The big pieces of software you mentioned -- GCC and Emacs -- have been weakened in various ways because of RMS though. RMS&#x27; fear of proprietary programs accessing certain internals, like the AST means that GCC doesn&#x27;t have the extensive plugin ability that clang does, limiting the types of code analysis and transformation that can be done [1]. He has also shown himself to make knee-jerk reactions about pieces of free software which are not under control, such as his refusal to merge in basic lldb support into Emacs&#x27; gud [2], invoking the bogeyman of Apple in doing so. In the past, he has also told people to memory hole software he personally disagreed with [3]. He has done some impressive things in software development, however, his more recent points of view have had some serious problems in dealing with the relevance of users and developers today. Stallman needs a better team of people around him to advise him on modern practices, otherwise all his efforts will go to naught as people migrate to other Free tools that better recognize and respect more recent software and social practices.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;629259&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;629259&#x2F;</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;632773&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;lwn.net&#x2F;Articles&#x2F;632773&#x2F;</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gcc.gnu.org&#x2F;ml&#x2F;gcc&#x2F;2001-02&#x2F;msg00895.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;gcc.gnu.org&#x2F;ml&#x2F;gcc&#x2F;2001-02&#x2F;msg00895.html</a>