Richard Stallman has always had a strong belief in the human right to freedom. In this increasingly technological world, Richard has always made it a point to work towards providing free software.
His first experience working with computers happened when he was in high school when he spent a summer working at IBM in 1970.
He then attended Harvard and obtained a bachelors degree in physics, he also attended MIT where he focused on computer programming.
Richard's first big undertaking was to create the completely open source operating system called: GNU which means GNU’s not Unix.
He designed it to be similar to Unix, a previously existing operating system, except GNU is completely free software.
This means that it gives the users full control over everything in it. Which is quite the contrast to the other operating systems that the majority of us use today like Microsoft, and Mac OS, where a company controls the software which ultimately controls the users.
VIEW VIDEO HERE^^^^
I found a great interview conducted by David Pakman where Richard explains his views on these types of software programs. I’ll include a link down below and I really encourage you to check it out to get a better sense for Richards passion on this subject.
During this interview he has some great quotes, like:
“We should control the programs we use and not vice versa.”
He explains how every program is either free or proprietary. If a program is proprietary, it is a tool that the proprietor, usually a company, can use to ultimately subjugate its user.
He and his team have worked for decades so that now there are computers you can buy that have free software already installed, you don’t have to be an expert to take part and support the free software movement. You don’t have to be a “slave” to proprietary programs.
Non-free software programs today (Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Adobe…) have intentionally installed malicious functionality and backdoors which let’s them remotely control it whether you like it or not. There's also digital restrictions management (DRM) which means its designed to refuse to do the things you want with the data that you get.
There are all injustices. The Free Software Movement makes it a point to bring these injustices to light.
With free software, the contributors to that free software do not control what they users can and cannot do. Users can always check to see what they’ve done, they can compare the versions, if they don’t like something, they can change it.
I know this latter statement sounds an awful lot like what open source code is all about, but here is how Richard sees a big difference between the free software movement and the open source movement:
According to Richard, this phrase open source, ultimately separates this concept of free software from its philosophical motivations.
It doesn’t bring to light the negatives of proprietary software. It’s more PR friendly for the big companies. It’s a less abrasive way to go about promoting free software.
He calls open source a superficial term that doesn’t raise ethical issues and he even goes so far as to refusing to attending events that use this term.
If you couldn’t get the hint with his views on the phrase open source, Richard places a lot of weight on the specific words used. He recognizes a word’s abilities to imply connotations and how they can place barriers on intelligent conversations on certain topics.
If you think that sounds extreme, welcome to the world of RMS. Whether or not if you agree with his views on the subject, you’ve got to admit that it’s an admirable quality to stay so strongly true to ones beliefs.
If you want to learn more about Richard Stallman or the Free Software Movement or the completely free software operating system that is GNU, please check out the links I’ve posted down below.
Additional Reading/Sources:
About RMS
About GNU
Proprietary Software
Interview
About Free Software Foundation (FSF)
Richard Stallman Quotes