Richard Stallman
Founder of the free software movement and the GNU Project.
Most quoted
"Calling it 'intellectual property' is a propaganda term designed to confuse people into thinking that the various different laws that restrict what you can do with information are all one thing, and that they all have the same moral basis."
— from Various speeches
"I could have made money this way, and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my career, I would look back on years of building walls to divide people, and feel I had spent my life making the world a worse place."
— from The GNU Project
"My work on free software is motivated by an idealistic goal: spreading freedom and cooperation. I want to encourage free software to spread, replacing proprietary software that forbids cooperation, and thus make our society better."
— from Essays
All quotes by Richard Stallman (373)
The pursuit of truth is intertwined with the pursuit of freedom.
Our existence gains meaning through our actions for the common good.
The most profound experiences are those that expand our freedom.
The human spirit yearns for freedom, and technology should serve that yearning.
What is life without the ability to control your own tools?
The ultimate goal is to liberate all software, and thus liberate humanity.
If anything deserves a copyright, it is the user interface of a program. But I don't think that should be copyrightable. I think that should be free.
The 'information age' is a misnomer. It's the 'digital age.' Information is not digital. Information is what you get when you read something.
Calling it 'intellectual property' is a propaganda term designed to confuse people into thinking that the various different laws that restrict what you can do with information are all one thing, and that they all have the same moral basis.
I consider the use of proprietary software to be an ethical issue, a social issue, a political issue.
If you use a program that is not free, you are participating in a system that oppresses you.
The idea of 'intellectual property' is a distraction. The real issue is freedom.
The term 'open source' was coined to avoid the ethical issues raised by 'free software.'
When we say 'free software,' we are talking about freedom, not price.
Proprietary software is a social problem, and we should solve it.
The internet is a tool for freedom, but it can also be a tool for surveillance and control.
Using non-free software is like living in a totalitarian state.
The greatest danger to freedom and privacy is the increasing power of corporations and governments to control our digital lives.
Software patents are an attack on innovation and an attack on freedom.
The idea that you can own information is a dangerous one.
Contemporaries of Richard Stallman
Other Computer Sciences born within 50 years of Richard Stallman (1953).