Richard Stallman

Computer Science American 1953 373 quotes

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 free software movement is a social movement.

Speech 2001

The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.

The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 1996

The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish.

The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 1996

The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.

The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 1996

The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others.

The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 1996

Software patents are an obstacle to software development.

Speech 2001

The purpose of the Free Software Foundation is to promote computer user freedom.

The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation 1996

The term 'intellectual property' is a propaganda term.

Speech 2001

If a program is proprietary, it's a trap.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about ethics, about human rights.

Speech 2001

I am not interested in making money. I am interested in freedom.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is a struggle for freedom.

Speech 2001

The only way to be safe is to have free software.

Interview 2013

The free software movement is a political movement.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about social justice.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about solidarity.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about community.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about democracy.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about human dignity.

Speech 2001

The free software movement is about self-determination.

Speech 2001