Richard Stallman Quotes (130 quotes, page 2)

Richard Stallman: 130 quotes5 likes

Richard Stallman Quotes

“The GNU GPL is not Mr. Nice Guy. It says "no" to some of the things that people sometimes want to do. There are users who say that this is a bad thing — that the GPL "excludes" some proprietary software developers who "need to be brought into the free software community."
But we are not excluding them from our community; they are choosing not to enter. Their decision to make software proprietary is a decision to stay out of our community. Being in our community means joining in cooperation with us; we cannot "bring them into our community" if they don't want to join.
What we can do is offer them an inducement to join. The GNU GPL is designed to make an inducement from our existing software: "If you will make your software free, you can use this code."”

Richard Stallman

Of course, it won't win 'em all, but it wins some of the time.
1990s, Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism (1998)

“The use of “hacker” to mean “security breaker” is a confusion on the part of the mass media. We hackers refuse to recognize that meaning, and continue using the word to mean someone who loves to program, someone who enjoys playful cleverness, or the combination of the two.”

Richard Stallman

"The GNU Project", originally published in Open Sources (1998) http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html 1990s

“The GNU GPL was not designed to be ""open source"". I wrote it for the free software movement, and its purpose is to ensure every user of every version of the program gets the essential freedoms.”

Richard Stallman

""Re: GPL version 4"" on NetBSD mailing list (17 July 2008) http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-users/2008/07/17/msg001546.html See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html for more explanation of the difference between free software and open source. 2000s

“People with new ideas could distribute programs as freeware, asking for donations from satisfied users, or selling hand-holding services. I have met people who are already working this way successfully.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough — you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal. In other words, you need to be pragmatic.”

Richard Stallman

1990s, Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism (1998)

“At present, we have plenty of "keep quiet", but not enough freedom talk. Most people involved with free software say little about freedom — usually because they seek to be "more acceptable to business." Software distributors especially show this pattern. Some GNU/Linŭ operating system distributions add proprietary packages to the basic free system, and they invite users to consider this an advantage, rather than a step backwards from freedom.”

Richard Stallman

1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“C++ is a badly designed and ugly language. It would be a shame to use it in Emacs.”

Richard Stallman

Re: Efforts to attract more users? http://harmful.cat-v.org/software/c++/rms" emacs-devel (12 July 2010) 2010s

“Friends share music with each other, they don't allow themselves to be divided by a system that says that nobody is supposed to have copies.”

Richard Stallman

LibrePlanet Keynote Speech (2015) @20:45 https://media.libreplanet.org/u/libreplanet/m/richard-stallman-free-software-free-hardware/ 2010s

“The part of these immigration bills that I hate most is the requirement for new forms of identification and surveillance of US citizens. I gather this is supported by nearly everyone in Congress. Orwellian surveillance is not controversial in the US, where "Land of the Free" has been replaced with "Let me see your papers."
When the US adopted a requirement for US citizens to prove their citizenship in order to get a job, I vowed I would never do so. I will never again be an employee in the US.”

Richard Stallman

"Border Patrol" (26 May 2006) http://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html#26%20May%202006%20(Border%20Patrol) 2000s

“Fighting patents one by one will never eliminate the danger of software patents, any more than swatting mosquitoes will eliminate malaria.”

Richard Stallman

"How to fight software patents - singly and together", Newsforge (9 September 2004)
2000s

“No person, no idea, and no religion deserves to be illegal to insult, not even the Church of Emacs — and certainly not Islam.”

Richard Stallman

On report of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil who was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Hosni Mubarak, in [http://www.stallman.org/archives/2007-jan-apr.html "Illegal to insult" (1 March 2007) http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1593050,00.html?xid=rss-topstories 2000s

“Thanks to Mr. Gates, we now know that an open Internet with protocols anyone can implement is communism; it was set up by that famous communist agent, the US Department of Defense.”

Richard Stallman

"Bill Gates and other communists ", op-ed at ZDNet (15 February 2005) http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=38018 2000s

“Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“The explanation for "free software" is simple — a person who has grasped the idea of "free speech, not free beer" will not get it wrong again.”

Richard Stallman

1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“All intellectual property rights are just licenses granted by society because it was thought, rightly or wrongly, that society as a whole would benefit by granting them. But in any particular situation, we have to ask: are we really better off granting such license? What kind of act are we licensing a person to do?”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“Prior art is as effective as US soldiers in Iraq: They control the ground they stand on, and nothing more. I used to say Vietnam, but, well, you know…”

Richard Stallman

In a talk on Software Patents; Frankfurt am Main, Germany, (26 September 2004)
2000s

“Using GPL
is encroaching on our rights
to encroach on yours.”

Richard Stallman

Poem on opponents of the GPL’s sharing requirements, as quoted in "Stallman joins the Internet, talks net neutrality, patents and more" at NetworkWorld (23 March 2015)
2010s

“Odious ideas are not entitled to hide from criticism behind the human shield of their believers' feelings.”

Richard Stallman

"Sayings" at Richard Stallman's personal site (c. 2001)
2000s

“Restricting copying is not the only basis for business in software. It is the most common basis because it brings in the most money. If it were prohibited, or rejected by the customer, software business would move to other bases of organization which are now used less often. There are always numerous ways to organize any kind of business.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“Snow is so beautiful, it doesn't have to be useful.”

Richard Stallman

Parliament Hill Speech, Ottawa, Canada, (2 June 2009)
2000s

“Any time I connect to a website other than Wikipedia, it's through Tor.”

Richard Stallman

In a video interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkkDvKGcNSo around 38:20 (published on February 22, 2016) 2010s

“If we are content with knowledge as a commodity, accessible only through a computerized bureaucracy, we can simply let companies provide it. But if we want to keep human knowledge open and freely available to humanity, we have to do the work to make it available that way. We have to write a free encyclopedia.”

Richard Stallman

"The Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource" (1999) http://www.gnu.org/encyclopedia/free-encyclopedia.html 1990s

“The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this way, it does a good job; but its defenders are wrong in assuming it always works this way. If the runners forget why the reward is offered and become intent on winning, no matter how, they may find other strategies — such as, attacking other runners. If the runners get into a fist fight, they will all finish late.
Proprietary and secret software is the moral equivalent of runners in a fist fight.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“There are tremendous actual differences in values. Some value systems, such as the ones that motivate "honor killings", deserve to be morally condemned and rejected. But there are many other variations in values within the bounds of decency.”

Richard Stallman

"The Zeitgeist Movement" (2009) https://stallman.org/articles/zeitgeist.html 2000s

“Publishers and lawyers like to describe copyright as “intellectual property” — a term also applied to patents, trademarks, and other more obscure areas of law. These laws have so little in common, and differ so much, that it is ill-advised to generalize about them. It is best to talk specifically about “copyright,” or about “patents,” or about “trademarks.”
The term “intellectual property” carries a hidden assumption—that the way to think about all these disparate issues is based on an analogy with physical objects, and our conception of them as physical property.
When it comes to copying, this analogy disregards the crucial difference between material objects and information: information can be copied and shared almost effortlessly, while material objects can't be.
To avoid spreading unnecessary bias and confusion, it is best to adopt a firm policy not to speak or even think in terms of “intellectual property”.
The hypocrisy of calling these powers “rights” is starting to make the World “Intellectual Property” Organization embarrassed.”

Richard Stallman

Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing (1996)
1990s

“Radical groups in the 1960s developed a reputation for factionalism: organizations split because of disagreements on details of strategy, and then treated each other as enemies. Or at least, such is the image people have of them, whether or not it was true.
The relationship between the Free Software movement and the Open Source movement is just the opposite of that picture. We disagree on the basic principles, but agree more or less on the practical recommendations. So we can and do work together on many specific projects. 'We don't think of the Open Source movement as an enemy. The enemy is proprietary software.”

Richard Stallman

1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“The term "free software" has an ambiguity problem: an unintended meaning, "Software you can get for zero price," fits the term just as well as the intended meaning, "software which gives the user certain freedoms."”

Richard Stallman

We address this problem by publishing a more precise definition of free software, but this is not a perfect solution; it cannot completely eliminate the problem. An unambiguously correct term would be better, if it didn't have other problems.
1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“The patent system was established to encourage inventors to disclose the details of their inventions. Its purpose was to help society rather than to help inventors. At the time, the life span of 17 years for a patent was short compared with the rate of advance of the state of the art. Since patents are an issue only among manufacturers, for whom the cost and effort of a license agreement are small compared with setting up production, the patents often do not do much harm. They do not obstruct most individuals who use patented products.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“Geeks like to think that they can ignore politics, you can leave politics alone, but politics won't leave you alone.”

Richard Stallman

"O'Reilly Open Source Conference: Day 3" by Paul Weinstein, in Apache Week (26 July 2002) http://www.apacheweek.com/features/oscon2002 2000s

“Arrangements to make people pay for using a program, including licensing of copies, always incur a tremendous cost to society through the cumbersome mechanisms necessary to figure out how much (that is, which programs) a person must pay for. And only a police state can force everyone to obey them. Consider a space station where air must be manufactured at great cost: charging each breather per liter of air may be fair, but wearing the metered gas mask all day and all night is intolerable even if everyone can afford to pay the air bill. And the TV cameras everywhere to see if you ever take the mask off are outrageous. It's better to support the air plant with a head tax and chuck the masks.
Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“Four species of penguins that breed in Antartica are endangered by global warming.
Even I, the only man in the world who can get angry from looking at a picture of a penguin, find this bad news.”

Richard Stallman

"Penguins" (16 December 2007) http://www.stallman.org/archives/2007-sep-dec.html#16%20December%202007%20%28Penguins%29 2000s

“…when I do this, some people think that it's because I want my ego to be fed, right? Of course, I'm not saying — I'm not asking you to call it "Stallmanix," right?”

Richard Stallman

2000s, Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation (2001)

“The Open Source Definition is clear enough, and it is quite clear that the typical non-free program does not qualify. So you would think that "Open Source company" would mean one whose products are free software (or close to it), right? Alas, many companies are trying to give it a different meaning.”

Richard Stallman

1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“If you have a portable surveillance and tracking device, please turn it off. They have already tracked you in here, they already know you are listening to me; so, there is no need for you to keep it on. And by the way, these portable tracking devices emit signals for tracking purposes even when they are apparently switched off; the only way to stop them is to take out all the batteries. And if they want to listen, they don't have to do it through your portable surveillance device, I expect recordings will be posted they can listen to those, and they are even welcome to come and attend. So there is absolutely no reason why your portable tracking and surveillance device has to be on.”

Richard Stallman

After a mobile phone rang at his talk at Moscow State University (3 March 2008)
2000s

“The case of programs today is very different from that of books a hundred years ago. The fact that the easiest way to copy a program is from one neighbor to another, the fact that a program has both source code and object code which are distinct, and the fact that a program is used rather than read and enjoyed, combine to create a situation in which a person who enforces a copyright is harming society as a whole both materially and spiritually; in which a person should not do so regardless of whether the law enables him to.”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“I never imagined that the Free Software Movement would spawn a watered-down alternative, the Open Source Movement, which would become so well-known that people would ask me questions about "open source" thinking that I work under that banner.”

Richard Stallman

2000s, Thus Spake Stallman (2000)

“He [somebody at Carnegie Mellon University] had betrayed us. But he didn't just do it to us. Chances are he did it to you too. [Pointing at member of audience. ] And I think, mostly likely, he did it to you too. [Pointing at another member of audience. ][Laughter] And he probably did it to you as well. [Pointing to third member of audience. ] He probably did it to most of the people here in this room — except a few, maybe, who weren't born yet in 1980. Because he had promised to refuse to cooperate with just about the entire population of the Planet Earth. He had signed a non-disclosure agreement.”

Richard Stallman

2000s, Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation (2001)

“I have to explain that I'm not an anarchist – I have a pro-state gland.”

Richard Stallman

Answer to a question during his keynote speech at Libre Planet 2015. "Stallman joins the Internet, talks net neutrality, patents and more" at NetworkWorld (23 March 2015) http://www.networkworld.com/article/2900305/opensource-subnet/stallman-joins-the-internet-talks-net-neutrality-patents-and-more.html 2010s

“Laws that oppress people have no moral authority.”

Richard Stallman

Human Rights in the Use of Software and Other Published Works (16 May 2007)]
2000s

“It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign. … Somebody is saying this is inevitable – and whenever you hear somebody saying that, it's very likely to be a set of businesses campaigning to make it true.”

Richard Stallman

"Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman", in The Guardian (29 September 2008) http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman 2000s

“To stop using the word "free" now would be a mistake; we need more, not less, talk about freedom.
If those using the term "open source" draw more users into our community, that is a contribution, but the rest of us will have to work even harder to bring the issue of freedom to those users' attention. We have to say, "It's free software and it gives you freedom!"”

Richard Stallman

more and louder than ever before.
1990s, Why "Free Software" is better than "Open Source" (1998)

“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.”

Richard Stallman

On why he decided against writing proprietary software; quoted in Free as in Freedom : Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software' (2002) by Sam Williams http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/index.html 2000s

“If I'm the father of Open Source, it was conceived through artificial insemination using stolen sperm without my knowledge or consent.”

Richard Stallman

Reclaim Your Freedom with Free (Libre) Software (Web Summit, Lisbon, Portugal), Stallman, Richard, 2016-11-10, 2019-04-07, Web Summit https://youtube.com/watch?v=n9YDz-Iwgyw&t=1764, 2016

“My favorite programming languages are Lisp and C. However, since around 1992 I have worked mainly on free software activism, which means I am too busy to do much programming. Around 2008 I stopped doing programming projects.”

Richard Stallman

How I do my computing (2006) http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html 2000s

“It may be true that one can reach more microcomputer users with advertising. If this is really so, a business which advertises the service of copying and mailing GNU for a fee ought to be successful enough to pay for its advertising and more. This way, only the users who benefit from the advertising pay for it.
On the other hand, if many people get GNU from their friends, and such companies don't succeed, this will show that advertising was not really necessary to spread GNU. Why is it that free market advocates don't want to let the free market decide this?”

Richard Stallman

1980s, GNU Manifesto (1985)

“Very ironic things have happened, but nothing to match this — giving the Linus Torvalds Award to the Free Software Foundation is sort of like giving the Han Solo Award to the Rebel Fleet.”

Richard Stallman

Upon receiving the Linus Torvalds Award at Linuxworld, (1999) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDxMJQLXmBE 1990s

“I see nothing unethical in the job it does. Why shouldn't you send a copy of some music to a friend?”

Richard Stallman

Comment on Napster
2000s, Thus Spake Stallman (2000)