Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

Collections of essays and speeches by Richard M. Stallman. Includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, along with new writings on copyright, patent law, and the issue of trusted computing.

Publication date: 30 Dec 2009

ISBN-10: 1882114981

ISBN-13: 9781441436207

Paperback: 230 pages

Views: 17,405

Type: Book

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

License: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.1

Post time: 27 Aug 2006 11:58:54

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman

Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman Collections of essays and speeches by Richard M. Stallman. Includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, along with new writings on copyright, patent law, and the issue of trusted computing.
Tag(s): Software Libre and Open Source
Publication date: 30 Dec 2009
ISBN-10: 1882114981
ISBN-13: 9781441436207
Paperback: 230 pages
Views: 17,405
Document Type: Book
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
License: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.1
Post time: 27 Aug 2006 11:58:54
Summary/Excerpts of (and not a substitute for) the GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.1:
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".

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Terms and Conditions:
Joshua Gay wrote:Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this book provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.

Book Excerpts:

The waning days of the 20th century seemed like an Orwellian nightmare: laws preventing publication of scientific research on software; laws preventing sharing software; an overabundance of software patents preventing development; and enduser license agreements that strip the user of all freedoms -- including ownership, privacy, sharing, and understanding how their software works. This collection of essays and speeches by Richard M. Stallman addresses many of these issues. Above all, Stallman discusses the philosophy underlying the free software movement. This movement combats the oppression of federal laws and evil end-user license agreements in hopes of spreading the idea of software freedom.

With the force of hundreds of thousands of developers working to create GNU software and the GNU/Linux operating system, free software has secured a spot on the servers that control the Internet, and -- as it moves into the desktop computer market -- is a threat to Microsoft and other proprietary software companies.

These essays cater to a wide audience; you do not need a computer science background to understand the philosophy and ideas herein. However, there is a 'Note on Software,' to help the less technically inclined reader become familiar with some common computer science jargon and concepts, as well as footnotes throughout.

The ordering of the essays is fairly arbitrary, in that there is no required order to read the essays in, for they were written independently of each other over a period of 18 years.

Also it is important to note that many of the essays have been updated and revised from their originally published versions. And since every chapter has a verbatim copying notice on it, you are free to make and distribute copies of the text.

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About The Author(s)


Richard Matthew Stallman, often known by his initials, rms, is an American software freedom activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in a manner such that its users receive the freedoms to use, study, distribute and modify that software. Software that ensures these freedoms is termed free software. Stallman launched the GNU Project, founded the Free Software Foundation, developed the GNU Compiler Collection and GNU Emacs, and wrote the GNU General Public License.

Richard M. Stallman

Richard Matthew Stallman, often known by his initials, rms, is an American software freedom activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in a manner such that its users receive the freedoms to use, study, distribute and modify that software. Software that ensures these freedoms is termed free software. Stallman launched the GNU Project, founded the Free Software Foundation, developed the GNU Compiler Collection and GNU Emacs, and wrote the GNU General Public License.


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