Who are the heroes of our time? Who is driving us to a better future? And who is inspiring and guiding us?
Anything goes: famous people, people in your own life, fictional people who represent something to your culture, groups of people working behind the scenes etc.
The only rule is they must be current.
I don’t know how accurate each of the claims in this article are, but this is the kind of stuff that he’s been accused of, and as a result most people don’t really worship or admire him much anymore: https://www.wired.com/story/richard-stallman-and-the-fall-of-the-clueless-nerd/
On a personal level he does seem like bit of an odious character. Even some of his behaviour in talks I’ve seen on youtube. I think in his case it’s what he represents that makes him heroic.