Specifically mentioned alongside his few contact details is a request to use free telephony. A request for Skype ID is met with a remark, ‘That is non-free (freedom-denying) software.' For this campaigner of freedom since 1983, computing with freedom is a political, ethical and moral choice that every one needs to make, keeping in mind the fact that it affects the community.
One of Richard Stallman's most famous interventions in free software was the GNU General Public Licence (GPL), which he devised around 1985 as a general licence applicable to any program. The licence codifies the concept of “copyleft,” the central idea of which gives “everyone permission to run the program, copy the program, modify the program and distribute modified versions, but not permission to add restrictions of their own.”
Mr. Stallman was recently in India to promote the use of free software.
Besides campaigning against restrictive and surveillance features of proprietary software companies, the Free Software Foundation, launched by Mr. Stallman, provides a repository of information on free applications in various fields. For instance, in music, it offers details of online music stores that provide “Internet music without the guilt” and a variety of audio books without digital restrictions or formats exclusivity. Mr. Stallman himself uses a netbook that runs with 100 per cent free software even at the BIOS level.
And this has considerable implications in newly emerging technology such as smartphones. While quite a few people believe that Android OS is free software because of its use of the Linux kernel, Mr. Stallman is firm that it is not. “The executables in Android cannot be modified by the user but only by the manufacturer despite the fact that the source code is open,” he says. “So, you access the source code and write your version but the device will not support it. This goes against the freedom to run your own version. Just the source code being open is only theoretical freedom,” he adds.
A lot of work in creating free alternatives is on, he points out, including Replicant. “One problem with a lot of proprietary software is the problem of digital surveillance. Your own computer can be turned against you, and this is possible because proprietary software have intrusive features,” Mr. Stallman says.
The free software movement, on the other hand, works towards software programmes that can be controlled by the users individually and collectively, he points out. And clearly, this can be used to counter surveillance. For instance, one of the projects on the anvil is a browser add-on that will block the appearance of Facebook ‘like' buttons in other websites. This is important because such buttons offer social networking sites a chance to monitor user behaviour even when the user is not logged into the social networking site, he says.
Keywords: Richard Stallman, Free Software Foundation
It's unfortunate that the English language has the same adjective (free) for two totally orthogonal concepts. This is having a technological impact. How about using a different word? libre software?
The real worth of Stallman's contribution to the human civilization will be known after few decades when open source and GNU-GPL will become a norm rather than an exception.
The definition of Free Software from the GNU web site: “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “FREE” as in “FREE SPEECH,” not as in “FREE BEER”. Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms: •The freedom to run the program, for any purpose. •The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. •The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor. •The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
For many, free refers only to the 'free' in free meal. Particularly the supporters of licensed software conveniently ignore this very important aspect free in freedom. Who said licensed software is always guaranteed. Why MicroSoft sends patches for their windows?. Why they have included an error reporting whenever their software fails? Free software promotes creativity among its users. In fact, the growth of 'Scilab' itself after it was made a free software in two years itself shows how an ideology of sharing knowledge can help. The knowledge that the humanity has acquired over years is not anybody's private property. It is to be shared. That is the philosophy of free software. Richard Stallman (RMS) is the champion par excellence of this idea.
Everybody is bashing Abhinav ... But whatever we do should make business sense otherwise its just a marketing gimmick to keep Free Software Foundation running. I agree that "Free software" as a concept will speed up innovation but only if somebody is willing to create it in first place.
I was there when Stallman gave that talk on free software in IIT-M. I've seen his lectures online and video conferencing, but seeing direct was different. I've sworn to use free software wherever I can(sacrificing convinience).
For Abhinav as well as for other:-
1) Ubuntu (windows probably copies their ideas for GUI)
2) LibreOffice/ OpenOffice? LAtex (windows office suite alternative)
3) GIMP (talk about Photoshop and GUI)
4) Python/Netbeans/ Eclipse (if you are not lazy enough to pay for Matlab)
5) OpenFoam (ansys alternative (engg. students))
I never had to pay for any of these and all of them have excellent forum support for any problems. It just that we are too lazy to look for alternatives. Mr. Stallman is a legend.
If he wants to give things away for free and set his own stipulations for use, I am all for that. I have no problem with him encouraging others to do the same. But when he tries to push his ideas on others and belittles them for not doing as he wishes them to he is acting contrary to the idea of freedom and choice. And as others note, if he *really* believed his own words, his books would be free - you could download them and change them as you wish.
Even more troubling and almost always ignored in articles about him, the man pushes repulsive ideas of allowing uncensored porn to children in public schools - he wants such material to be dishonestly relabeled as "educational material". Do a search for that quoted phrase on his own site to find examples of this. He is a miserable face for any movement.
I support OSS. I think Linus Torvalds, Jim Zemlin, and Mark Shuttleworth are excellent faces for open source. The "Free" movement, though, does more harm than good.
In my view every software engineer should use and enhance free softwares so life becomes easy for all internet users , what happens is that when you need softwares at student level that can enhance your career you dont have money to purchase and when you have money you dont need those softwares. Only free softares and free internet has enhanced general people IT knowledge to present extent
I Love Open software.But we have to work hard to root out Proprietary, since Proproetary have deep roots in many areas. Hope slowly it will be a reality.
I thank Stallman for the concept of free software to use. It has given a new platform for budding entrepreneurs to by releasing a free version first to get popularity and charge for a better version, that is ok and good intent. I use pdf995 from (1995!) and never paid for it. These kinda free-to-use soft-wares has demolished Adobe's hold on making pdf documents. Can you tell me why Microsoft OS can be pirated so easily, and never opted for a hardware-lock? Why Autocad is the most preferred CAD software? Because Microsoft / Autocad, want to popularize their SW to be the easiest to get across without paying. They hope at least a fraction of users will pay. Free software is going to stay and only its support services will earn money for the developers.
@Abhinav Free Software is not meant to be free in terms of MONEY only. It's the freedom the modify/enhance the code without putting the restrictions on it. There are many opensource foundations which sell their softwares but they can be modified by the end user. Regarding the book he's written why he should sell it for free? Even if he's written a book I believe much of it's content must be available online, as well, and that too for free. The great souls like Mr. Stallman is a living example of the visionary.
The notion of "freedom to modify what you own" is what supports inventiveness, and it is to be cherished. Stallman has been steadfast in fighting for this freedom. He is a very rare person indeed! His work on the 'GCC' family of compilers is also monumental. So also, his libertarian outlook, of valuing freedom, which is found in FSF's principles. You may compare this to the 'Swaraj' concept of India's freedom struggle during which people boycotted British goods and burned imported clothing to make way for Khadi. Today Google is willing to pay you if you install a browser which will tag you and track your moves through cyberspace. Freedom is what you lose when you accept things 'for free' or get paid for using such software that enslaves you. FSF and EFF (https://www.eff.org/) are doing commendable work to uphold all these freedoms for mankind.
@Abhinav, If you iOS, andriod are the only s/w ? There exists many
free ( free as in freedom not as Free of cost). For Eg: look at Joomla
which is the best content management s/w available. There are lot of
people in this who do not work for Money. Or who are ready to do their
small contributions towards community (like me). I think Your question
why Banks do not use free software demands a response .. Thats
probably because free s/w people are not interested making money. So
most free s/w are made for general use rather than a product for
bussiness community. Other famous free software include 'Firefox',
'Filezilla' , Linux (by the way most Banking applications work on this
OS...
@Abhinav It's not free as in "beer" but free as in 'speech'. So basically free software doesn't mean not to charge any money.But it means you can charge as much you want but you have to give freedom to your customer to modify the program as he wants and to share as he wants.So the pretext is that you also have to share the source code with the executable. And coming to your linux bashing... Well you see windows may be popular but it one of the most poorly designed OS in the world.Just see the several vulnerabilities and so many viruses.Linux is not very popular between masses because they don't have any technical know-how and they just are satisfied with 'eyecandy'. But linux is still the preferred OS where 'real' things happens like web servers,military servers, programming, software development,space-shuttles,satellites,microchips and what not?! And the most amazing thing is you are not charged unlike windows which sells poor software and charge high amount for their software.
@Abhinav Dude get your facts right. Free software is one which you can access / change / enhance. Also as per GPL you can sell the free software. Richard Stallman did not get any money when he started with the free software movement. He got money only after people. Android has close to 50% market capture. FYI most banks use Linux and Java for their critical projects. Far more than propreitory software and everyday when you start your car/bike/TV/internet thank Richard Stallman for all this were developed using free software.
@Abhinav Grow up. You know nothing about freedom and GNU/Linux. I run GNU/Linux servers myself and all the software that comes with it. I do not use Windows/Mac. Freedom is something which you probably will never understand.
@ Abhinav...
Free software does not mean that it is given without any price. It only gives you permission to access, modify and work on the source code of the software. Like if you buy a toothbrush, you have every right to turn it, crush it and make another one out of it, but you always pay for the toothbrush...
@Abhinav The freedoms that Stallman talks about is not about money. So think 'free speech'. instead of 'free beer'. Stallman can sell his books as long as we have the right to pass on those books to other people of use the content of the book in research etc. So the item itself does not have to be zero price but that the ownership of the item should come with the freedom to do with it as you please. The idea is that anything would do better if it came with the aforementioned freedoms. If you paid for an iPhone, but were allowed to change the OS as you wished,it would foster faster innovation of software and therefore just increase the appeal of the device. Apple would continue making its billions by selling the device itself.
I would like to answer to Abhinav. He does not understand what Free software is about.
Free software is not about price but about freedom. Freedom to use, share and reuse. You can charge for your product - free software never stops you from doing it.
It's not that he makes a lot of money since it is a non-profit organization, but actually his organization Free Software Foundation regularly runs short of money. Many people who work on GNU projects do it for free in their spare time.
Stallman's books are available as free books. You can either buy it or download it. Selling of books is not against free access. Selling a book is a great way to get your writings to the wider audience.
Banks don't use paid software suits because the company which sells it provides support. Availability of support is #1 requirement for any software purchase in corporates
Paid software is not a guarantee that it works great. You have no shortage of garbage paid software. It's just a myth.
Abhinav, you should get your understanding of free software checked
before you comment. Free software means freedom to access, use, modify
the source. You can of course charge for it. Free here doesn't mean free
of cost (though it could be that as well).
Long live Free software!!!
A great man, a much needed prophet for our times, especially in India.
Free software is a myth. Richard Stallman can afford to run an organization that makes free software because they receive funding from all over the world thanks to Stallman's marketing of that organization. Moreover, Stallman's books on free software have made him millions of dollars. Why doesn't Stallman give away his books for free too, if he really believes in free access ? If there is no paid software, most of the world's software development would stop, because the software developers need to earn their daily bread. Also, there is proof that people prefer paid software when it comes to crucial systems because of the guarantee that it will work - do you use a Windows/Mac or a Linux based machine? Why do Blackberry and iOS do so well? And most importantly, why do banks use paid software suits for their online transaction system?
Despite having a great open source community, the open source software
has not been great at user-friendliness when compared to its counter-
parts. Nowadays, GUI of a software is too important to be given any
lesser priority. Once the open source community addresses that aspect,
we will have great influx of people adapting it over proprietary
software.
Web browser is the window to internet in majority of the use-cases.
Closed source browsers from envious corporations shouldn't be
encouraged. A safe (privacy & security) browser is very much needed
now and only an open source community can deliver such.
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