In this case, there is clearly a disconnect between idealization and the reality.

Today, Stallman's and FSF's real political and social influence is miniscule.

FSF had some impressive achievements in the 90s, but they failed to utilize the social capital efficiently and couldn't catch up with rapid ecosystem changes (e.g. software and computer programming becoming mainstream).

An example of this is tivoization clause in GPLv3 which is a nuisance for businesses and contributes to marginalization of the license.