Richard Stallman biography

[eridani]

(A Kucinich endorser, BTW.)

Sam Williams (2002) Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software, O'Reilly Press
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman

Very informative. A footnote cites the world's first (and probably only) hexadecimal protest chant! (Against software patents.)

1,2,3,4 toss the lawyers out the door
5,6,7,8 innovate, don't litigate
9,A,B,C 1-2-3 is not for me
D,E,F,0 look and feel have got to go!

[htuttle]

1. He's got a website, too

http://www.stallman.org/

Lately, I've been thinking that if Stallman won the Presidency next November in a surprise upset, then perhaps people would take the BBV issue more seriously.

:evilgrin:

[blurp]

2. Wrong kind of freedom, IMHO

Sam Williams (2002) Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software, O'Reilly Press

I always thought that title was a bit off.

Shouldn't it have been "Free, as in beer"?

There's a big difference between being free of others and taking things (like software, or creative works) FROM others.

[scottxyz]

3. Usually the developer WANTS their program to be free

You make a very misinformed statement here, blurp:

"There's a big difference between being free of others and taking things (like software, or creative works) FROM others."

Proponents of free software usually GIVE their software away. The creator of the program WANTS the software to be free.

This is similar to much research in the scientific community, much of which traditionally has been freely (openly) shared. Programmers noticed that this worked to increase the body of scientific knowledge, so they reacted against the secrecy of many software firms, and released software for free, hoping to improve the overall quality of software.

It's not about stealing, it's about sharing.

[mrfrapp]

5. Huh?

"There's a big difference between being free of others and taking things (like software, or creative works) FROM others."

I can't believe I've just read that. Are you suggesting that the FSF and Stallman *take* from others? It's not just wrong, it's so wrong that I can hardly imagine where you get the idea from.

[eridani]

4. He's endorsed Kucinich