Many of you are probably asking… who is Richard Stallman? In a nutshell, he is the reason we have freeware today. He is largely responsible for the popularity of the Linux operating system (including Linux-based derivatives like Android), and the open source community.
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stargrave
14 years 22 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago
WTF
"responsible for the popularity of the Linux operating system", "and the open source community", "believes that software should be openly distributed", "redistribute great software without having to pay royalties"... no, no, author absolutely does not know who Stallman is, and what he did and doing now.
lozz
14 years 22 weeks 6 days 8 hours ago
Agreed
Also;
"is considered the father of open source software (OSS)"
would read;
"is known to be the father of GNU/Linux and Free Software"
if the authors realised that Richard Stallman actually rejects the term "open source".
Could have found a nicer picture, too.
damnhappy
14 years 22 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago
I agree with both of you, but...
It takes a while to learn the intricacies of Free software. I still get a little paranoid sometimes about whether I am using the right term: FOSS, FLOSS, or OSS. The term "open source" has been drilled into to my head by being associated with the names of so many good projects, that it is difficult until you read some of Stallman's stuff, to realize that there is a difference between FOSS/FLOSS and open source software.
I encourage the author to check out this link and learn some of the more not so obvious ideas behind FLOSS. Stallman Interview.
lozz
14 years 22 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago
You're right
Most of us have been through the acronym-salad of Free Software terminology at some stage and ended up scratching our heads in bemusement.
However, the terms, open source, Linux and GNU/Linux have been the source of much discussion and dispute among the Free Software Community over recent years.
Linux sounds a perfectly reasonable title except that it fails to express the two-thirds of the true situation that is involved in the term GNU.
GNU is much more than just the developer's tools and software that make the later-developed Linux kernel operative.
The reason our proprietary enemies haven't succeeded in carving us up and hanging us out to dry, years ago, is contained in GNU's copyleft principle that is enshrined in the GPL.
That is why you'll see such intense scrutiny being applied to the nature of the license of all Free Software being discussed on this site. We live, or die, by insuring that we have rock-solid copyleft licenses.
Open source is a more recent term that has been hijacked by our proprietary enemies, most notably Microsoft, who are intent on watering down the protection Free Software is receiving from the legal protection of the copyleft in the GPL, by introducing various "open source" licenses that didn't carry anything like the same level of protection for the freedom of the user and developer.
With this proliferation of licenses, Richard Stallman became concerned that new users of "Linux" were losing sight of the freedoms guaranteed by GNU and the GPL. For this reason he requested that we refer to Linux by the title of GNU/Linux.
All this may sound confusing but it has developed against a background of patent warfare that has lasted at least twice as long as the anti-Iraq War.
damnhappy
14 years 22 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago
Agreed
Agreed brother.