Richard Stallman — "The purpose of the free software movement is to ensure that users have freedom."
The purpose of the free software movement is to ensure that users have freedom.
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More from Richard Stallman
"Sharing is good, and proprietary software is evil."
"Rejecting non-free software is an act of self-defense."
"The idea of 'cloud computing' is a trap. It's about giving up your freedom and control."
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"The free software movement is about ethics, not just technology."
About Richard Stallman (born 1953)
American programmer who founded the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project, whose copyleft GPL licensing made the modern Linux ecosystem possible. Closely associated with Linus Torvalds (Linux kernel creator who builds on GNU userland) and Eric S. Raymond (open-source advocate (The Cathedral and the Bazaar)). For an intellectual contrast, see Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder — Gates's 1976 Open Letter to Hobbyists arguing for software-as-property is the foundational document Stallman's GPL was specifically written to refute — the two opposing answers to 'who owns the code'.