Stallman at THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Today
Richard Stallman, the man who still gives sleepless nights to Bill Gates, is in the city to elaborate why free software is important for the development of the state. Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who is said to have the highest esteem for Stallman, will be present to hear him.
Stallman will deliver the keynote address at a seminar on free software organised by the State IT Mission and Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing at Residency Towers here on Monday.
When Stallman declared that software is an inalienable right of humankind, it inspired a virtual revolution that shook the very foundations of software giant Microsoft.
According to Stallman, users should have the freedom to run, copy, study, change and improve software. Here are the ‘fundamental rights’, according to Stallman: Freedom to run the programme; freedom to study how the programme works and adapt it to suit the requirements of an individual; freedom to redistribute copies; and freedom to improve the programme.
“Value your freedom, or you will lose it, teaches history,” he has famously remarked. Stallman and his free software movement is going through a crucial phase of its evolution as Linux, the symbol of virtual liberation, has now become partially non-free.
By giving prominence to technology over freedom, critics say the ‘freedom fighters’ are now turning conservative. Perhaps why Bill Gates is less worried about Microsoft and is more into charity.
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