Richard Stallman — Father of Free Software
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." — John 1:5
Richard Stallman speaking at an event in Bologna, 2024 — continuing his advocacy for digital freedom.
Timeline of Richard Stallman’s Life & Vision:
- 1953 — Born in New York City.
- 1970s — Works in the AI Lab at MIT.
- Late 1970s — Gets frustrated when he can't access printer source code to fix an error, sparking his advocacy for software freedom.
- 1980 — Writes the first free software license for a text editor (Emacs), supporting open collaboration.
- 1983 — Announces the GNU Project: A Unix-compatible operating system made entirely of free software.
- 1985 — Founds the Free Software Foundation to support his mission.
- 1991 — GNU tools are paired with the Linux kernel, forming the backbone of modern Linux distributions.
- 2000s+ — Continues public advocacy for software freedom and digital civil rights.
- Today — Known globally as a symbol of digital independence and resistance to proprietary control.
“When I couldn’t fix a broken printer because the source code was closed, I realized something was wrong. That’s when I started fighting for users’ freedom.”
To learn more about Stallman’s vision and legacy, read his full Wikipedia page.