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Richard Stallman: The lonely rebel

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CIOL Bureau
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Balaka Baruah Aggarwal

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NEW DELHI: He twirls his curls while he talks. He talks about profound

principles in the same breath as he rushes to execute the most mundane job of

answering the phone. He is absent minded enough to forget his visiting cards or

to wad around the nondescript guesthouse in his socks. Dr Richard M Stallman,

founder of the Free Software Movement strikes you as the quintessential mad

intellectual. Brilliant, idealistic and perhaps a little removed from reality.

He speaks with passion about the philosophy behind the free software

movement. Stallman explains patiently that his philosophy stems from a much

deeper political affiliation of total individual freedom. "It is to do with

the way people live their lives and not allow others to trample on their rights

to do things the way they want to", he said.

A graduate in Physics in 1985, Stallman worked with MIT for a long time

before he gave it all up because he was "disgusted" at the way people

were working towards success. "The moment success becomes your objective,

you start talking of proprietary software which implies controlling other

people's lives and that is not correct", he said.

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He started the Free Software Movement in 1985 with the intention of

developing a complete range of free software applications--the platform is

called GNU/Linux--making proprietary software redundant in the process.

"You see when we develop software we assume it will help people to do

things in many different ways so that at the end of it we have a better world to

live in. If we make software proprietary it will limit the options before people

and not provide the freedom with their lives. Proprietary software reflects an

inherent desire to control and run people's life and that is wrong. Free

software movement is a social goal", he added.

Multinational software companies would be hating his guts. He is clearly a

man under scrutiny. And he is used to his philosophy being questioned. He is

guarded about the way phrases are used in addressing questions. "Please

phrase your questions in a neutral manner. Please do not use phrases like

'aren't you" or "don't you think" as they attribute prejudices

which are not mine?," as he responds to a query.

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He hates words like pirated software. "Words like piracy is a smear.

Piracy is attacking ships and robbing people. If you make a copy of your

software for your neighbor that's not piracy," he said. (The multinationals

would be braying for his blood on this one.)

"Using proprietary software is bad enough. If you make a copy of the

proprietary software and give it to your neighbor at least you will not be a

party to the predators who make money by trampling on people's freedom", he

added.

He rejects phrases like human capital because it has inherent economic

intonations. Economic considerations bring about social inequality creating

conditions where exploiting people for profit making becomes acceptable. Success

in this context is assessed by how much material fulfillment can be achieved

through such means.

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He has set very tall philosophical ideology, which many of his associates

have found difficult to live upto. Stallman was disappointed when he found that

Debian--one of the companies, which he had chosen to work with--had used

expressions that had ambiguous meanings. Debain eventually led the way for the

distortion of the free software movement leading to the emergence of the Open

Source movement. Stallman denounces any links with the open source code

movement.

Can ideology compensate for the basic needs, which can be derived only

through money? "There is nothing wrong in making profits but you have to

find ways in which you do not impinge on the freedom of others", he said.

For instance, one could make customized software for specific needs of users and

charge it.

Stallman could have made packets out of his inventions. His first achievement

was in developing the E-Max Editor in 1975 which was the first program to allow

users to make changes according to his needs. But money was certainly not his

trip

Stallman, a bachelor, is a man of simple tastes. He likes good music, food

and appreciates butterflies. He chips in, "I am particularly fond of

parrots, tamed ones. Sometimes, I play my flute and they listen. Imagine playing

music to a bird. I like that."

He has visited India several times in the recent past and believes that

Indians have responded to his ideology more positively than a lot of other

people. He attributes this to India's cultural and philosophical heritage along

with the huge popularity of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

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