Richard Stallman: Founder of Free Software

In Part I of this series, Linus Torvalds and Linux were covered. Not to downplay Mr. Torvalds advancements, but without Richard Stallman, Linux would not be what it is today. In fact, Richard Stallman's contributions allowed all of this software/programing to come about:

Linux: is an operating system, as Microsoft Windows is an operating system

Apache Web Server: is the most popular web server used. A web server facilitates the exchange of computer connections via the internet. Most web sites use Apache.

Perl Programming Language: a programming language is what software is made of. Perl is one type. Python Programming Language: another type of programming language. OpenOffice: is an office suite, like Microsoft Office is an office suite.

...and many, many others that are in a continuously growing list of software.

Richard Stallman's contribution to all these programs is that he founded the GNU Project and wrote the GNU general public license. To give the reader an idea of what the GNU General Public License is, here is an excerpt:

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software - to make sure the software is free for all its users.

This small part of the GNU license gives a good general perspective of Richard Stallman's philosophy and his views. He is also the founder of the Free Software Foundation, co-founder of several other free software organizations and an extensive author. To say that Richard Stallman feels strongly that all software should be free is like saying that there is a little water in Niagara Falls. Stallman is passionate about his pursuit and to this day goes to great lengths to perpetuate his perspective.

It should be noted that in this situation, the word "free" in "free software" has a lightly different connotation than simply not costing money. Richard Stallman explains that rather a word like "unfettered" would be more accurate. According to the Free Software Foundation, think of "free" as in "free speech" rather than "free beer." This means that anyone using software under the GNU public license has the freedom to use it as they see fit, including selling versions of it.

In 1971, while a student at Harvard University, Richard Stallman began working with the Artificial Intelligence department at MIT. During this time, Stallman honed his computer skills and became a noted figure in the "hacker" community. He shared software and computer concepts with other programmers and hackers and embraced the concept that free exchange was the optimum way to facilitate efficient, continuous advancements in computers and software.

At times, hindrances to this free software movement would harden Stallman's resolve. For example, in 1979 the creator of the Scribe word processing software, Brian Reid, put restrictive code into his software to inhibit free distribution of the software. Richard Stallman's comment to this was that "the prospect of charging money for software was a crime against humanity."

In 1985 Stallman outlined his goals to produce the GNU project as an alternative to UNIX. What followed was extensive development in all but the core of the GNU system. But, during the same time, the GNU general public license gave other developers the freedom to pursue development of their own software. This freedom facilitated the creation of Linus Torvalds's Linux kernel. With Linux as the core, the GNU project could now be a complete operating system.

A quick look at Richard Stallman's web site will quickly give any viewer a comprehensive synopsis of his concepts. Still a champion of the free software movement, Stallman oversees the continuous development of the GNU project and it's off shoots. Without his contributions both past and present, technology and the free exchange of technological ideas would not be what it is today.