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

Stallman, Richard M.; Lessig, Lawrence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1882114981 ISBN 13: 9781882114986

Publisher: Free Software Foundation, 2002

Synopsis

The intersection of ethics, law, business and computer software is the subject of these essays and speeches by MacArthur Foundation Grant winner, Richard M. Stallman. This collection includes historical writings such as The GNU Manifesto, which defined and launched the activist Free Software Movement, along with new writings on hot topics in copyright, patent law, and the controversial issue of "trusted computing." Stallman takes a critical look at common abuses of copyright law and patents when applied to computer software programs, and how these abuses damage our entire society and remove our existing freedoms. He also discusses the social aspects of software and how free software can create community and social justice.

Given the current turmoil in copyright and patent laws, including the DMCA and proposed CBDTPA, these essays are more relevant than ever. Stallman tackles head-on the essential issues driving the current changes in copyright law. He argues that for creativity to flourish, software must be free of inappropriate and overly-broad legal constraints. Over the past twenty years his arguments and actions have changed the course of software history; this new book is sure to impact the future of software and legal policies in the years to come.

Lawrence Lessig, the author of two well-known books on similar topics, writes the introduction. He is a noted legal expert on copyright law and a Stanford Law School professor.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"Richard Stallman is the prophet of the free software movement. He understood the dangers of software patents years ago. Now that this has become a crucial issue in the world, buy this book and read what he said."

Tim Berners-Lee - inventor of the World Wide Web.

"Richard Stallman is the philosopher king of software. He single-handedly ignited what has become a world-wide movement to create software that is Free, with a capital F. He has toiled for years at a project that many once considered a fool's errand, and now widely see as inevitable'."

Simson L. Garfinkel - computer science author and columnist.

"By his hugely successful efforts to establish the idea of 'free software' Stallman has made a massive contribution to the human condition. His contribution combines elements that have technical, social, political, and economic consequences."

Gerald Jay Sussman - Matsushita Professor of Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"'Free as in free speech, not as in free beer.' RMS is the leading philosopher of software. You may dislike some of his attitudes, but you cannot avoid his ideas. This slim volume will make those ideas readily accessible to those who are confused by the buzzwords of rampant commercialism. This book needs to be widely circulated and widely read."

Peter H. Salus - computer science writer, book reviewer, and UNIX historian.

Richard is the leading force of the free software movement. This book is very important to spread the key concepts of free software world-wide, so everyone can understand it. Free software gives people freedom to use their creativity."

Masayuki Ida - Professor, Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University.

About the Author:

Richard M. Stallman is internationally recognized as the creator of the Free Software movement - a progressive worldwide movement to make software code freely available so as to improve its development and accessibility. He has received a host of computer science honors ranging from a 1990 MacArthur "Genius Grant" to his election into the American National Academy of Engineering in 2002.

In 1984 Stallman resigned from his job as a researcher at MIT's AI Lab in protest of its increasingly restrictive copyright policy. He countered by+starting the GNU Project, a revolutionary concept at that time, and by writing the General Public License. GNU with the LINUX kernel is the first freely distributable operating system available with source code and protected by the GPL.

About this edition

• Publisher: Free Software Foundation
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1882114981
• ISBN 13: 9781882114986
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Gay Joshua