Produced by Craig Morehouse
Copyright (C) 2002 by Sam Williams.
Free As in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software.
By Sam Williams
Available on the web at: http://www.faifzilla.org/
Produced under the Free Documentation License
Preface
The work of Richard M. Stallman literally speaks foritself. From the documented source code to thepublished papers to the recorded speeches, few peoplehave expressed as much willingness to lay theirthoughts and their work on the line.
Such openness-if one can pardon a momentary un-Stallmanadjective-is refreshing. After all, we live in asociety that treats information, especially personalinformation, as a valuable commodity. The questionquickly arises. Why would anybody want to part with somuch information and yet appear to demand nothing in return?
As we shall see in later chapters, Stallman does notpart with his words or his work altruistically. Everyprogram, speech, and on-the-record bon mot comes with aprice, albeit not the kind of price most people areused to paying.
I bring this up not as a warning, but as an admission.As a person who has spent the last year digging upfacts on Stallman's personal history, it's more than alittle intimidating going up against the Stallmanoeuvre. "Never pick a fight with a man who buys his inkby the barrel," goes the old Mark Twain adage. In thecase of Stallman, never attempt the definitivebiography of a man who trusts his every thought to thepublic record.
For the readers who have decided to trust a few hoursof their time to exploring this book, I can confidentlystate that there are facts and quotes in here that onewon't find in any Slashdot story or Google search.Gaining access to these facts involves paying a price,however. In the case of the book version, you can payfor these facts the traditional manner, i.e., bypurchasing the book. In the case of the electronicversions, you can pay for these facts in the freesoftware manner. Thanks to the folks at O'Reilly &Associates, this book is being distributed under theGNU Free Documentation License, meaning you can help toimprove the work or create a personalized version andrelease that version under the same license.
If you are reading an electronic version and prefer toaccept the latter payment option, that is, if you wantto improve or expand this book for future readers, Iwelcome your input. Starting in June, 2002, I will bepublishing a bare bones HTML version of the book on theweb site, http://www.faifzilla.org. My aim is to updateit regularly and expand the Free as in Freedom story asevents warrant. If you choose to take the lattercourse, please review Appendix C of this book. Itprovides a copy of your rights under the GNU FreeDocumentation License.
For those who just plan to sit back and read, online orelsewhere, I consider your attention an equallyvaluable form