most uncompromising principle with the depth of knowledge and experience needed to build broad coalitions in our community. Leaving is always hard, but there couldn’t be a more appropriate or less disruptive time.

What a long, strange trip the GPLv3 drafting process must have been, to result in Eben transitioning out….Still, let’s keep this in context: Eben has not gone any miraculous conversion to some other belief of how free and open source software should operate. He has simply decided to channel his once seemingly boundless energies into the Software Freedom Law Center. I suspect that this is no different from when Larry Lessig announced on his blog several years ago (2004 was it?) that he was going to cut back his travel and advocacy work to actually see his wife and son. Eben is a human being – he needs the occasional rest.

But I don’t believe he’ll get one. He believes too firmly in software freedom to let it drop. He’ll simply be advocating for free software from SFLC more often, and FSF (much) less so.

My one concern in all this is that the FSF will lose his legal and business sense. I remember when I started working with Eben back in 2000/2001 while still at Lineo. The guy “gets it,” as will be clear from his OSBC keynote on May 22. The FSF will not necessarily hurt for his absence – it has a strong roster of exceptional people. But it certainly won’t be the better for his departure. Eben is/was/will be golden.