Richard Stallman, founding father of the free software movement, gave a stimulating, blunt and occasionally eccentric speech this afternoon at the Ynternet.org forum in Geneva. Stallman, who quit his job years ago at MIT to be free to create the free operating system known as GNU, talked about the importance of freedom in the world of software. According to Stallman, there are four principles that must all be adopted. People must be free to control the software they possess on their computers; free to share it with friends; free to change the software and republish it; and free to share with the community. Unlike the open software movement, which focuses on the right to work collaboratively on software, he said, the free software movement focuses fundamentally on individual freedoms. If software isn't free to redistribute, people are put in a bind; either they must break the license when they share the software with friends, or they must be un-neighborly and not share the software. This is an unfair choice put upon people by "mega-corporations," so the solution is to avoid proprietary software altogether.
Stallman took several Thelonious Monk-like breaks in his presentation. He would occasionally exercise his left arm by raising it up and down like he was lifting dumbells. He would yawn and stretch his torso, then arms and hands, reminscent of Kipling's description of Father Wolf stretching his paws "one after the other to get rid of the sleepy feeling in their tips." At one point in the middle of his remarks he paused, announced to the audience, "I'm cold," and walked away to find his jacket, leaving the moderator at a bit of a loss. The audience took it all in stride, with many people grinning and enjoying Richard's unusual style.
Stallman continued by discussing his contribution to copyright policy, which he calls copyleft. People should use the law so that anyone may share or change the software they create, as long as the original license remains intact. That way the spirit of the original creator is preserved in the license.
Stallman went on to note how the free software movement has suffered because of public misperceptions about it and the history of linux. Linux, named for programmer Linus Thorvalds, is really the GNU operating system, he noted. After more than a decade of work, it was almost ready to go, but was missing one crucial piece. Linus created that final piece in 1991, making the free operating system functional. But thereafter the OS became known as Linux, rather than GNU-Linux. Few users of Linux realize how the whole thing started as an attempt to inject individual freedom into computing, not a campaign solely for the sake of encouraging collaborative programming. "Collaboration itself doesn't excuse mistreating people," he said.
Because of current US law, Stallman said, ideas that are used in programming may be patented. Not just the code itself, the idea behind it. Since complex programs may require hundreds of ideas, some of which may be owned by corporations, only corporations with the muscle to cross-license their patents are in a position to create complex software. Being a programmer, Stallman says, "can be dangerous."
He also lamented the term "content," saying that content is merely stuff you use to fill a box, and doesn't convey creativity. Instead, he splits the idea into three concepts: functional works, works that convey a point of view, and works of art. Functional works let you do a particular job. These should be totally free to be modified and shared, he said. Works that convey a point of view should be shared for noncommercial purposes, though perhaps not modified without permission, since that could change the idea the author wished to convey and misrepresent them. Lastly, works of art should be modifiable, but he hasn't made up his mind regarding sharing. Perhaps, he said, works of art could have a brief copyright period so an artist may make a living, but after that the art should be shared.
Near the conclusion of his remarks, Stallman complained how big companies and governments are using unethical tactics to make people afraid of sharing works. One German TV ad, he said, scares viewers by saying if you copy movies and distribute them, you'll go to prison and perhaps be raped. Stallman said the people behind this campaign are "vicious monsters" using "police state terror tactics."
"Anything that prevents you from being friendly, a good neighbor, is a terror tactic," he added.
-ac
Posted by acarvin at December 11, 2003 09:33 AM | TrackBack