Maybe Hurd never went anywhere but they are responsible for as much of what constitutes “Linux” as the Linux kernel is. Linux never would have amounted to much without GCC, the GNU tools, and the GPL.

He has a lot of good opinions, but not consistently good opinions. He reminds me a lot of how many viewed Russell Brand or maybe Joe Rogan years ago. When good opinions come from a shallow philosophical framework, always expect things to go sideways eventually.

It might be a schtick, but their public facade never entirely detached from their actual identity. Also, isn’t that what everyone does to some extent?

We are effectively in an information war with Russia, and that’s really driving up the trolling. Not that every troll is a Russian bot, but they are really driving the trend and giving inspiration to terrible people. A lot of it is also laundered garbage from anarcho-capitalist “think tanks”.

There are socialists, and then there is a fairly new wave of terminally online toxic assholes borrowing socialist rhetoric.

There is a difference between activism and empty virtue signaling. A huge portion of the online left is more interested in letting everyone know how pissed off they are than actually making the cultural gains necessary to improve anything.

It’s generally intended only as a protection against self incrimination. If prosecutors want to force your testimony, they can grant you limited immunity from prosecution and you can be compelled to testify. Of course it gets way more complicated than that, and I’m not a lawyer.