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diff --git a/data/samples/wrapped/en/free_as_in_freedom_2.richard_stallman_and_the_free_software_revolution.sam_williams.richard_stallman.sst b/data/samples/wrapped/en/free_as_in_freedom_2.richard_stallman_and_the_free_software_revolution.sam_williams.richard_stallman.sst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..46f9314 --- /dev/null +++ b/data/samples/wrapped/en/free_as_in_freedom_2.richard_stallman_and_the_free_software_revolution.sam_williams.richard_stallman.sst @@ -0,0 +1,9157 @@ +% SiSU 4.0 + +@title: Free as in Freedom (2.0) + :subtitle: Richard Stallman and the Free Software Revolution + +@creator: + :author: Williams, Sam; Stallman, Richard M. + +@date: + :published: 2010 + +@rights: + :copyright: Copyright (C) Sam Williams 2002; Copyright 2010 Richard M. Stallman + :license: Published under the GNU Free Documentation License. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License." + +@classify: + :topic_register: SiSU markup sample:book:biography;book:biography;copyright;GNU/Linux:GPL|copyleft|free software;free software;Software:Software Libré;GPL;Linux:GNU|Software Libré;programming + +@links: + { Home and Source }http://faifzilla.org/ + { @ Wikipedia }http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_as_in_Freedom:_Richard_Stallman%27s_Crusade_for_Free_Software + { @ Amazon.com }http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596002874 + { @ Barnes & Noble }http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0596002874 + +@make: +% :headings: none; none; none; Chapter; + :breaks: new=:A,:B,:C,1 + :home_button_text: {Free as in Freedom 2.0}http://stallman.org/; {Free Software Foundation}http://www.fsf.org + :footer: {Free as in Freedom 2.0}http://stallman.org/; {Free Software Foundation}http://www.fsf.org + +% http://static.fsf.org/nosvn/faif-2.0.pdf +% http://www.scribd.com/doc/55232810/Free-as-in-Freedom-Richard-Stallman + +:A~ @title, Sam Williams, Second Edition Revisions by Richard M. Stallman + +---# + +1~pre2 [Publisher Information] + +This is /{Free as in Freedom 2.0: Richard Stallman and the Free Soft-ware +Revolution}/ , a revision of /{Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman’s Crusade +for Free Software}/. + +Copyright c 2002, 2010 Sam Williams \\ Copyright c 2010 Richard M. Stallman + +Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the +terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version +published by the Free Software Foundation;with no Invariant Sections, no +Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included +in the section entitled "GNUFree Documentation License." + +Published by the Free Software Foundation \\ +51 Franklin St., Fifth Floor \\ +Boston, MA 02110-1335 \\ +USA + +ISBN: 9780983159216 + +The cover photograph of Richard Stallman is by Peter Hinely. The PDP-10 +photograph in Chapter 7 is by Rodney Brooks. The photo-graph of St. IGNUcius in +Chapter 8 is by Stian Eikeland + +--+# + +1~ Foreword by Richard M. Stallman + +I have aimed to make this edition combine the advantages of my knowledge and +Williams' interviews and outside viewpoint. The reader can judge to what extent +I have achieved this. + +I read the published text of the English edition for the first time in 2009 +when I was asked to assist in making a French translation of /{Free as in +Freedom}/. It called for more than small changes. + +Many facts needed correction, but deeper changes were also needed. Williams, a +non-programmer, blurred fundamental technical and legal distinctions, such as +that between modifying an existing program's code, on the one hand, and +implementing some of its ideas in a new program, on the other. Thus, the first +edition said that both Gosmacs and GNU Emacs were developed by modifying the +original PDP-10 Emacs, which in fact neither one was. Likewise, it mistakenly +described Linux as a "version of Minix." SCO later made the same false claim in +its infamous lawsuit against IBM, and both Torvalds and Tanenbaum rebutted it. + +The first edition over dramatized many events by projecting spurious emotions +into them. For instance, it said that I "all but shunned" Linux in 1992, and +then made a "a dramatic about-face" by deciding in 1993 to sponsor Debian +GNU/Linux. Both my interest in 1993 and my lack of interest in 1992 were +pragmatic means to pursue the same end: to complete the GNU system. The launch +of the GNU Hurd kernel in 1990 was also a pragmatic move directed at that same +end. + +For all these reasons, many statements in the original edition were mistaken or +incoherent. It was necessary to correct them, but not straightforward to do so +with integrity short of a total rewrite, which was undesirable for other +reasons. Using explicit notes for the corrections was suggested, but in most +chapters the amount of change made explicit notes prohibitive. Some errors were +too pervasive or too in-grained to be corrected by notes. Inline or footnotes +for the rest would have overwhelmed the text in some places and made the text +hard to read; footnotes would have been skipped by readers tired of looking +down for them. I have therefore made corrections directly in the text. + +However, I have not tried to check all the facts and quotations that are +outside my knowledge; most of those I have simply carried forward on Williams' +authority. + +Williams' version contained many quotations that are critical of me. I have +preserved all these, adding rebuttals when appropriate.I have not deleted any +quotation, except in chapter 11where I have deleted some that were about open +source and did not pertain to my life or work. Likewise I have preserved (and +sometimes commented on) most of Williams' own interpretations that criticized +me, when they did not represent misunderstanding of facts or technology, but I +have freely corrected inaccurate assertions about my work and my thoughts and +feelings. I have preserved his personal impressions when presented as such, and +"I" in the text of this edition always refers to Williams except in notes +labeled "RMS:". + +In this edition, the complete system that combines GNU and Linux is always +"GNU/Linux," and "Linux" by itself always refers to Torvalds' kernel, except in +quotations where the other usage is marked with "[sic]". \\ See +http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html for more explanation of why it is +erroneous and unfair to call the whole system "Linux." + +I would like to thank John Sullivan for his many useful criticisms and +suggestions. + +1~ Preface by Sam Williams + +This summer marks the 10th anniversary of the email exchange that set in motion +the writing of /{Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free +Software}/ and, by extension, the work prefaced here, /{Richard Stallman and +the Free Software Revolution}/. + +Needless to say, a lot has changed over the intervening decade. + +Originally conceived in an era of American triumphalism, the book's main +storyline - about one man's Jeremiah-like efforts to enlighten fellow software +developers as to the ethical, if not economic, shortsightedness of a commercial +system bent on turning the free range intellectual culture that gave birth to +computer science into a rude agglomeration of proprietary gated communities - +seems almost nostalgic, a return to the days when the techno-capitalist system +seemed to be working just fine, barring the criticism of a few outlying +skeptics. + +Now that doubting the system has become almost a common virtue,it helps to look +at what narrative threads, if any, remained consistent over the last ten years. + +While I don't follow the software industry as closely as I once did, one thing +that leaps out now, even more than it did then, is the ease with which ordinary +consumers have proven willing to cede vast swaths of private information and +personal user liberty in exchange for riding a top the coolest technology +"platform" or the latest networking trend. + +A few years ago, I might have dubbed this the "iPod Effect," a shorthand salute +to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' unrivaled success in getting both the music +industry and digital music listeners to put aside years of doubt and mutual +animosity to rally around a single, sexy device - the Apple iPod - and its +restrictive licensing regime, iTunes. Were I pitching the story to a magazine +or newspaper nowadays, I'd probably have to call it the "iPad Effect" or maybe +the "Kindle Effect" both in an attempt to keep up with the evolving brand names +and to acknowledge parallel, tectonic shifts in the realm of daily journalism +and electronic book publishing. + +Lest I appear to be gratuitously plugging the above-mentioned brand names, RMS +suggests that I offer equal time to a pair of websites that can spell out their +many disadvantages, especially in the realm of software liberty. I have agreed +to this suggestion in the spirit of equal time. The web sites he recommends are +DefectiveByDesign.org and BadVista.org. + +Regardless of title, the notion of corporate brand as sole guarantor of +software quality in a swiftly changing world remains a hard one to dislodge, +even at a time when most corporate brands are trading at or near historic lows. + +Ten years ago, it wasn't hard to find yourself at a technology conference +listening in on a conversation (or subjected to direct tutelage) in which some +old-timer, Richard Stallman included, offered a compelling vision of an +alternate possibility. It was the job of these old-timers, I ultimately +realized, to make sure we newbies in the journalism game recognized that the +tools we prided ourselves in finally knowing how to use - Microsoft Word, +PowerPoint, Internet Explorer, just to name a few popular offerings from a +single oft-cited vendor - were but a pale shadow of towering edifice the +original architects of the personal computer set out to build. + +Nowadays, it's almost as if the opposite situation is at hand. The edifice is +now a sprawling ecosystem, a jungle teeming with ideas but offering only a few +stable niches for sustainable growth. While one can still find plenty of +hackers willing to grumble about, say, Vista's on going structural flaws, +Apple's dictatorial oversight of the iPhoneApp Store or Google's shifting +definition of the word "evil" - each year brings with it a fresh crop of +"digital native" consumers willing to trust corporate guidance in this +Hobbesian realm. Maybe that's because many of the problems that once made using +your desktop computer such a teeth-grinding experience have largely been paved +over with the help of free software. + +Whatever. As consumer software reliability has improved, the race to stay one +step ahead of consumer taste has put application developers in an even tighter +embrace with moneyed interests. I'm not saying that the hacker ethos no longer +exists or that it has even weakened in any noticeable way. I'm just saying that +I doubt the programmer who generated the Facebook algorithm that rewrites the +"info" pages so that each keyword points to a sponsored page, with an +80-percent semantic error rate to boot, spends much time in his new Porsche +grousing about what the program really could have achieved if only the "suits" +hadn't gotten in the way. + +True, millions of people now run mostly free software on their computers with +many running free software exclusively. From an ordinary consumer perspective, +however, terms like "software" and "computer" have become increasingly distant. +Many 2010-era cell phones could give a 2000-era laptop a run for its money in +the functionality department. And yet, when it comes time to make a cell phone +purchase, how many users lend any thought to the computer or software operating +system making that functionality possible? The vast majority of modern phone +users base their purchasing decisions almost entirely on the number of +applications offered, the robustness of the network and, most important of all, +the monthly service plan. Getting a consumer in this situation to view his or +her software purchase through the lens of personal liberty, as opposed to +personal convenience, is becoming, if not more difficult, certainly a more +complex endeavor. + +Given this form of pessimistic introduction, why should anyone want go on and +read this book? + +I can offer two major reasons. + +The first reason is a personal one. As noted in the Epilogue of /{Free as in +Freedom}/, Richard and I parted on less than cordial terms shortly before the +publication of that book. The fault, in large part, was mine. Having worked +with Richard to make sure that my biographical sketch didn't run afoul of free +software principles - an effort that, I'm proud to say, made /{Free as in +Freedom}/ one of the first works to employ the GNU Free Documentation License +(GFDL) as a copyright mechanism - I abruptly ended the cooperative relationship +when it came time to edit the work and incorporate Richard' lengthy list of +error corrections and requests for clarification. + +Though able to duck behind my own principles of authorial independence and +journalistic objectivity, I have since come to lament not begging the book's +publisher - O'Reilly and Associates - for additional time. Because O'Reilly had +already granted my one major stipulation - the GFDL - and had already put up +with a heavy stream of last-minute changes on my part, however, I was hesitant +to push my luck. + +In the years immediately following the publication of /{Free as in Freedom}/, I +was able to justify my decision by noting that the GFDL, just like the GNU +General Public License in the software realm, makes it possible for any reader +to modify the book and resell it as a competitive work. As Ernest Hemingway +once put it, "the first draft of anything is shit." If Stallman or others +within the hacker community saw /{Free as in Freedom}/ as a first draft at +best, well, at least I had spared them the time and labor of generating their +own first draft. + +Now that Richard has indeed delivered what amounts to a significant rewrite, I +can only but remain true to my younger self and endorse the effort. Indeed, I +salute it. My only remaining hope is that, seeing as how Richard's work doesn't +show any sign of slowing, additional documentation gets added to the mix. + +Before moving on to the next reason, I should note that one of the pleasant +by-products of this book is a re-opening of email communication channels +between Richard and myself. The resulting communication has reacquainted me +with the razor-sharp Stallman writing style. + +An illustrative and perhaps amusing anecdote for anyone out there who has +wrangled with Richard in text: In the course of discussing the passage in which +I observe and document the process of Richard losing his cool amid the rush +hour traffic of Kihei, Maui, a passage that served as the basis for Chapter 7 +("A Brief Journey through Hacker Hell") in the original book, I acknowledged a +common complaint among the book's reviewers - namely, that the episode seemed +out of place, a fragment of magazine-style profile interrupting a book-length +biography. I told Richard that he could discard the episode for that reason +alone but noted that my decision to include it was based on two justifications. +First, it offered a glimpse of the Stallman temper, something I'd been warned +about but had yet to experience in a first hand manner. Second, I felt the +overall scene possessed a certain metaphorical value. Hence the chapter title. +Stallman, to my surprise, agreed on both counts. His concern lay more in the +two off-key words. At one point I quote him accusing the lead driver of our +two-vehicle caravan with "deliberately" leading us down a dead-end street, an +accusation that, if true, suggested a level of malice outside the bounds of the +actual situation. Without the benefit of a recorded transcript - I only had a +notebook at the time, I allowed that it was likely I'd mishandled Stallman's +actual wording and had made it more hurtful than originally intended. + +On a separate issue, meanwhile, Stallman questioned his quoted use of the word +"fucking." Again, I didn't have the moment on tape, but I wrote back that I +distinctly recalled an impressive display of profanity, a reminder of Richard's +New York roots, and was willing to stand by that memory. + +An email response from Richard, received the next day, restated the critique in +a way that forced me to go back and re-read the first message. As it turned +out, Stallman wasn't so much objecting to the "fuck" as the "-ing" portion of +the quote. + +"Part of the reason I doubt [the words] is that they involve using fucking as +an adverb," Stallman wrote. "I have never spoken that way. So I am sure the +words are somewhat altered." + +"Touch'e". + +The second reason a person should feel compelled to read this book cycles back +to the opening theme of this preface - how different a future we face in 2010 +compared to the one we were still squinting our eyes to see back in 2000. I ll +be honest: Like many Americans (and non-Americans), my world view was altered +by the events of September 11, 2001, so much so that it wasn't much longer +after the publication of /{Free as in Freedom}/ that my attention drifted +sharply away from the free software movement and Stallman's efforts to keep it +on course. While I have managed to follow the broad trends and major issues, +the day-to-day drama surrounding software standards, software copyrights and +software patents has become something I largely skip over - the Internet news +equivalent of the Water Board notes in the local daily newspaper, in other +words. + +[RMS: The September 2001 attacks, not mentioned later in the book, deserve +brief comment here. Far from "changing everything," as many proclaim, the +attacks have, in fact, changed very little in the U.S.: There are still +scoundrels in power who hate our freedoms. The only major difference is that +they can now cite "terrorists" as an excuse for laws to take them away. See the +political notes on stallman.org for more about this.] + +This is a lamentable development in large part because, ten years in, I finally +see the maturing 21st century in what I believe to be a clear light. Again, if +this were a pitch letter to some editor, I'd call it "The Process Century." + +By that I mean I we stand at a rare point in history where, all cynicism aside, +the power to change the world really does delegate down to the ordinary +citizen's level. The catch, of course, is that the same power that belongs to +you also belongs to everyone else. Wherein past eras one might have secured +change simply by winning the sympathies of a few well-placed insiders, today's +reformer must bring into alignment an entire vector field of competitive ideas +and interests. In short, being an effective reformer nowadays requires more +than just titanic stamina and a willingness to cry out in the wilderness for a +decade or more, it requires knowing how to articulate durable, scalable ideas, +how to beat the system at its own game. + +On all counts, I would argue that Richard M. Stallman, while maybe not the +archetype, is at the very least an ur-type of the successful reformer just +described. + +While some might lament a future in which every problem seems to take a few +decades of committee meetings and sub-committee hearings just to reach the +correction stage, I, for one, see the alternative - a future so responsive to +individual or small group action that some self-appointed actor finally decides +to put that responsiveness to the test- as too chilling to contemplate. + +In short, if you are the type of person who, like me, hopes to seethe 21st +century follow a less bloody course than the 20th century, the Water Board - in +its many frustrating guises - is where that battle is currently being fought. +As hinted by the Virgil-inspired epigraph introducing the book's first chapter, +I've always held out hope that this book might in some way become a sort of +epic poem for the Internet Age. Built around a heroic but flawed central +figure, its authorial stamp should be allowed to blur with age. + +On that note, I would like to end this preface the same way I always end this +preface - with a request for changes and contributions from any reader wishing +to improve the text. Appendix B - GNU Free Documentation License offers a guide +on your rights as a reader to submit changes, make corrections, or even create +your own spin-off version of the book. If you prefer to simply run the changes +through Richard or myself, you can find the pertinent contact information on +the Free Software Foundation web site. In the meantime, good luck and enjoy the +book! + +group{ + +Sam Williams +Staten Island, +USA + +}group + +1~ Chapter 1 - For Want of a Printer + +code{ + +I fear the Greeks. Even when they bring gifts. + ---Virgil + The Aeneid + +}code + +The new printer was jammed, again. + +Richard M. Stallman, a staff software programmer at the Massachusetts Institute +of Technology's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (AI Lab), discovered the +malfunction the hard way. An hour after sending off a 50-page file to the +office laser printer, Stallman, 27, broke off a productive work session to +retrieve his documents. Upon arrival, he found only four pages in the printer's +tray. To make matters even more frustrating, the four pages belonged to another +user, meaning that Stallman's print job and the unfinished portion of somebody +else's print job were still trapped somewhere within the electrical plumbing of +the lab's computer network. +={ AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) ; + MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology +} + +Waiting for machines is an occupational hazard when you're a software +programmer, so Stallman took his frustration with a grain of salt. Still, the +difference between waiting for a machine and waiting on a machine is a sizable +one. It wasn't the first time he'd been forced to stand over the printer, +watching pages print out one by one. As a person who spent the bulk of his days +and nights improving the efficiency of machines and the software programs that +controlled them, Stallman felt a natural urge to open up the machine, look at +the guts, and seek out the root of the problem. + +Unfortunately, Stallman's skills as a computer programmer did not extend to the +mechanical-engineering realm. As freshly printed documents poured out of the +machine, Stallman had a chance to reflect on other ways to circumvent the +printing jam problem. + +How long ago had it been that the staff members at the AI Lab had welcomed the +new printer with open arms? Stallman wondered. The machine had been a donation +from the Xerox Corporation. A cutting edge prototype, it was a modified version +of a fast Xerox photocopier. Only instead of making copies, it relied on +software data piped in over a computer network to turn that data into +professional-looking documents. Created by engineers at the world-famous Xerox +Palo Alto Research Facility, it was, quite simply, an early taste of the +desktop-printing revolution that would seize the rest of the computing industry +by the end of the decade. +={ Xerox Corporation +10 : + Palo Alto Research Center +} + +Driven by an instinctual urge to play with the best new equipment, programmers +at the AI Lab promptly integrated the new machine into the lab's sophisticated +computing infrastructure. The results had been immediately pleasing. Unlike the +lab's old printer, the new Xerox machine was fast. Pages came flying out at a +rate of one per second, turning a 20-minute print job into a 2-minute print +job. The new machine was also more precise. Circles came out looking like +circles, not ovals. Straight lines came out looking like straight lines, not +low-amplitude sine waves. + +It was, for all intents and purposes, a gift too good to refuse. + +Once the machine was in use, its flaws began to surface. Chief among the +drawbacks was the machine's susceptibility to paper jams. Engineering-minded +programmers quickly understood the reason behind the flaw. As a photocopier, +the machine generally required the direct oversight of a human operator. +Figuring that these human operators would always be on hand to fix a paper jam, +if it occurred, Xerox engineers had devoted their time and energies to +eliminating other pesky problems. In engineering terms, user diligence was +built into the system. + +In modifying the machine for printer use, Xerox engineers had changed the +user-machine relationship in a subtle but profound way. Instead of making the +machine subservient to an individual human operator, they made it subservient +to an entire networked population of human operators. Instead of standing +directly over the machine, a human user on one end of the network sent his +print command through an extended bucket brigade of machines, expecting the +desired content to arrive at the targeted destination and in proper form. It +wasn't until he finally went to check up on the final output that he realized +how little of it had really been printed. + +Stallman was hardly the only AI Lab denizen to notice the problem, but he also +thought of a remedy. Years before, for the lab's previous printer, Stallman had +solved a similar problem by modifying the software program that regulated the +printer, on a small PDP-11machine, as well as the Incompatible Timesharing +System that ran on the main PDP-10 computer. Stallman couldn't eliminate paper +jams, but he could insert software code that made the PDP-11 check the printer +periodically, and report jams back to the PDP-10. Stallman also inserted code +on the PDP-10 to notify every user with a waiting print job that the printer +was jammed. The notice was simple, something along the lines of "The printer is +jammed, please fix it," and because it went out to the people with the most +pressing need to fix the problem, chances were that one of them would fix it +forthwith. +={ PDP-10 computer ; + PDP-11 computer +} + +As fixes go, Stallman's was oblique but elegant. It didn't fix the mechanical +side of the problem, but it did the next best thing by closing the information +loop between user and machine. Thanks to a few additional lines of software +code, AI Lab employees could eliminate the 10 or 15 minutes wasted each week in +running back and forth to check on the printer. In programming terms, +Stallman's fix took advantage of the amplified intelligence of the overall +network. + +"If you got that message, you couldn't assume somebody else would fix it," says +Stallman, recalling the logic. "You had to go to the printer. A minute or two +after the printer got in trouble, the two or three people who got messages +arrive to fix the machine. Of those two or three people, one of them, at least, +would usually know how to fix the problem." + +Such clever fixes were a trademark of the AI Lab and its indigenous population +of programmers. Indeed, the best programmers at the AI Lab disdained the term +programmer, preferring the more slangy occupational title of hacker instead. +The job title covered a host of activities - everything from creative mirth +making to the improvement of existing software and computer systems. Implicit +within the title, however, was the old-fashioned notion of Yankee ingenuity. +For a hacker, writing a software program that worked was only the beginning. A +hacker would try to display his cleverness (and impress other hackers) by +tackling an additional challenge: to make the program particularly fast, small, +powerful, elegant, or somehow impressive in a clever way.~{ For more on the +term "hacker," see Appendix A - Hack, Hackers, and Hacking. }~ + +Companies like Xerox made it a policy to donate their products(and software) to +places where hackers typically congregated. If hackers used these products, +they might go to work for the company later on. In the 60s and early 70s, they +also sometimes developed programs that were useful for the manufacturer to +distribute to other customers. +={ hackers : + philosophy of donating software +7 ; + software : + companies donating ; + source code : + Xerox Corporation publishing +32 +} + +When Stallman noticed the jamming tendency in the Xerox laser printer, he +thought of applying the old fix or "hack" to this printer. In the course of +looking up the Xerox laser-printer software, however, Stallman made a troubling +discovery. The printer didn't have any software, at least nothing Stallman or a +fellow programmer could read. Until then, most companies had made it a form of +courtesy to publish source-code files-readable text files that documented the +individual software commands that told a machine what to do. Xerox, in this +instance, had provided software files only in compiled, or binary, form. If +programmers looked at the files, all they would see was an endless stream of +ones and zeroes - gibberish. +={ Xerox Corporation : + source code, publishing +31 ; + text file source code, publishing ; + binary files +} + +There are programs, called "disassemblers," to convert the ones and zeroes into +low-level machine instructions, but figuring out what those instructions +actually "do" is a long and hard task, known as "reverse engineering." To +reverse engineer this program could have taken more time than five years' worth +of jammed printouts. Stallman wasn't desperate enough for that, so he put the +problem aside. + +Xerox's unfriendly policy contrasted blatantly with the usual practices of the +hacker community. For instance, to develop the program for the PDP-11 that ran +the old printer, and the program for another PDP-11 that handled display +terminals, the AI Lab needed a cross-assembler program to build PDP-11 programs +on the PDP-10 main computer. The lab's hackers could have written one, but +Stallman, a Harvard student, found such a program at Harvard's computer lab. +That program was written to run on the same kind of computer, the PDP-10, +albeit with a different operating system. Stallman never knew who had written +the program, since the source code did not say. But he brought a copy back to +the AI Lab. He then altered the source code to make it run on the AI Lab's +Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS). With no muss and little fuss, the AI Lab +got the program it needed for its software infrastructure. Stallman even added +a few features not found in the original version, making the program more +powerful. "We wound up using it for several years," Stallman says. +={ Harvard University : + computer labs +2 ; + AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) : + borrowing source code for +} + +From the perspective of a 1970s-era programmer, the transaction was the +software equivalent of a neighbor stopping by to borrow a power tool or a cup +of sugar from a neighbor. The only difference was that in borrowing a copy of +the software for the AI Lab, Stallman had done nothing to deprive anyone else +of the use of the program. If anything, other hackers gained in the process, +because Stallman had introduced additional features that other hackers were +welcome to borrow back. For instance, Stallman recalls a programmer at the +private engineering firm, Bolt, Beranek & Newman, borrowing the program. He +made it run on Twenex and added a few additional features, which Stallman +eventually reintegrated into the AI Lab's own source-code archive. The two +programmers decided to maintain a common version together, which had the code +to run either on ITSor on Twenex at the user's choice. +={ Bolt, Beranek & Newman engineering firm } + +"A program would develop the way a city develops," says Stallman, recalling the +software infrastructure of the AI Lab. "Parts would get replaced and rebuilt. +New things would get added on. But you could always look at a certain part and +say, 'Hmm, by the style, I see this part was written back in the early 60s and +this part was written in themid-1970s.'" + +Through this simple system of intellectual accretion, hackers at the AI Lab and +other places built up robust creations. Not every programmer participating in +this culture described himself as a hacker, but most shared the sentiments of +Richard M. Stallman. If a program or software fix was good enough to solve your +problems, it was good enough to solve somebody else's problems. Why not share +it out of a simple desire for good karma? + +This system of cooperation was being undermined by commercial secrecy and +greed, leading to peculiar combinations of secrecy and co-operation. For +instance, computer scientists at UC Berkeley had built up a powerful operating +system called BSD, based on the Unix system they had obtained from AT&T. +Berkeley made BSD available for the cost of copying a tape, but would only give +these tapes to schools that could present a $50,000 source license obtained +from AT&T. The Berkeley hackers continued to share as much as AT&T let them, +but they had not perceived a conflict between the two practices. +={ AT&T ; + Multics operating system ; + UC Berkeley : + building Unix ; + Unix operating system ; + BSD +} + +Likewise, Stallman was annoyed that Xerox had not provided the source-code +files, but not yet angry. He never thought of asking Xerox for a copy. "They +had already given us the laser printer," Stallman says. "I could not say they +owed us something more. Besides, I took for granted that the absence of source +code reflected an intentional decision, and that asking them to change it would +be futile." + +Good news eventually arrived: word had it that a scientist at the +computer-science department at Carnegie Mellon University had a copy of the +laser printer source code. +={ Carnegie Mellon University +17 } + +The association with Carnegie Mellon did not augur well. In 1979, Brian Reid, a +doctoral student there, had shocked the community by refusing to share his +text-formatting program, dubbed Scribe. This text formatter was the first to +have mark-up commands oriented to-wards the desired semantics (such as +"emphasize this word" or "this paragraph is a quotation") rather than low-level +formatting details("put this word in italics" or "narrow the margins for this +paragraph"). Instead Reid sold Scribe to a Pittsburgh-area software company +called Unilogic. His graduate-student career ending, Reid says he simply was +looking for a way to unload the program on a set of developers that would take +pains to keep it from slipping into the public domain.(Why one would consider +such an outcome particularly undesirable is not clear.) To sweeten the deal, +Reid also agreed to insert a set of time-dependent functions - "time bombs" in +software-programmer parlance - that deactivated freely copied versions of the +program after a 90-day expiration date. To avoid deactivation, users paid the +software company, which then issued a code that defused the internal time-bomb +anti-feature. +={ Unilogic software company +1 ; + time bombs, in software ; + Scribe text-formatting program +1 ; + anti-feature +} + +For Stallman, this was a betrayal of the programmer ethos, pure and simple. +Instead of honoring the notion of share-and-share alike, Reid had inserted a +way for companies to compel programmers to pay for information access. But he +didn't think deeply about the question, since he didn't use Scribe much. + +Unilogic gave the AI Lab a gratis copy to use, but did not remove or mention +the time bomb. It worked, for a while; then one day a user reported that Scribe +had stopped working. System hacker Howard Cannon spent hours debugging the +binary until he found the time-bomb and patched it out. Cannon was incensed, +and wasn't shy about telling the other hackers how mad he was that Unilogic had +wasted his time with an intentional bug. + +Stallman had a Lab-related reason, a few months later, to visit the Carnegie +Mellon campus. During that visit, he made a point of looking for the person +reported to have the printer software source code. By good fortune, the man was +in his office. + +In true engineer-to-engineer fashion, the conversation was cordial but blunt. +After briefly introducing himself as a visitor from MIT, Stallman requested a +copy of the laser-printer source code that he wanted to modify. To his chagrin, +the researcher refused. + +"He told me that he had promised not to give me a copy," Stallman says. + +Memory is a funny thing. Twenty years after the fact, Stallman's mental history +tape is blank in places. Not only does he not remember the motivating reason +for the trip or even the time of year during which he took it, he also has no +recollection of who was on the other end of the conversation. According to +Reid, the person most likely to have fielded Stallman's request is Robert +Sproull, a former Xerox PARC researcher and current director of Sun +Laboratories, a research division of the computer-technology conglomerate Sun +Microsystems. During the 1970s, Sproull had been the primary developer of the +laser-printer software in question while at Xerox PARC. Around 1980, Sproull +took a faculty research position at Carnegie Mellon where he continued his +laser-printer work amid other projects. +={ Xerox Corporation : + PARC | Palo Alto Research Center ; + Sproull, Robert (Xerox PARC researcher) ; + Sun Laboratories +} + +When asked directly about the request, however, Sproull draws a blank. "I can't +make a factual comment," writes Sproull via email. "I have absolutely no +recollection of the incident." + +"The code that Stallman was asking for was leading-edge, state-of-the-art code +that Sproull had written in the year or so before going to Carnegie Mellon," +recalls Reid. If so, that might indicate a mis-understanding that occurred, +since Stallman wanted the source for the program that MIT had used for quite +some time, not some newer version. But the question of which version never +arose in the brief conversation. + +In talking to audiences, Stallman has made repeated reference to the incident, +noting that the man's unwillingness to hand over the source code stemmed from a +nondisclosure agreement, a contractual agreement between him and the Xerox +Corporation giving the signatory access to the software source code in exchange +for a promise of secrecy. Now a standard item of business in the software +industry, the nondisclosure agreement, or NDA, was a novel development at the +time, a reflection of both the commercial value of the laser printer to Xerox +and the information needed to run it. "Xerox was at the time trying to make a +commercial product out of the laser printer," recalls Reid. "They would have +been insane to give away the source code." +={ NDAs (nondisclosure agreements) : + for source code +13 ; + nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) : + for source code +13 +} + +For Stallman, however, the NDA was something else entirely. It was a refusal on +the part of some CMU researcher to participate in a society that, until then, +had encouraged software programmers to regard programs as communal resources. +Like a peasant whose centuries-old irrigation ditch had grown suddenly dry, +Stallman had followed the ditch to its source only to find a brand-spanking-new +hydroelectric dam bearing the Xerox logo. + +For Stallman, the realization that Xerox had compelled a fellow programmer to +participate in this newfangled system of compelled secrecy took a while to sink +in. In the first moment, he could only seethe refusal in a personal context. "I +was so angry I couldn't think of a way to express it. So I just turned away and +walked out without another word," Stallman recalls. "I might have slammed the +door. Who knows? All I remember is wanting to get out of there. I went to his +office expecting him to cooperate, so I had not thought about how I would +respond if he refused. When he did, I was stunned speechless as well as +disappointed and angry." + +Twenty years after the fact, the anger still lingers, and Stallman presents the +event as one that made him confront an ethical issue, though not the only such +event on his path. Within the next few months, a series of events would befall +both Stallman and the AI Lab hacker community that would make 30 seconds worth +of tension in a remote Carnegie Mellon office seem trivial by comparison. +Nevertheless, when it comes time to sort out the events that would transform +Stallman from a lone hacker, instinctively suspicious of centralized authority, +to a crusading activist applying traditional notions of liberty, equality, and +fraternity to the world of software development, Stallman singles out the +Carnegie Mellon encounter for special attention. + +"It was my first encounter with a nondisclosure agreement, and it immediately +taught me that nondisclosure agreements have victims," says Stallman, firmly. +"In this case I was the victim. [My lab and I]were victims." + +Stallman later explained, "If he had refused me his cooperation for personal +reasons, it would not have raised any larger issue. I might have considered him +a jerk, but no more. The fact that his refusal was impersonal, that he had +promised in advance to be uncooperative, not just to me but to anyone +whatsoever, made this a larger issue." + +Although previous events had raised Stallman's ire, he says it wasn't until his +Carnegie Mellon encounter that he realized the events were beginning to intrude +on a culture he had long considered sacrosanct. He said, "I already had an idea +that software should be shared, but I wasn't sure how to think about that. My +thoughts weren't clear and organized to the point where I could express them in +a concise fashion to the rest of the world. After this experience, I started to +recognize what the issue was, and how big it was." + +As an elite programmer at one of the world's elite institutions, Stallman had +been perfectly willing to ignore the compromises and bargains of his fellow +programmers just so long as they didn't interfere with his own work. Until the +arrival of the Xerox laser printer, Stallman had been content to look down on +the machines and programs other computer users grimly tolerated. + +Now that the laser printer had insinuated itself within the AI Lab's network, +however, something had changed. The machine worked fine, barring the paper +jams, but the ability to modify software according to personal taste or +community need had been taken away. From the viewpoint of the software +industry, the printer software represented a change in business tactics. +Software had become such a valuable asset that companies no longer accepted the +need to publicize source code, especially when publication meant giving +potential competitors a chance to duplicate something cheaply. From Stallman's +viewpoint, the printer was a Trojan Horse. After a decade of failure, software +that users could not change and redistribute - future hackers would use the +term "proprietary" software - had gained a foothold inside the AI Lab through +the sneakiest of methods. It had come disguised as a gift. +={ proprietary software } + +That Xerox had offered some programmers access to additional gifts in exchange +for secrecy was also galling, but Stallman takes pains to note that, if +presented with such a quid pro quo bargain at a younger age, he just might have +taken the Xerox Corporation up on its offer. The anger of the Carnegie Mellon +encounter, however, had a firming effect on Stallman's own moral lassitude. Not +only did it give him the necessary anger to view such future offers with +suspicion, it also forced him to turn the situation around: what if a fellow +hacker dropped into Stallman's office someday and it suddenly became Stallman's +job to refuse the hacker's request for source code? + +"When somebody invited me to betray all my colleagues in that way, I remembered +how angry I was when somebody else had done that to me and my whole lab," +Stallman says. "So I said, 'Thank you very much for offering me this nice +software package, but I can't accept it on the conditions that you're asking +for, so I'm going to do without it.'" + +It was a lesson Stallman would carry with him through the tumultuous years of +the 1980s, a decade during which many of his MIT colleagues would depart the AI +Lab and sign nondisclosure agreements of their own. They may have told +themselves that this was a necessary evil so they could work on the best +projects. For Stallman, however, the NDA called the moral legitimacy of the +project into question. What good is a technically exciting project if it is +meant to be withheld from the community? + +As Stallman would quickly learn, refusing such offers involved more than +personal sacrifice. It involved segregating himself from fellow hackers who, +though sharing a similar distaste for secrecy, tended to express that distaste +in a more morally flexible fashion. Refusing another's request for source code, +Stallman decided, was not only a betrayal of the scientific mission that had +nurtured software development since the end of World War II, it was a violation +of the Golden Rule, the baseline moral dictate to do unto others as you would +have them do unto you. + +Hence the importance of the laser printer and the encounter that resulted from +it. Without it, Stallman says, his life might have followed a more ordinary +path, one balancing the material comforts of a commercial programmer with the +ultimate frustration of a life spent writing invisible software code. There +would have been no sense of clarity, no urgency to address a problem others +weren't addressing. Most importantly, there would have been no righteous anger, +an emotion that, as we soon shall see, has propelled Stallman's career as +surely as any political ideology or ethical belief. + +"From that day forward, I decided this was something I could never participate +in," says Stallman, alluding to the practice of trading personal liberty for +the sake of convenience - Stallman's description of the NDA bargain - as well +as the overall culture that encouraged such ethically suspect deal-making in +the first place. "I decided never to make other people victims as I had been a +victim." + +1~ Chapter 2 - 2001: A Hacker's Odyssey + +The New York University computer-science department sits inside Warren Weaver +Hall, a fortress-like building located two blocks east of Washington Square +Park. Industrial-strength air-conditioning vents create a surrounding moat of +hot air, discouraging loiterers and solicitors alike. Visitors who breach the +moat encounter another formidable barrier, a security check-in counter +immediately inside the building's single entryway. +={ Warren Weaver Hall +2 ; + New York University computer science department +44 +} + +Beyond the security checkpoint, the atmosphere relaxes somewhat. Still, +numerous signs scattered throughout the first floor preach the dangers of +unsecured doors and propped-open fire exits. Taken as a whole, the signs offer +a reminder: even in the relatively tranquil confines of pre-September 11, 2001, +New York, one can never be too careful or too suspicious. + +The signs offer an interesting thematic counterpoint to the growing number of +visitors gathering in the hall's interior atrium. A few look like NYU students. +Most look like shaggy-haired concert-goers milling outside a music hall in +anticipation of the main act. For one brief morning, the masses have taken over +Warren Weaver Hall, leaving the nearby security attendant with nothing better +to do but watch Ricki Lake on TV and shrug her shoulders toward the nearby +auditorium whenever visitors ask about "the speech." + +Once inside the auditorium, a visitor finds the person who has forced this +temporary shutdown of building security procedures. The person is Richard M. +Stallman, founder of the GNU Project, original president of the Free Software +Foundation, winner of the 1990 MacArthur Fellowship, winner of the Association +of Computing Machinery's Grace Murray Hopper Award (also in 1990), co-recipient +of the Takeda Foundation's 2001 Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, +and former AI Lab hacker. As announced over a host of hacker-related web sites, +including the GNU Project's own http://www.gnu.org site, Stallman is in +Manhattan, his former hometown, to deliver a much anticipated speech in +rebuttal to the Microsoft Corporation's recent campaign against the GNU General +Public License. +={ Free Software Foundation (FSF) +1 ; + FSF (Free Software Foundation) ; + GNU General Public License +1 ; + GNU Project : + web site for ; + GPL +1 ; + MacArthur Fellowship Program ; + Microsoft Corporation +8 +} + +The subject of Stallman's speech is the history and future of the free software +movement. The location is significant. Less than a month before, Microsoft +senior vice president Craig Mundie appeared at the nearby NYU Stern School of +Business, delivering a speech blasting the GNU General Public License, or GNU +GPL, a legal device originally conceived by Stallman 16 years before. Built to +counteract the growing wave of software secrecy overtaking the computer +industry - a wave first noticed by Stallman during his 1980 troubles with the +Xerox laser printer - the GPL has evolved into a central tool of the free +software community. In simplest terms, the GPL establishes a form of communal +ownership - what today's legal scholars now call the "digital commons" - +through the legal weight of copyright. The GPL makes this irrevocable; once an +author gives code to the community in this way, that code can't be made +proprietary by anyone else. Derivative versions must carry the same copyright +license, if they use a substantial amount of the original source code. For this +reason, critics of the GPL have taken to calling it a "viral" license, +suggesting inaccurately that it spreads itself to every software program it +touches.~{ Actually, the GPL's powers are not quite that potent: just putting +your code in the same computer with a GPL-covered program does not put your +code under the GPL. "To compare something to a virus is very harsh," says +Stallman. "A spider plant is a more accurate comparison; it goes to another +place if you actively take a cutting." For more information on the GNU General +Public License, \\ visit http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html. }~ +={ Mundie, Craig +2 ; + NYU Stern School of Business ; + Stern School of Business (NYU) +} + +In an information economy increasingly dependent on software and increasingly +beholden to software standards, the GPL has become the proverbial "big stick." +Even companies that once derided it as "software socialism" have come around to +recognize the benefits. Linux, the kernel developed by Finnish college student +Linus Torvalds in 1991, is licensed under the GPL, as are most parts of the GNU +system: GNU Emacs, the GNU Debugger, the GNU C Compiler, etc. Together, these +tools form the components of the free software GNU/Linux operating system, +developed, nurtured, and owned by the worldwide hacker community. Instead of +viewing this community as a threat, high-tech companies like IBM, Hewlett +Packard, and Sun Microsystems have come to rely upon it, selling software +applications and services built to ride atop the ever-growing free software +infrastructure.~{ Although these applications run on GNU/Linux, it does not +follow that they are themselves free software. On the contrary, most of them +applications are proprietary software, and respect your freedom no more than +Windows does. They may contribute to the success of GNU/Linux, but they don't +contribute to the goal of freedom for which it exists. }~ +={ C Compiler (GNU) ; + GNU Debugger (GDB) ; + GDB (GNU Debugger) ; + Debugger ; + Emacs text editor ; + GNU Emacs ; + GNU C Compiler (GCC) +9 ; + GCC (GNU C Compiler) ; + Hewlett Packard : + free software community and ; + IBM : + free software community and ; + Linux ; + Torvalds, Linus ; + Sun Microsystems : + free software community and +} + +They've also come to rely upon it as a strategic weapon in the hacker +community's perennial war against Microsoft, the Redmond, Washington-based +company that has dominated the PC-software marketplace since the late 1980s. As +owner of the popular Windows operating system, Microsoft stands to lose the +most in an industry-wide shift to the GPL license. Each program in the Windows +colossus is covered by copyrights and contracts (End User License Agreements, +or EULAs) asserting the proprietary status of the executable, as well as the +underlying source code that users can't get anyway. Incorporating code +protected by the "viral" GPL into one of these programs is forbidden; to comply +with the GPL's requirements, Microsoft would be legally required to make that +whole program free software. Rival companies could then copy, modify, and sell +improved versions of it, taking away the basis of Microsoft's lock over the +users. +={ Windows (Microsoft) : + source code and ; + open source : + software development, approach to ; + Redmond (Washington) +} + +Hence the company's growing concern over the GPL's rate of adoption. Hence the +recent Mundie speech blasting the GPL and the "open source" approach to +software development and sales. (Microsoft does not even acknowledge the term +"free software," preferring to use its attacks to direct attention towards the +apolitical "open source" camp described in chapter 11, and away from the free +software movement.) And hence Stallman's decision to deliver a public rebuttal +to that speech on the same campus here today. + +20 years is a long time in the software industry. Consider this: in 1980, when +Richard Stallman was cursing the AI Lab's Xerox laser printer, Microsoft, which +dominates the worldwide software industry, was still a privately held startup. +IBM, the company then regarded as the most powerful force in the computer +hardware industry, had yet to introduce its first personal computer, thereby +igniting the current low-cost PC market. Many of the technologies we now take +for granted - the World Wide Web, satellite television, 32-bit video-game +consoles - didn't even exist. The same goes for many of the companies that now +fill the upper echelons of the corporate establishment, companies like AOL, Sun +Microsystems, Amazon.com, Compaq, and Dell. The list goes on and on. +={ Amazon.com ; + AOL (America OnLine) ; + Compaq computers ; + Dell computers ; + PCs (personal computers) ; + personal computers (PCs) +} + +Among those who value progress above freedom, the fact that the high-technology +marketplace has come so far in such little time is cited both for and against +the GNU GPL. Some argue in favor of the GPL, pointing to the short lifespan of +most computer hardware platforms. Facing the risk of buying an obsolete +product, consumers tend to flock to companies with the best long-term survival. +As a result, the software marketplace has become a winner-take-all arena.~{ See +Shubha Ghosh, "Revealing the Microsoft Windows Source Code," Gi-galaw.com +(January, 2000), \\ http://www.gigalaw.com/. }~ The proprietary software +environment, they say, leads to monopoly abuse and stagnation. Strong companies +suck all the oxygen out of the marketplace for rival competitors and innovative +startups. Others argue just the opposite. Selling software is just as risky, if +not more risky, than buying software, they say. Without the legal guarantees +provided by proprietary software licenses, not to mention the economic +prospects of a privately owned "killer app" (i.e., a break-through technology +that launches an entirely new market),~{ Killer apps don't have to be +proprietary. Still, I think the reader gets the point: the software marketplace +is like the lottery. The bigger the potential pay-off, the more people want to +participate. For a good summary of the killer-app phenomenon, see Philip +Ben-David, "Whatever Happened to the 'Killer App'?", e-Commerce News (December +7, 2000), \\ http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/5893.html. }~ companies lose +the incentive to participate. Once again, the market stagnates and innovation +declines. As Mundie himself noted in his May 3rd address on the same campus, +the GPL's "viral" nature "poses a threat" to any company that relies on the +uniqueness of its software as a competitive asset. Added Mundie: +={ Mundie, Craig +3 } + +_1 It also fundamentally undermines the independent commercial software sector +because it effectively makes it impossible to distribute software on a basis +where recipients pay for the product rather than just the cost of +distribution.~{ See Craig Mundie, "The Commercial Software Model," senior vice +president, Microsoft Corp., excerpted from an online transcript of Mundie's May +3, 2001, speech to the New York University Stern School of Business, \\ +http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/craig/05-03sharedsource.asp. }~ + +The mutual success of GNU/Linux and Windows over the last 10years suggests that +both sides on this question are sometimes right. However, free software +activists such as Stallman think this is a side issue. The real question, they +say, isn't whether free or proprietary software will succeed more, it's which +one is more ethical. + +Nevertheless, the battle for momentum is an important one in the software +industry. Even powerful vendors such as Microsoft rely on the support of +third-party software developers whose tools, programs, and computer games make +an underlying software platform such as Windows more attractive to the +mainstream consumer. Citing the rapid evolution of the technology marketplace +over the last 20 years, not to mention his own company's impressive track +record during that period, Mundie advised listeners to not get too carried away +by the free software movement's recent momentum: +={ GNU Project : + Linux and, mutual success of ; + Linux : + GNU Project and ; + third-party software developers supporting Microsoft +} + +_1 Two decades of experience have shown that an economic model that protects +intellectual property and a business model that recoups research and +development costs can create impressive economic benefits and distribute them +very broadly.~{ /{Ibid.}/ }~ + +Such admonitions serve as the backdrop for Stallman's speech today. Less than a +month after their utterance, Stallman stands with his back to one of the chalk +boards at the front of the room, edgy to begin. + +If the last two decades have brought dramatic changes to the software +marketplace, they have brought even more dramatic changes to Stallman himself. +Gone is the skinny, clean-shaven hacker who once spent his entire days +communing with his beloved PDP-10. In his place stands a heavy-set middle-aged +man with long hair and rabbinical beard, a man who now spends the bulk of his +time writing and answering email, haranguing fellow programmers, and giving +speeches like the one today. Dressed in an aqua-colored T-shirt and brown +polyester pants, Stallman looks like a desert hermit who just stepped out of a +Salvation Army dressing room. + +The crowd is filled with visitors who share Stallman's fashion and grooming +tastes. Many come bearing laptop computers and cellular modems, all the better +to record and transmit Stallman's words to a waiting Internet audience. The +gender ratio is roughly 15 males to 1 female, and 1 of the 7 or 8 females in +the room comes in bearing a stuffed penguin, the official Linux mascot, while +another carries a stuffed teddy bear. + +Agitated, Stallman leaves his post at the front of the room and takes a seat in +a front-row chair, tapping commands into an already-opened laptop. For the next +10 minutes Stallman is oblivious to the growing number of students, professors, +and fans circulating in front of him at the foot of the auditorium stage. + +Before the speech can begin, the baroque rituals of academic formality must be +observed. Stallman's appearance merits not one but two introductions. Mike +Uretsky, co-director of the Stern School's Center for Advanced Technology, +provides the first. +={ Uretsky, Mike +5 } + +"The role of a university is to foster debate and to have interesting +discussions," Uretsky says. "This particular presentation, this seminar falls +right into that mold. I find the discussion of open source particularly +interesting." + +Before Uretsky can get another sentence out, Stallman is on his feet waving him +down like a stranded motorist. + +"I do free software," Stallman says to rising laughter. "Open source is a +different movement. + +"The laughter gives way to applause. The room is stocked with Stallman +partisans, people who know of his reputation for verbal exactitude, not to +mention his much publicized 1998 falling out with the open source software +proponents. Most have come to anticipate such outbursts the same way radio fans +once waited for Jack Benny's trademark, "Now cut that out!" phrase during each +radio program. + +Uretsky hastily finishes his introduction and cedes the stage to Edmond +Schonberg, a professor in the NYU computer-science department. As a computer +programmer and GNU Project contributor, Schonberg knows which linguistic land +mines to avoid. He deftly summarizes Stallman's career from the perspective of +a modern-day programmer. +={ Schonberg, Ed. +2 } + +"Richard is the perfect example of somebody who, by acting locally, started +thinking globally [about] problems concerning the un-availability of source +code," says Schonberg. "He has developed a coherent philosophy that has forced +all of us to reexamine our ideas of how software is produced, of what +intellectual property means, and of what the software community actually +represents."~{ If this were to be said today, Stallman would object to the term +"intellectual property" as carrying bias and confusion. \\ See +http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html. }~ + +Schonberg welcomes Stallman to more applause. Stallman takes a moment to shut +off his laptop, rises out of his chair, and takes the stage. + +At first, Stallman's address seems more Catskills comedy routine than political +speech. "I'd like to thank Microsoft for providing me the opportunity to be on +this platform," Stallman wisecracks. "For the past few weeks, I have felt like +an author whose book was fortuitously banned somewhere." + +For the uninitiated, Stallman dives into a quick free software warm-up analogy. +He likens a software program to a cooking recipe. Both provide useful +step-by-step instructions on how to complete a desired task and can be easily +modified if a user has special desires or circumstances. "You don't have to +follow a recipe exactly," Stallman notes. "You can leave out some ingredients. +Add some mushrooms, 'cause you like mushrooms. Put in less salt because your +doctor said you should cut down on salt - whatever." + +Most importantly, Stallman says, software programs and recipes are both easy to +share. In giving a recipe to a dinner guest, a cook loses little more than time +and the cost of the paper the recipe was written on. Software programs require +even less, usually a few mouse-clicks and a modicum of electricity. In both +instances, however, the person giving the information gains two things: +increased friendship and the ability to borrow interesting recipes in return. + +"Imagine what it would be like if recipes were packaged inside black boxes," +Stallman says, shifting gears. "You couldn't see what ingredients they're +using, let alone change them, and imagine if you made a copy for a friend. They +would call you a pirate and try to put you in prison for years. That world +would create tremendous outrage from all the people who are used to sharing +recipes. But that is exactly what the world of proprietary software is like. A +world in which common decency towards other people is prohibited or prevented." + +With this introductory analogy out of the way, Stallman launches into a +retelling of the Xerox laser-printer episode. Like the recipe analogy, the +laser-printer story is a useful rhetorical device. With its parable-like +structure, it dramatizes just how quickly things can change in the software +world. Drawing listeners back to an era before Amazon.com one-click shopping, +Microsoft Windows, and Oracle databases, it asks the listener to examine the +notion of software ownership free of its current corporate logos. + +Stallman delivers the story with all the polish and practice of a local +district attorney conducting a closing argument. When he gets to the part about +the Carnegie Mellon professor refusing to lend him a copy of the printer source +code, Stallman pauses. + +"He had betrayed us," Stallman says. "But he didn't just do it to us. Chances +are he did it to you." + +On the word "you," Stallman points his index finger accusingly at an +unsuspecting member of the audience. The targeted audience member's eyebrows +flinch slightly, but Stallman's own eyes have moved on. Slowly and +deliberately, Stallman picks out a second listener to nervous titters from the +crowd. "And I think, mostly likely, he did it to you, too," he says, pointing +at an audience member three rows behind the first. + +By the time Stallman has a third audience member picked out, the titters have +given away to general laughter. The gesture seems a bit staged, because it is. +Still, when it comes time to wrap up the Xerox laser-printer story, Stallman +does so with a showman's flourish. "He probably did it to most of the people +here in this room - except a few, maybe, who weren't born yet in 1980," +Stallman says, drawing more laughs. "[That's] because he had promised to refuse +to cooperate with just about the entire population of the planet Earth." + +Stallman lets the comment sink in for a half-beat. "He had signed a +nondisclosure agreement," Stallman adds. + +Richard Matthew Stallman's rise from frustrated academic to political leader +over the last 20 years speaks to many things. It speaks to Stallman's stubborn +nature and prodigious will. It speaks to the clearly articulated vision and +values of the free software movement Stallman helped build. It speaks to the +high-quality software programs Stallman has built, programs that have cemented +Stallman's reputation as a programming legend. It speaks to the growing +momentum of the GPL, a legal innovation that many Stallman observers see as his +most momentous accomplishment. + +Most importantly, it speaks to the changing nature of political power in a +world increasingly beholden to computer technology and the software programs +that power that technology. + +Maybe that's why, even at a time when most high-technology stars are on the +wane, Stallman's star has grown. Since launching the GNU Project in 1984,~{ The +acronym GNU stands for "GNU's not Unix." In another portion of the May 29, +2001, NYU speech, Stallman summed up the acronym's origin: \\ We hackers always +look for a funny or naughty name for a program, because naming a program is +half the fun of writing the program. We also had a tradition of recursive +acronyms, to say that the program that you're writing is similar to some +existing program... I looked for a recursive acronym for Something Is Not UNIX. +And I tried all 26 letters and discovered that none of them was a word. I +decided to make it a contraction. That way I could have a three-letter acronym, +for Something's Not UNIX. And I tried letters, and I came across the word +"GNU." That was it. \\ Although a fan of puns, Stallman recommends that +software users pronounce the "g" at the beginning of the acronym (i.e., +"gah-new").Not only does this avoid confusion with the word "gnu," the name of +the African antelope, Connochaetes gnou, it also avoids confusion with the +adjective "new." "We've been working on it for 17 years now, so it is not +exactly new any more," Stallman says. \\ Source: author notes and online +transcript of "Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation," Richard Stallman's May +29, 2001, speech at New York University, \\ +http://www.gnu.org/events/rms-nyu-2001-transcript.txt. }~ Stallman has been at +turns ignored, satirized, vilified, and attacked-both from within and without +the free software movement. Through it all, the GNU Project has managed to meet +its milestones, albeit with a few notorious delays, and stay relevant in a +software marketplace several orders of magnitude more complex than the one it +entered 18 years ago. So too has the free software ideology, an ideology +meticulously groomed by Stallman himself. + +To understand the reasons behind this currency, it helps to examine Richard +Stallman both in his own words and in the words of the people who have +collaborated and battled with him along the way. The Richard Stallman character +sketch is not a complicated one. If any person exemplifies the old adage "what +you see is what you get," it's Stallman. + +"I think if you want to understand Richard Stallman the human being, you really +need to see all of the parts as a consistent whole," advises Eben Moglen, legal +counsel to the Free Software Foundation and professor of law at Columbia +University Law School. "All those personal eccentricities that lots of people +see as obstacles to getting to know Stallman really 'are' Stallman: Richard's +strong sense of personal frustration, his enormous sense of principled ethical +commitment, his inability to compromise, especially on issues he considers +fundamental. These are all the very reasons Richard did what he did when he +did." +={ Columbia University ; + Moglen, Eben +2 +} + +Explaining how a journey that started with a laser printer would eventually +lead to a sparring match with the world's richest corporation is no easy task. +It requires a thoughtful examination of the forces that have made software +ownership so important in today's society. It also requires a thoughtful +examination of a man who, like many political leaders before him, understands +the malleability of human memory. It requires an ability to interpret the myths +and politically laden codewords that have built up around Stallman over time. +Finally, it requires an understanding of Stallman's genius as a programmer and +his failures and successes in translating that genius to other pursuits. + +When it comes to offering his own summary of the journey, Stallman acknowledges +the fusion of personality and principle observed by Moglen. "Stubbornness is my +strong suit," he says. "Most people who attempt to do anything of any great +difficulty eventually get discouraged and give up. I never gave up." + +He also credits blind chance. Had it not been for that run-in over the Xerox +laser printer, had it not been for the personal and political conflicts that +closed out his career as an MIT employee, had it not been for a half dozen +other timely factors, Stallman finds it very easy to picture his life following +a different career path. That being said, Stallman gives thanks to the forces +and circumstances that put him in the position to make a difference. + +"I had just the right skills," says Stallman, summing up his decision for +launching the GNU Project to the audience. "Nobody was there but me, so I felt +like, 'I'm elected. I have to work on this. If not me, who?'" + +1~ Chapter 3 - A Portrait of the Hacker as a Young Man +={ Stallman, Richard M. : + childhood +61 +} + +Richard Stallman's mother, Alice Lippman, still remembers the moment she +realized her son had a special gift. +={ Lippman, Alice +60 } + +"I think it was when he was eight," Lippman recalls. + +The year was 1961, and Lippman, a recently divorced single mother, was whiling +away a weekend afternoon within the family's tiny one-bedroom apartment on +Manhattan's Upper West Side. Leafing throug ha copy of Scientific American, +Lippman came upon her favorite section, the Martin Gardner-authored column +titled "Mathematical Games." A substitute art teacher at the time, Lippman +enjoyed Gardner's column for the brain-teasers it provided. With her son +already ensconced in a book on the nearby sofa, Lippman decided to take a crack +at solving the week's feature puzzle. + +"I wasn't the best person when it came to solving the puzzles," she admits. +"But as an artist, I found they really helped me work through conceptual +barriers." + +Lippman says her attempt to solve the puzzle met an immediate brick wall. About +to throw the magazine down in disgust, Lippman was surprised by a gentle tug on +her shirt sleeve. + +"It was Richard," she recalls, "He wanted to know if I needed any help." + +Looking back and forth, between the puzzle and her son, Lippman says she +initially regarded the offer with skepticism. "I asked Richard if he'd read the +magazine," she says. "He told me that, yes, he had and what's more he'd already +solved the puzzle. The next thing I know, he starts explaining to me how to +solve it." + +Hearing the logic of her son's approach, Lippman's skepticism quickly gave way +to incredulity. "I mean, I always knew he was a bright boy," she says, "but +this was the first time I'd seen anything that suggested how advanced he really +was." + +Thirty years after the fact, Lippman punctuates the memory with a laugh. "To +tell you the truth, I don't think I ever figured out how to solve that puzzle," +she says. "All I remember is being amazed he knew the answer." + +Seated at the dining-room table of her second Manhattan apartment - the same +spacious three-bedroom complex she and her son moved to following her 1967 +marriage to Maurice Lippman, now deceased - Alice Lippman exudes a Jewish +mother's mixture of pride and bemusement when recalling her son's early years. +The nearby dining-room credenza offers an eight-by-ten photo of Stallman +glowering in full beard and doctoral robes. The image dwarfs accompanying +photos of Lippman's nieces and nephews, but before a visitor can make too much +of it, Lippman makes sure to balance its prominent placement with an ironic +wisecrack." +={ Lippman, Maurice } + +Richard insisted I have it after he received his honorary doctorate at the +University of Glasgow," says Lippman. "He said to me, 'Guess what, mom? It's +the first graduation I ever attended.'"~{ One of the major background sources +for this chapter was the interview "Richard Stallman: High School Misfit, +Symbol of Free Software, MacArthur-Certified Genius" by Michael Gross, author +of the 1999 book Talking About My Generation , a collection of interviews with +notable personalities from the so-called "Baby Boom" generation. Although +Stallman did not make it into the book, Gross published the interview as an +online supplement to the book's web site. The URL for the interview has changed +several times since I first came across it. According to various readers who +have gone searching for it, you can now find the interview at \\ +http://www.mgross.com/MoreThgsChng/interviews/stallman1.html. }~ +={ University of Glasgow } + +Such comments reflect the sense of humor that comes with raising a child +prodigy. Make no mistake, for every story Lippman hears and reads about her +son's stubbornness and unusual behavior, she can deliver at least a dozen in +return. + +"He used to be so conservative," she says, throwing up her hands in mock +exasperation. "We used to have the worst arguments right here at this table. I +was part of the first group of public city school teachers that struck to form +a union, and Richard was very angry with me. He saw unions as corrupt. He was +also very opposed to social security. He thought people could make much more +money investing it on their own. Who knew that within 10 years he would become +so idealistic? All I remember is his stepsister coming to me and saying, 'What +is he going to be when he grows up? A fascist?'"~{ RMS: I don't remember +telling her this. All I can say is I strongly disagree with those views now. +When I was in my teens, I lacked compassion for the difficulties most people +encounter in life; my problems were different. I did not appreciate how the +wealthy will reduce most people to poverty unless we organize at all levels to +stop them. I did not understand how hard it is for most people to resist social +pressure to do foolish things, such as spend all their money instead of saving, +since I hardly even noticed the pressure myself. In addition, unions in the +60s, when they were very powerful, were sometimes arrogant or corrupt. But they +are much weaker today, and the result is that economic growth, when it occurs, +benefits mainly the rich. }~ + +As a single parent for nearly a decade - she and Richard's father, Daniel +Stallman, were married in 1948, divorced in 1958, and split custody of their +son afterwards - Lippman can attest to her son's aversion to authority. She can +also attest to her son's lust for knowledge. It was during the times when the +two forces intertwined, Lippman says, that she and her son experienced their +biggest battles. +={ Stallman, Daniel } + +"It was like he never wanted to eat," says Lippman, recalling the behavior +pattern that set in around age eight and didn't let up until her son's +high-school graduation in 1970. "I'd call him for dinner, and he'd never hear +me. I'd have to call him 9 or 10 times just to get his attention. He was +totally immersed." + +Stallman, for his part, remembers things in a similar fashion, albeit with a +political twist. + +"I enjoyed reading," he says. "If I wanted to read, and my mother told me to go +to the kitchen and eat or go to sleep, I wasn't going to listen. I saw no +reason why I couldn't read. No reason why she should be able to tell me what to +do, period. Essentially, what I had read about, ideas such as democracy and +individual freedom, I applied to myself. I didn't see any reason to exclude +children from these principles." + +The belief in individual freedom over arbitrary authority extended to school as +well. Two years ahead of his classmates by age 11, Stallman endured all the +usual frustrations of a gifted public-school student. It wasn't long after the +puzzle incident that his mother attended the first in what would become a long +string of parent-teacher conferences. + +"He absolutely refused to write papers," says Lippman, recalling an early +controversy. "I think the last paper he wrote before his senior year in high +school was an essay on the history of the number system in the west for a +fourth-grade teacher." To be required to choose a specific topic when there was +nothing he actually wanted to write about was almost impossible for Stallman, +and painful enough to make him go to great lengths to avoid such situations. + +Gifted in anything that required analytical thinking, Stallman gravitated +toward math and science at the expense of his other studies. What some teachers +saw as single-mindedness, however, Lippman saw as impatience. Math and science +offered simply too much opportunity to learn, especially in comparison to +subjects and pursuits for which her son seemed less naturally inclined. Around +age 10 or 11, when the boys in Stallman's class began playing a regular game of +touch football, she remembers her son coming home in a rage. "He wanted to play +so badly, but he just didn't have the coordination skills," Lippman recalls. +"It made him so angry." + +The anger eventually drove her son to focus on math and science all the more. +Even in the realm of science, however, her son's impatience could be +problematic. Poring through calculus textbooks by age seven, Stallman saw +little need to dumb down his discourse for adults. Sometime, during his +middle-school years, Lippman hired a student from nearby Columbia University to +play big brother to her son. The student left the family's apartment after the +first session and never came back. "I think what Richard was talking about went +over his head," Lippman speculates. + +Another favorite maternal memory dates back to the early 1960s, shortly after +the puzzle incident. Around age seven, two years after the divorce and +relocation from Queens, Richard took up the hobby of launching model rockets in +nearby Riverside Drive Park. What started as aimless fun soon took on an +earnest edge as her son began recording the data from each launch. Like the +interest in mathematical games,the pursuit drew little attention until one day, +just before a major NASA launch, Lippman checked in on her son to see if he +wanted to watch. + +"He was fuming," Lippman says. "All he could say to me was, 'But I'm not +published yet.' Apparently he had something that he really wanted to show +NASA." Stallman doesn't remember the incident, but thinks it more likely that +he was anguished because he didn't have anything to show. + +Such anecdotes offer early evidence of the intensity that would become +Stallman's chief trademark throughout life. When other kids came to the table, +Stallman stayed in his room and read. When other kids played Johnny Unit as, +Stallman played spaceman. "I was weird," Stallman says, summing up his early +years succinctly in a 1999 interview. "After a certain age, the only friends I +had were teachers."~{ /{Ibid.}/ }~ Stallman was not ashamed of his weird +characteristics, distinguishing them from the social ineptness that he did +regard as a failing. However, both contributed together to his social +exclusion. + +Although it meant courting more run-ins at school, Lippman decided to indulge +her son's passion. By age 12, Richard was attending science camps during the +summer and private school during the school year. When a teacher recommended +her son enroll in the Columbia Science Honors Program, a post-Sputnik program +designed for gifted middle- and high-school students in New York City, Stallman +added to his extracurriculars and was soon commuting uptown to the Columbia +University campus on Saturdays. +={ Columbia University ; + Science Honors Program (Columbia) +2 +} + +Dan Chess, a fellow classmate in the Columbia Science Honors Program, recalls +Richard Stallman seeming a bit weird even among the students who shared a +similar lust for math and science. "We were all geeks and nerds, but he was +unusually poorly adjusted," recalls Chess, now a mathematics professor at +Hunter College. "He was also smart as shit. I've known a lot of smart people, +but I think he was the smartest person I've ever known." +={ Chess, Dan ; + Hunter College +} + +Seth Breidbart, a fellow Columbia Science Honors Program alumnus, offers +bolstering testimony. A computer programmer who has kept in touch with Stallman +thanks to a shared passion for science fiction and science-fiction conventions, +he recalls the 15-year-old, buzz-cut-wearing Stallman as "scary," especially to +a fellow 15-year-old. +={ Breidbart, Seth +1 } + +"It's hard to describe," Breidbart says. "It wasn't like he was unapproachable. +He was just very intense. [He was] very knowledgeable but also very hardheaded +in some ways." + +Such descriptions give rise to speculation: are judgment-laden adjectives like +"intense" and "hardheaded" simply a way to describe traits that today might be +categorized under juvenile behavioral disorder? A December, 2001, /{Wired}/ +magazine article titled "The Geek Syndrome" paints the portrait of several +scientifically gifted children diagnosed with high-functioning autism or +Asperger Syndrome. In many ways, the parental recollections recorded in the +/{Wired}/ article are eerily similar to the ones offered by Lippman. Stallman +also speculates about this. In the interview for a 2000 profile for the +/{Toronto Star}/, Stallman said he wondered if he were "borderline autistic." +The article inaccurately cited the speculation as a certainty.~{ See Judy +Steed, Toronto Star, BUSINESS, (October 9, 2000): C03. His vision of free +software and social cooperation stands in stark contrast to the isolated nature +of his private life. A Glenn Gould-like eccentric, the Canadian pianist was +similarly brilliant, articulate, and lonely. Stallman considers himself +afflicted, to some degree, by autism: a condition that, he says, makes it +difficult for him to interact with people. }~ +={ Asperger Syndrome +1 ; + autism +5 ; + Geek Syndrome, The (Silberman) +1 ; + Wired magazine ; + Toronto Star ; + Silberman, Steve +1 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + behavioral disorders +1 +} + +Such speculation benefits from the fast and loose nature of most so-called +"behavioral disorders" nowadays, of course. As Steve Silberman, author of "The +Geek Syndrome," notes, American psychiatrists have only recently come to accept +Asperger Syndrome as a valid umbrella term covering a wide set of behavioral +traits. The traits range from poor motor skills and poor socialization to high +intelligence and an almost obsessive affinity for numbers, computers, and +ordered systems.~{ See Steve Silberman, "The Geek Syndrome," Wired (December, +2001), \\ http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html. }~ +={ Stallman, Richard M. : + childhood, behavioral disorders +} + +"It's possible I could have had something like that," Stallman says. "On the +other hand, one of the aspects of that syndrome is difficulty following +rhythms. I can dance. In fact, I love following the most complicated rhythms. +It's not clear cut enough to know." Another possibility is that Stallman had a +"shadow syndrome" which goes someway in the direction of Asperger's syndrome +but without going beyond the limits of normality.~{ See John Ratey and +Catherine Johnson, "Shadow Syndromes." }~ + +Chess, for one, rejects such attempts at back-diagnosis. "I never thought of +him [as] having that sort of thing," he says. "He was just very unsocialized, +but then, we all were." +={ Chess, Dan } + +Lippman, on the other hand, entertains the possibility. She recalls a few +stories from her son's infancy, however, that provide fodder for speculation. A +prominent symptom of autism is an over-sensitivity to noises and colors, and +Lippman recalls two anecdotes that stand out in this regard. "When Richard was +an infant, we'd take him to the beach," she says. "He would start screaming two +or three blocks before we reached the surf. It wasn't until the third time that +we figured out what was going on: the sound of the surf was hurting his ears." +She also recalls a similar screaming reaction in relation to color: "My mother +had bright red hair, and every time she'd stoop down to pick him up, he'd let +out a wail." + +In recent years, Lippman says she has taken to reading books about autism and +believes that such episodes were more than coincidental. "I do feel that +Richard had some of the qualities of an autistic child," she says. "I regret +that so little was known about autism back then." + +Over time, however, Lippman says her son learned to adjust. By age seven, she +says, her son had become fond of standing at the front window of subway trains, +mapping out and memorizing the labyrinthian system of railroad tracks +underneath the city. It was a hobby that relied on an ability to accommodate +the loud noises that accompanied each train ride. "Only the initial noise +seemed to bother him," says Lippman. "It was as if he got shocked by the sound +but his nerves learned how to make the adjustment." + +For the most part, Lippman recalls her son exhibiting the excitement, energy, +and social skills of any normal boy. It wasn't until after a series of +traumatic events battered the Stallman household, she says, that her son became +introverted and emotionally distant. + +The first traumatic event was the divorce of Alice and Daniel Stallman, +Richard's father. Although Lippman says both she and her ex-husband tried to +prepare their son for the blow, she says the blow was devastating nonetheless. +"He sort of didn't pay attention when we first told him what was happening," +Lippman recalls. "But the reality smacked him in the face when he and I moved +into a new apartment. The first thing he said was, 'Where's Dad's furniture?'" +={ divorce of Alice and Daniel Stallman ; + Stallman, Daniel +} + +For the next decade, Stallman would spend his weekdays at his mother's +apartment in Manhattan and his weekends at his father's home in Queens. The +shuttling back and forth gave him a chance to study a pair of contrasting +parenting styles that, to this day, leaves Stallman firmly opposed to the idea +of raising children himself. Speaking about his father, a World War II vet who +died in early 2001, Stallman balances respect with anger. On one hand, there is +the man whose moral commitment led him to learn French just so he could be more +helpful to Allies when they'd finally fight the Nazis in France. On the other +hand, there was the parent who always knew how to craft a put-down for cruel +effect.~{ Regrettably, I did not get a chance to interview Daniel Stallman for +this book. During the early research for this book, Stallman informed me that +his father suffered from Alzheimer's. When I resumed research in late 2001, I +learned, sadly, that Daniel Stallman had died earlier in the year. }~ + +"My father had a horrible temper," Stallman says. "He never screamed, but he +always found a way to criticize you in a cold, designed-to-crush way." + +As for life in his mother's apartment, Stallman is less equivocal. "That was +war," he says. "I used to say in my misery, 'I want to go home,' meaning to the +nonexistent place that I'll never have." + +For the first few years after the divorce, Stallman found the tranquility that +eluded him in the home of his paternal grandparents. One died when he was 8, +and the other when he was 10. For Stallman, the loss was devastating. "I used +to go and visit and feel I was in a loving, gentle environment," Stallman +recalls. "It was the only place I ever found one, until I went away to +college." + +Lippman lists the death of Richard's paternal grandparents as the second +traumatic event. "It really upset him," she says. He was very close to both his +grandparents. Before they died, he was very outgoing, almost a +leader-of-the-pack type with the other kids. After they died, he became much +more emotionally withdrawn. + +From Stallman's perspective, the emotional withdrawal was merely an attempt to +deal with the agony of adolescence. Labeling his teenage years a "pure horror," +Stallman says he often felt like a deaf person amid a crowd of chattering music +listeners. + +"I often had the feeling that I couldn't understand what other people were +saying," says Stallman, recalling his sense of exclusion. "I could understand +the words, but something was going on underneath the conversations that I +didn't understand. I couldn't understand why people were interested in the +things other people said." + +For all the agony it produced, adolescence would have an encouraging effect on +Stallman's sense of individuality. At a time when most of his classmates were +growing their hair out, Stallman preferred to keep his short. At a time when +the whole teenage world was listening to rock and roll, Stallman preferred +classical music. A devoted fan of science fiction, /{Mad}/ magazine, and +late-night TV, Stallman came to have a distinctly off-the-wall personality that +met with the incomprehension of parents and peers alike. + +"Oh, the puns," says Lippman, still exasperated by the memory of her son's +teenage personality. "There wasn't a thing you could say at the dinner table +that he couldn't throw back at you as a pun." + +Outside the home, Stallman saved the jokes for the adults who tended to indulge +his gifted nature. One of the first was a summer-camp counselor who lent +Stallman a manual for the IBM 7094 computer during his 8th or 9th year. To a +pre teenager fascinated with numbers and science, the gift was a godsend.~{ +Stallman, an atheist, would probably quibble with this description. Suffice it +to say, it was something Stallman welcomed. See Gross (1999): "As soon as I +heard about computers, I wanted to see one and play with one." }~ Soon, +Stallman was writing out programs on paper in the instructions of the 7094. +There was no computer around to run them on, and he had no real applications to +use one for, but he yearned to write a program - any program whatsoever. He +asked the counselor for arbitrary suggestions of something to code. +={ IBM 7094 computer +1 } + +With the first personal computer still a decade away, Stallman would be forced +to wait a few years before getting access to his first computer. His chance +finally came during his senior year of high school. The IBM New York Scientific +Center, a now-defunct research facility in downtown Manhattan, offered Stallman +the chance to try to write his first real program. His fancy was to write a +pre-processor for the programming language PL/I, designed to add the tensor +algebra summation convention as a feature to the language. "I first wrote it in +PL/I, then started over in assembler language when the compiled PL/I program +was too big to fit in the computer," he recalls. +={ assembler language ; + IBM : + New York Scientific Center ; + IBM New York Scientific Center ; + PL/I programming language ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + childhood, first computer program +} + +For the summer after high-school graduation, the New York Scientific Center +hired him. Tasked with writing a numerical analysis program in Fortran, he +finished that in a few weeks, acquiring such a distaste for the Fortran +language that he vowed never to write any-thing in it again. Then he spent the +rest of the summer writing a text-editor in APL. + +Simultaneously, Stallman had held a laboratory-assistant position in the +biology department at Rockefeller University. Although he was already moving +toward a career in math or physics, Stallman's analytical mind impressed the +lab director enough that a few years after Stallman departed for college, +Lippman received an unexpected phone call. "It was the professor at +Rockefeller," Lippman says. "He wanted to know how Richard was doing. He was +surprised to learn that he was working in computers. He'd always thought +Richard had a great future ahead of him as a biologist." +={ Rockefeller University } + +Stallman's analytical skills impressed faculty members at Columbia as well, +even when Stallman himself became a target of their ire. "Typically once or +twice an hour [Stallman] would catch some mistake in the lecture," says +Breidbart. "And he was not shy about letting the professors know it +immediately. It got him a lot of respect but not much popularity." + +Hearing Breidbart's anecdote retold elicits a wry smile from Stallman. "I may +have been a bit of a jerk sometimes," he admits. "But I found kindred spirits +among teachers, because they, too, liked to learn. Kids, for the most part, +didn't. At least not in the same way." +={ Breidbart, Seth } + +Hanging out with the advanced kids on Saturday nevertheless encouraged Stallman +to think more about the merits of increased socialization. With college fast +approaching, Stallman, like many in his Columbia Science Honors Program, had +narrowed his list of desired schools down to two choices: Harvard and MIT. +Hearing of her son's desire to move on to the Ivy League, Lippman became +concerned. As a 15-year-old high-school junior, Stallman was still having +run-ins with teachers and administrators. Only the year before, he had pulled +straight A's in American History, Chemistry, French, and Algebra, but a glaring +F in English reflected the ongoing boycott of writing assignments. Such miscues +might draw a knowing chuckle at MIT, but at Harvard, they were a red flag. +={ Harvard University +7 ; + MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology +} + +During her son's junior year, Lippman says she scheduled an appointment with a +therapist. The therapist expressed instant concern over Stallman's +unwillingness to write papers and his run-ins with teachers. Her son certainly +had the intellectual wherewithal to succeed at Harvard, but did he have the +patience to sit through college classes that required a term paper? The +therapist suggested a trial run. If Stallman could make it through a full year +in New York City public schools, including an English class that required term +papers, he could probably make it at Harvard. Following the completion of his +junior year, Stallman promptly enrolled in public summer school downtown and +began making up the mandatory humanities classes he had shunned earlier in his +high-school career. +={ Louis D. Brandeis High School +3 } + +By fall, Stallman was back within the mainstream population of New York City +high-school students, at Louis D. Brandeis High School on on West 84th Street. +It wasn't easy sitting through classes that seemed remedial in comparison with +his Saturday studies at Columbia, but Lippman recalls proudly her son's ability +to toe the line. + +"He was forced to kowtow to a certain degree, but he did it," Lippman says. "I +only got called in once, which was a bit of a miracle. It was the calculus +teacher complaining that Richard was interrupting his lesson. I asked how he +was interrupting. He said Richard was always accusing the teacher of using a +false proof. I said, 'Well, is he right?' The teacher said, 'Yeah, but I can't +tell that to the class. They wouldn't understand.'" + +By the end of his first semester at Brandeis High, things were falling into +place. A 96 in English wiped away much of the stigma of the 60 earned 2 years +before. For good measure, Stallman backed it up with top marks in American +History, Advanced Placement Calculus, and Microbiology. The crowning touch was +a perfect 100 in Physics. Though still a social outcast, Stallman finished his +10 months at Brandeis as the fourth-ranked student in a class of 789. + +Outside the classroom, Stallman pursued his studies with even more diligence, +rushing off to fulfill his laboratory-assistant duties at Rockefeller +University during the week and dodging the Vietnam protesters on his way to +Saturday school at Columbia. It was there, while the rest of the Science Honors +Program students sat around discussing their college choices, that Stallman +finally took a moment to participate in the preclass bull session. + +Recalls Breidbart, "Most of the students were going to Harvard and MIT, of +course, but you had a few going to other Ivy League schools. As the +conversation circled the room, it became apparent that Richard hadn't said +anything yet. I don't know who it was, but somebody got up the courage to ask +him what he planned to do." +={ Breidbart, Seth +1 } + +Thirty years later, Breidbart remembers the moment clearly. As soon as Stallman +broke the news that he, too, would be attending Harvard University in the fall, +an awkward silence filled the room. Almost as if on cue, the corners of +Stallman's mouth slowly turned upward into a self-satisfied smile. Says +Breidbart, "It was his silent way of saying, 'That's right. You haven't got rid +of me yet.'" + +1~ Chapter 4 - Impeach God + +Although their relationship was fraught with tension, Richard Stallman would +inherit one noteworthy trait from his mother: a passion for progressive +politics. + +It was an inherited trait that would take several decades to emerge, however. +For the first few years of his life, Stallman lived in what he now admits was a +"political vacuum."~{ See Michael Gross, "Richard Stallman: High School Misfit, +Symbol of Free Software, Mac Arthur-certified Genius" (1999). }~ Like most +Americans during the Eisenhower age, the Stallman family spent the Fifties +trying to recapture the normalcy lost during the wartime years of the 1940s. + +"Richard's father and I were Democrats but happy enough to leave it at that," +says Lippman, recalling the family's years in Queens. "We didn't get involved +much in local or national politics." +={ Lippman, Alice : + political identity of +11 +} + +That all began to change, however, in the late 1950s when Alice divorced Daniel +Stallman. The move back to Manhattan represented more than a change of address; +it represented a new, independent identity and a jarring loss of tranquility. +={ Stallman, Daniel } + +"I think my first taste of political activism came when I went to the Queens +public library and discovered there was only a single book on divorce in the +whole library," recalls Lippman. "It was very controlled by the Catholic +church, at least in Elmhurst, where we lived. I think that was the first +inkling I had of the forces that quietly control our lives." +={ Elmhurst (New York) ; + Queens public library +} + +Returning to her childhood neighborhood, Manhattan's Upper West Side, Lippman +was shocked by the changes that had taken place since her departure to Hunter +College a decade and a half before. The sky-rocketing demand for post-war +housing had turned the neighborhood into a political battleground. On one side +stood the pro-development city-hall politicians and businessmen hoping to +rebuild many of the neighborhood's blocks to accommodate the growing number of +white-collar workers moving into the city. On the other side stood the poor +Irish and Puerto Rican tenants who had found an affordable haven in the +neighborhood. +={ Hunter College } + +At first, Lippman didn't know which side to choose. As a new resident, she felt +the need for new housing. As a single mother with minimal income, however, she +shared the poorer tenants' concern over the growing number of development +projects catering mainly to wealthy residents. Indignant, Lippman began looking +for ways to combat the political machine that was attempting to turn her +neighborhood into a clone of the Upper East Side. + +Lippman says her first visit to the local Democratic party headquarters came in +1958. Looking for a day-care center to take care of her son while she worked, +she had been appalled by the conditions encountered at one of the city-owned +centers that catered to low-income residents. "All I remember is the stench of +rotten milk, the dark hallways, the paucity of supplies. I had been a teacher +in private nursery schools. The contrast was so great. We took one look at that +room and left. That stirred me up." +={ Democratic party +3 } + +The visit to the party headquarters proved disappointing, however. Describing +it as "the proverbial smoke-filled room," Lippman says she became aware for the +first time that corruption within the party might actually be the reason behind +the city's thinly disguised hostility toward poor residents. Instead of going +back to the headquarters, Lippman decided to join up with one of the many clubs +aimed at reforming the Democratic party and ousting the last vestiges of the +Tammany Hall machine. Dubbed the Woodrow Wilson/FDR Reform Democratic Club, +Lippman and her club began showing up at planning and city-council meetings, +demanding a greater say. +={ Woodrow Wilson/FDR Reform Democratic Club ; + Tammany Hall +1 +} + +"Our primary goal was to fight Tammany Hall, Carmine DeSapio and his +henchman,"~{ Carmine DeSapio holds the dubious distinction of being the first +Italian-American boss of Tammany Hall, the New York City political machine. For +more information on DeSapio and the politics of post-war New York, see John +Davenport, "Skinning the Tiger: Carmine DeSapio and the End of the Tammany +Era," New York Affairs (1975): 3:1. }~ says Lippman. "I was the representative +to the city council and was very much involved in creating a viable +urban-renewal plan that went beyond simply adding more luxury housing to the +neighborhood." +={ DeSapio, Carmine } + +Such involvement would blossom into greater political activity during the +1960s. By 1965, Lippman had become an "outspoken" supporter for political +candidates like William Fitts Ryan, a Democrat elected to Congress with the +help of reform clubs and one of the first U.S. representatives to speak out +against the Vietnam War. +={ Vietnam War +10 ; + Ryan, William Fitts +} + +It wasn't long before Lippman, too, was an outspoken opponent of U.S. +involvement in Indochina. "I was against the Vietnam War from the time Kennedy +sent troops," she says. "I had read the stories by reporters and journalists +sent to cover the early stages of the conflict. I really believed their +forecast that it would become a quagmire." +={ Indochina } + +Such opposition permeated the Stallman-Lippman household. In 1967, Lippman +remarried. Her new husband, Maurice Lippman, a major in the Air National Guard, +resigned his commission to demonstrate his opposition to the war. Lippman's +stepson, Andrew Lippman, was at MIT and temporarily eligible for a student +deferment. Still, the threat of induction should that deferment disappear, as +it eventually did, made the risk of U.S. escalation all the more immediate. +Finally, there was Richard who, though younger, faced the prospect of being +drafted as the war lasted into the 1970s. +={ Lippman, Andrew ; + Lippman, Maurice ; + MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology +} + +"Vietnam was a major issue in our household," says Lippman. "We talked about it +constantly: what would we do if the war continued, what steps Richard or his +stepbrother would take if they got drafted. We were all opposed to the war and +the draft. We really thought it was immoral." + +For Stallman, the Vietnam War elicited a complex mixture of emotions: +confusion, horror, and, ultimately, a profound sense of political impotence. As +a kid who could barely cope in the mild authoritarian universe of private +school, Stallman experienced a shiver whenever the thought of Army boot camp +presented itself. He did not think he could get through it and emerge sane. +={ draft (Vietnam War) +6 } + +"I was devastated by the fear, but I couldn't imagine what to do and didn't +have the guts to go demonstrate," recalls Stallman, whose March 16th birthday +earned him a low number in the dreaded draft lottery. This did not affect him +immediately, since he had a college deferment, one of the last before the U.S. +stopped granting them; but it would affect him in a few years. "I couldn't +envision moving to Canada or Sweden. The idea of getting up by myself and +moving somewhere. How could I do that? I didn't know how to live by myself. I +wasn't the kind of person who felt confident in approaching things like that." + +Stallman says he was impressed by the family members who did speak out. +Recalling a sticker, printed and distributed by his father, likening the My Lai +massacre to similar Nazi atrocities in World War II, he says he was "excited" +by his father's gesture of outrage. "I admired him for doing it," Stallman +says. "But I didn't imagine that I could do anything. I was afraid that the +juggernaut of the draft was going to destroy me." + +However, Stallman says he was turned off by the tone and direction of much of +that movement. Like other members of the Science Honors Program, he saw the +weekend demonstrations at Columbia as little more than a distracting +spectacle.~{ Chess, another Columbia Science Honors Program alum, describes the +protests as "background noise." "We were all political," he says, "but the SHP +was important. We would never have skipped it for a demonstration." }~ +Ultimately, Stallman says, the irrational forces driving the anti-war movement +became indistinguishable from the irrational forces driving the rest of youth +culture. Instead of worshiping the Beatles, girls in Stallman's age group were +suddenly worshiping firebrands like Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin. To a kid +already struggling to comprehend his teenage peers, slogans like "make love not +war" had a taunting quality. Stallman did not want to make war, at least not in +Southeast Asia, but nobody was inviting him to make love either. +={ Beatles ; + Hoffman, Abbie ; + Rubin, Jerry ; + Science Honors Program (Columbia) +} + +"I didn't like the counter culture much," Stallman recalls. "I didn't like the +music. I didn't like the drugs. I was scared of the drugs. I especially didn't +like the anti-intellectualism, and I didn't like the prejudice against +technology. After all, I loved a computer. And I didn't like the mindless +anti-Americanism that I often encountered. There were people whose thinking was +so simplistic that if they disapproved of the conduct of the U.S. in the +Vietnam War, they had to support the North Vietnamese. They couldn't imagine a +more complicated position, I guess." + +Such comments underline a trait that would become the key to Stallman's own +political maturation. For Stallman, political confidence was directly +proportionate to personal confidence. By 1970, Stallman had become confident in +few things outside the realm of math and science. Nevertheless, confidence in +math gave him enough of a foundation to examine the extremes of the anti-war +movement in purely logical terms. Doing so, Stallman found the logic wanting. +Although opposed to the war in Vietnam, Stallman saw no reason to disavow war +as a means for defending liberty or correcting injustice. + +In the 1980s, a more confident Stallman decided to make up for his past +inactivity by participating in mass rallies for abortion rights in Washington +DC. "I became dissatisfied with my earlier self for failing in my duty to +protest the Vietnam War," he explains. + +In 1970, Stallman left behind the nightly dinnertime conversations about +politics and the Vietnam War as he departed for Harvard. Looking back, Stallman +describes the transition from his mother's Manhattan apartment to life in a +Cambridge dorm as an "escape." At Harvard, he could go to his room and have +peace whenever he wanted it. Peers who watched Stallman make the transition, +however, saw little to suggest a liberating experience. +={ Harvard University +22 } + +"He seemed pretty miserable for the first while at Harvard," recalls Dan Chess, +a classmate in the Science Honors Program who also matriculated at Harvard. +"You could tell that human interaction was really difficult for him, and there +was no way of avoiding it at Harvard. Harvard was an intensely social kind of +place." +={ Chess, Dan ; + Science Honors Program (Columbia) +1 +} + +To ease the transition, Stallman fell back on his strengths: math and science. +Like most members of the Science Honors Program, Stallman breezed through the +qualifying exam for Math 55, the legendary "boot camp" class for freshman +mathematics "concentrators" at Harvard. Within the class, members of the +Science Honors Program formed a durable unit. "We were the math mafia," says +Chess with a laugh. "Harvard was nothing, at least compared with the SHP." +={ Math 55 (Harvard University) +9 } + +To earn the right to boast, however, Stallman, Chess, and the other SHP alumni +had to get through Math 55. Promising four years worth of math in two +semesters, the course favored only the truly devout. "It was an amazing class," +says David Harbater, a former "math mafia" member and now a professor of +mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's probably safe to say there +has never been a class for beginning college students that was that intense and +that advanced. The phrase I say to people just to get it across is that, among +other things, by the second semester we were discussing the differential +geometry of Banach manifolds. That's usually when their eyes bug out, because +most people don't start talking about Banach manifolds until their second year +of graduate school." +={ Harbater, David +2 ; + University of Pennsylvania +} + +Starting with 75 students, the class quickly melted down to 20by the end of the +second semester. Of that 20, says Harbater, "only 10 really knew what they were +doing." Of that 10, 8 would go on to become future mathematics professors, 1 +would go on to teach physics. + +"The other one," emphasizes Harbater, "was Richard Stallman." Seth Breidbart, a +fellow Math 55 classmate, remembers Stallman distinguishing himself from his +peers even then. +={ Breidbart, Seth +14 } + +"He was a stickler in some very strange ways," says Breidbart. There is a +standard technique in math which everybody does wrong. It's an abuse of +notation where you have to define a function for something and what you do is +you define a function and then you prove that it's well defined. Except the +first time he did and presented it, he defined a relation and proved that it's +a function. It's the exact same proof, but he used the correct terminology, +which no one else did. That's just the way he was." + +It was in Math 55 that Richard Stallman began to cultivate a reputation for +brilliance. Breidbart agrees, but Chess, whose competitive streak refused to +yield, says the realization that Stallman might be the best mathematician in +the class didn't set in until the next year. "It was during a class on Real +Analysis," says Chess, now a math professor at Hunter College. "I actually +remember in a proof about complex valued measures that Richard came up with an +idea that was basically a metaphor from the calculus of variations. It was the +first time I ever saw somebody solve a problem in a brilliantly original way." +={ Hunter College } + +For Chess, it was a troubling moment. Like a bird flying into a clear glass +window, it would take a while to realize that some levels of insight were +simply off limits. + +"That's the thing about mathematics," says Chess. "You don't have to be a +first-rank mathematician to recognize first-rate mathematical talent. I could +tell I was up there, but I could also tell I wasn't at the first rank. If +Richard had chosen to be a mathematician, he would have been a first-rank +mathematician."~{ Stallman doubts this, however. "One of the reasons I moved +from math and physics to programming is that I never learned how to discover +anything new in the former two. I only learned to study what others had done. +In programming, I could do something useful every day." }~ + +For Stallman, success in the classroom was balanced by the same lack of success +in the social arena. Even as other members of the math mafia gathered to take +on the Math 55 problem sets, Stallman preferred to work alone. The same went +for living arrangements. On the housing application for Harvard, Stallman +clearly spelled out his preferences. "I said I preferred an invisible, +inaudible, intangible roommate," he says. In a rare stroke of bureaucratic +foresight, Harvard's housing office accepted the request, giving Stallman a +one-room single for his freshman year. + +Breidbart, the only math-mafia member to share a dorm with Stallman that +freshman year, says Stallman slowly but surely learned how to interact with +other students. He recalls how other dorm mates, impressed by Stallman's +logical acumen, began welcoming his input whenever an intellectual debate broke +out in the dining club or dorm commons." + +We had the usual bull sessions about solving the world's problems or what would +be the result of something," recalls Breidbart. "Say somebody discovers an +immortality serum. What do you do? What are the political results? If you give +it to everybody, the world gets overcrowded and everybody dies. If you limit +it, if you say everyone who's alive now can have it but their children can't, +then you end up with an underclass of people without it. Richard was just +better able than most to see the unforeseen circumstances of any decision." + +Stallman remembers the discussions vividly. "I was always in favor of +immortality," he says. "How else would we be able to see what the world is like +200 years from now?" Curious, he began asking various acquaintances whether +they would want immortality if offered it. "I was shocked that most people +regarded immortality as a bad thing." Many said that death was good because +there was no use living a decrepit life, and that aging was good because it got +people prepared for death, without recognizing the circularity of the +combination. + +Although perceived as a first-rank mathematician and first-rate in-formal +debater, Stallman shied away from clear-cut competitive events that might have +sealed his brilliant reputation. Near the end of fresh-man year at Harvard, +Breidbart recalls how Stallman conspicuously ducked the Putnam exam, a +prestigious test open to math students throughout the U.S. and Canada. In +addition to giving students ac hance to measure their knowledge in relation to +their peers, the Putnam served as a chief recruiting tool for academic math +departments. According to campus legend, the top scorer automatically qualified +for a graduate fellowship at any school of his choice, including Harvard. +={ Putnam exam +1 } + +Like Math 55, the Putnam was a brutal test of merit. A six-hour exam in two +parts, it seemed explicitly designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. +Breidbart, a veteran of both the Science Honors + +Program and Math 55, describes it as easily the most difficult test he ever +took. "Just to give you an idea of how difficult it was," says Breidbart, "the +top score was a 120, and my score the first year was in the 30s. That score was +still good enough to place me 101st in the country." + +Surprised that Stallman, the best student in the class, had skipped the test, +Breidbart says he and a fellow classmate cornered him in the dining common and +demanded an explanation. "He said he was afraid of not doing well," Breidbart +recalls. + +Breidbart and the friend quickly wrote down a few problems from memory and gave +them to Stallman. "He solved all of them," Breidbart says, " leading me to +conclude that by not doing well, he either meant coming in second or getting +something wrong." + +Stallman remembers the episode a bit differently. "I remember that they did +bring me the questions and it's possible that I solved one of them, but I'm +pretty sure I didn't solve them all," he says. Nevertheless, Stallman agrees +with Breidbart's recollection that fear was the primary reason for not taking +the test. Despite a demonstrated willingness to point out the intellectual +weaknesses of his peers and professors in the classroom, Stallman hated and +feared the notion of head-to-head competition - so why not just avoid it? + +"It's the same reason I never liked chess," says Stallman. "Whenever I'd play, +I would become so consumed by the fear of making a single mistake and losing +that I would start making stupid mistakes very early in the game. The fear +became a self-fulfilling prophecy." He avoided the problem by not playing +chess. + +Whether such fears ultimately prompted Stallman to shy away from a mathematical +career is a moot issue. By the end of his freshman year at Harvard, Stallman +had other interests pulling him away from the field. Computer programming, a +latent fascination throughout Stallman's high-school years, was becoming a +full-fledged passion. Where other math students sought occasional refuge in art +and history classes, Stallman sought it in the computer-science laboratory. + +For Stallman, the first taste of real computer programming at the IBM New York +Scientific Center had triggered a desire to learn more. "Toward the end of my +first year at Harvard school, I started to have enough courage to go visit +computer labs and see what they had. I'd ask them if they had extra copies of +any manuals that I could read." Taking the manuals home, Stallman would examine +the machine specifications to learn about the range of different computer +designs. + +One day, near the end of his freshman year, Stallman heard about a special +laboratory near MIT. The laboratory was located on the ninth floor of a +building in Tech Square, the mostly-commercial office park MIT had built across +the street from the campus. According to the rumors, the lab itself was +dedicated to the cutting-edge science of artificial intelligence and boasted +the cutting-edge machines and software to match. +={ artificial intelligence ; + MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology : + first visit to +2 +} + +Intrigued, Stallman decided to pay a visit. + +The trip was short, about 2 miles on foot, 10 minutes by train, but as Stallman +would soon find out, MIT and Harvard can feel like opposite poles of the same +planet. With its maze-like tangle of inter-connected office buildings, the +Institute's campus offered an aestheticy in to Harvard's spacious +colonial-village yang. Of the two, the maze of MIT was much more Stallman's +style. The same could be said for the student body, a geeky collection of +ex-high school misfits known more for its predilection for pranks than its +politically powerful alumni. + +The yin-yang relationship extended to the AI Lab as well. Unlike Harvard +computer labs, there was no grad-student gatekeeper, no clipboard waiting list +for terminal access, no atmosphere of "look but don't touch." Instead, Stallman +found only a collection of open terminals and robotic arms, presumably the +artifacts of some AI experiment. When he encountered a lab employee, he asked +if the lab had any spare manuals it could loan to an inquisitive student. "They +had some, but a lot of things weren't documented," Stallman recalls. "They were +hackers, after all," he adds wryly, referring to hackers' tendency to move on +to a new project without documenting the last one. +={ AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) +40 } + +Stallman left with something even better than a manual: A job. His first +project was to write a PDP-11 simulator that would run on a PDP-10. He came +back to the AI Lab the next week, grabbing an available terminal, and began +writing the code. + +Looking back, Stallman sees nothing unusual in the AI Lab's willingness to +accept an unproven outsider at first glance. "That's the way it was back then," +he says. "That's the way it still is now. I'll hire somebody when I meet him if +I see he's good. Why wait? Stuffy people who insist on putting bureaucracy into +everything really miss the point. If a person is good, he shouldn't have to go +through a long, detailed hiring process; he should be sitting at a computer +writing code." + +To get a taste of "bureaucratic and stuffy," Stallman need only visit the +computer labs at Harvard. There, access to the terminals was doled out +according to academic rank. As an undergrad, Stallman sometimes had to wait for +hours. The waiting wasn't difficult, but it was frustrating. Waiting for a +public terminal, knowing all the while that a half dozen equally usable +machines were sitting idle inside professors' locked offices, seemed the height +of irrational waste. Although Stallman continued to pay the occasional visit to +the Harvard computer labs, he preferred the more egalitarian policies of the AI +Lab. "It was a breath of fresh air," he says. "At the AI Lab, people seemed +more concerned about work than status." +={ Harvard University : + computer labs +} + +Stallman quickly learned that the AI Lab's first-come, first-served policy owed +much to the efforts of a vigilant few. Many were holdovers from the days of +Project MAC, the Department of Defense-funded re-search program that had given +birth to the first time-share operating systems. A few were already legends in +the computing world. There was Richard Greenblatt, the lab's in-house Lisp +expert and author of MacHack, the computer chess program that had once humbled +AI critic Hubert Dreyfus. There was Gerald Sussman, original author of the +robotic block-stacking program HACKER. And there was Bill Gosper, the in-house +math whiz already in the midst of an 18-month hacking bender triggered by the +philosophical implications of the computer game LIFE.~{ See Steven Levy, +Hackers (Penguin USA [paperback], 1984): 144. Levy devotes about five pages to +describing Gosper's fascination with LIFE, a math-based software game first +created by British mathematician John Conway. I heartily recommend this book as +a supplement, perhaps even a prerequisite, to this one. }~ +={ Dreyfus, Hubert ; + Gosper, Bill ; + Greenblat, Richard ; + LIFE mathematical game ; + LISP programming language ; + MacHack ; + Project MAC ; + Sussman, Gerald +2 +} + +Members of the tight-knit group called themselves "hackers." Overtime, they +extended the "hacker" description to Stallman as well. In the process of doing +so, they inculcated Stallman in the ethical traditions of the "hacker ethic." +In their fascination with exploring the limits of what they could make a +computer do, hackers might sit at a terminal for 36 hours straight if +fascinated with a challenge. Most importantly, they demanded access to the +computer (when no one else was using it) and the most useful information about +it. Hackers spoke openly about changing the world through software, and +Stallman learned the instinctual hacker disdain for any obstacle that prevented +a hacker from fulfilling this noble cause. Chief among these obstacles were +poor software, academic bureaucracy, and selfish behavior. +={ ethics of hacking ; + hackers +7 : + ethics of +} + +Stallman also learned the lore, stories of how hackers, when presented with an +obstacle, had circumvented it in creative ways. This included various ways that +hackers had opened professors' offices to "liberate" sequestered terminals. +Unlike their pampered Harvard counterparts, MIT faculty members knew better +than to treat the AI Lab's limited stock of terminals as private property. If a +faculty member made the mistake of locking away a terminal for the night, +hackers were quick to make the terminal accessible again - and to remonstrate +with the professor for having mistreated the community. Some hackers did this +by picking locks ("lock hacking"), some by removing ceiling tiles and climbing +over the wall. On the 9th floor, with its false floor for the computers' +cables, some spelunked under it. "I was actually shown a cart with a heavy +cylinder of metal on it that had been used to break down the door of one +professor's office,"~{ Gerald Sussman, an MIT faculty member and hacker whose +work at the AI Lab predates Stallman's, disputes this story. According to +Sussman, the hackers never broke any doors to retrieve terminals. }~ Stallman +says. +={ AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) : + lock hacking at +31 +} + +The hackers' insistence served a useful purpose by preventing the professors +from egotistically obstructing the lab's work. The hackers did not disregard +people's particular needs, but insisted that these be met in ways that didn't +obstruct everyone else. For instance, professors occasionally said they had +something in their offices which had to be protected from theft. The hackers +responded, "No one will object if you lock your office, although that's not +very friendly, as long as you don't lock away the lab's terminal in it." + +Although the academic people greatly outnumbered the hackers in the AI Lab, the +hacker ethic prevailed. The hackers were the lab staff and students who had +designed and built parts of the computers, and written nearly all the software +that users used. They kept everything working, too. Their work was essential, +and they refused to be downtrodden. They worked on personal pet projects as +well as features users had asked for, but sometimes the pet projects revolved +around improving the machines and software even further. Like teenage +hot-rodders, most hackers viewed tinkering with machines as its own form of +entertainment. + +Nowhere was this tinkering impulse better reflected than in the operating +system that powered the lab's central PDP-10 computer. Dubbed ITS, short for +the Incompatible Time Sharing system, the operating system incorporated the +hacking ethic into its very design. Hackers had built it as a protest to +Project MAC's original operating system, the Compatible Time Sharing System, +CTSS, and named it accordingly. At the time, hackers felt the CTSS design too +restrictive, limiting programmers' power to modify and improve the program's +own internal architecture if needed. According to one legend passed down by +hackers, the decision to build ITS had political overtones as well. Unlike +CTSS, which had been designed for the IBM 7094, ITS was built specifically for +the PDP-6. In letting hackers write the system themselves, AI Lab +administrators guaranteed that only hackers would feel comfortable using the +PDP-6. In the feudal world of academic research, the gambit worked. Although +the PDP-6 was co-owned in conjunction with other departments, AI researchers +soon had it to themselves. Using ITS and the PDP-6 as a foundation, the Lab had +been able to declare independence from Project MAC shortly before Stallman's +arrival.~{ Ibid. }~ +={ Compatible Time Sharing System (CTSS) ; + CTSS (Compatible Time Sharing System) ; + IBM 7094 computer ; + Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) +5 ; + PDP-6 computer +1 ; + Project MAC : + Incompatible Time Sharing system and +} + +By 1971, ITS had moved to the newer but compatible PDP-10, leaving the PDP-6 +for special stand-alone uses. The AI PDP-10 had a very large memory for 1971, +equivalent to a little over a megabyte;in the late 70s it was doubled. Project +MAC had bought two other PDP-10s; all were located on the 9th floor, and they +all ran ITS. The hardware-inclined hackers designed and built a major hardware +addition for these PDP-10s, implementing paged virtual memory, a feature +lacking in the standard PDP-10.~{ I apologize for the whirlwind summary of ITS' +genesis, an operating system many hackers still regard as the epitome of the +hacker ethos. For more information on the program's political significance, see +Simson Garfinkel, Architects of the Information Society: Thirty-Five Years of +the Laboratory for Computer Science at MIT (MIT Press, 1999). }~ + +As an apprentice hacker, Stallman quickly became enamored with ITS. Although +forbidding to some non-hackers, ITS boasted features most commercial operating +systems wouldn't offer for years (or even to this day), features such as +multitasking, applying the debugger immediately to any running program, and +full-screen editing capability. + +"ITS had a very elegant internal mechanism for one program to examine another," +says Stallman, recalling the program. "You could examine all sorts of status +about another program in a very clean, well-specified way." This was convenient +not only for debugging, but also for programs to start, stop or control other +programs. + +Another favorite feature would allow the one program to freeze an-other +program's job cleanly, between instructions. In other operating systems, +comparable operations might stop the program in the middle of a system call, +with internal status that the user could not see and that had no well-defined +meaning. In ITS, this feature made sure that monitoring the step-by-step +operation of a program was reliable and consistent. + +"If you said, 'Stop the job,' it would always be stopped in user mode. It would +be stopped between two user-mode instructions, and everything about the job +would be consistent for that point," Stallman says. "If you said, 'Resume the +job,' it would continue properly. Not only that, but if you were to change the +(explicitly visible) status of the job and continue it, and later change it +back, everything would be consistent. There was no hidden status anywhere." + +Starting in September 1971, hacking at the AI Lab had become a regular part of +Stallman's weekly school schedule. From Sunday through Friday, Stallman was at +Harvard. As soon as Friday afternoon arrived, however, he was on the subway, +heading down to MIT for the weekend. Stallman usually made sure to arrive well +before the ritual food run. Joining five or six other hackers in their nightly +quest for Chinese food, he would jump inside a beat-up car and head across the +Harvard Bridge into nearby Boston. For the next hour or so, he and his hacker +colleagues would discuss everything from ITS to the internal logic of the +Chinese language and pictograph system. Following dinner, the group would +return to MIT and hack code until dawn, or perhaps go to Chinatown again at 3 +a.m. + +Stallman might stay up all morning hacking, or might sleep Saturday morning on +a couch. On waking he would hack some more, have another Chinese dinner, then +go back to Harvard. Sometimes he would stay through Sunday as well. These +Chinese dinners were not only delicious; they also provided sustenance lacking +in the Harvard dining halls, where on the average only one meal a day included +anything he could stomach. (Breakfast did not enter the count, since he didn't +like most breakfast foods and was normally asleep at that hour.) + +For the geeky outcast who rarely associated with his high-school peers, it was +a heady experience to be hanging out with people who shared the same +predilection for computers, science fiction, and Chinese food. "I remember many +sunrises seen from a car coming back from Chinatown," Stallman would recall +nostalgically, 15 years after the fact in a speech at the Swedish Royal +Technical Institute. "It was actually a very beautiful thing to see a sunrise, +'cause that's such a calm time of day. It's a wonderful time of day to get +ready to go to bed. It's so nice to walk home with the light just brightening +and the birds starting to chirp; you can get a real feeling of gentle +satisfaction, of tranquility about the work that you have done that night."~{ +See Richard Stallman, "RMS lecture at KTH (Sweden)," (October 30, 1986), \\ +http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/stallman-kth.html. }~ +={ Swedish Royal Technical Institute } + +The more Stallman hung out with the hackers, the more he adopted the hacker +world view. Already committed to the notion of personal liberty, Stallman began +to infuse his actions with a sense of communal duty. When others violated the +communal code, Stallman was quick to speak out. Within a year of his first +visit, Stallman was the one opening locked offices to recover the sequestered +terminals that belonged to the lab community as a whole. In true hacker +fashion, Stallman also sought to make his own personal contribution to the art. +One of the most artful door-opening tricks, commonly attributed to Greenblatt, +involved bending a stiff wire into several right angles and attaching a strip +of tape to one end. Sliding the wire under the door, a hacker could twist and +rotate the wire so that the tape touched the inside doorknob. Provided the tape +stuck, a hacker could turn the doorknob by pulling the handle formed from the +outside end of the wire. +={ Greenblat, Richard : + lock-hacking and +} + +When Stallman tried the trick, he found it hard to execute. Getting the tape to +stick wasn't always easy, and twisting the wire in a way that turned the +doorknob was similarly difficult. Stallman thought about another method: +sliding away ceiling tiles to climb over the wall. This always worked, if there +was a desk to jump down onto, but it generally covered the hacker in itchy +fiberglass. Was there a way to correct that flaw? Stallman considered an +alternative approach. What if, instead of slipping a wire under the door, a +hacker slid away two ceiling panels and reached over the wall with a wire? + +Stallman took it upon himself to try it out. Instead of using a wire, Stallman +draped out a long U-shaped loop of magnetic tape with a short U of adhesive +tape attached sticky-side-up at the base. Reaching across over the door jamb, +he dangled the tape until it looped under the inside doorknob. Lifting the tape +until the adhesive stuck, he then pulled on one end of the tape, thus turning +the doorknob. Sure enough, the door opened. Stallman had added a new twist to +the art of getting into a locked room. + +"Sometimes you had to kick the door after you turned the doorknob," says +Stallman, recalling a slight imperfection of the new method. "It took a little +bit of balance to pull it off while standing on a chair on a desk." + +Such activities reflected a growing willingness on Stallman's part to speak and +act out in defense of political beliefs. The AI Lab's spirit of direct action +had proved inspirational enough for Stallman to breakout of the timid impotence +of his teenage years. Opening up an office to free a terminal wasn't the same +as taking part in a protest march, but it was effective in a way that most +protests weren't: it solved the problem at hand. + +By the time of his last years at Harvard, Stallman was beginning to apply the +whimsical and irreverent lessons of the AI Lab back at school . + +"Did he tell you about the snake?" his mother asks at one point during an +interview. "He and his dorm mates put a snake up for student election. +Apparently it got a considerable number of votes. + +"The snake was a candidate for election within Currier House, Stallman's dorm, +not the campus-wide student council. Stallman does re-member the snake +attracting a fair number of votes, thanks in large part to the fact that both +the snake and its owner both shared the same last name. "People may have voted +for it because they thought they were voting for the owner," Stallman says. +"Campaign posters said that the snake was 'slithering for' the office. We also +said it was an 'at large' candidate, since it had climbed into the wall through +the ventilating unit a few weeks before and nobody knew where it was." + +Stallman and friends also "nominated" the house master's 3-year-old son. "His +platform was mandatory retirement at age seven," Stallman recalls. Such pranks +paled in comparison to the fake-candidate pranks on the MIT campus, however. +One of the most successful fake-candidate pranks was a cat named Woodstock, +which actually managed to outdraw most of the human candidates in a campus-wide +election. "They never announced how many votes Woodstock got, and they treated +those votes as spoiled ballots," Stallman recalls. "But the large number of +spoiled ballots in that election suggested that Woodstock had actually won. A +couple of years later, Woodstock was suspiciously run over by a car. Nobody +knows if the driver was working for the MIT administration." Stallman says he +had nothing to do with Woodstock's candidacy, "but I admired it."~{ In an email +shortly after this book went into its final edit cycle, Stallman says he drew +political inspiration from the Harvard campus as well. "In my first year of +Harvard, in a Chinese History class, I read the story of the first revolt +against the Qin dynasty," he says. (That's the one whose cruel founder burnt +all the books and was buried with the terra cotta warriors.) "The story is not +reliable history, but it was very moving." }~ + +At the AI Lab, Stallman's political activities had a sharper-edged tone. During +the 1970s, hackers faced the constant challenge of faculty members and +administrators pulling an end-run around ITS and its hacker-friendly design. +ITS allowed anyone to sit down at a console and do anything at all, even order +the system to shut down in five minutes. If someone ordered a shutdown with no +good reason, some other user canceled it. In the mid-1970s some faculty members +(usually those who had formed their attitudes elsewhere) began calling for a +file security system to limit access to their data. Other operating systems had +such features, so those faculty members had become accustomed to living under +security, and to the feeling that it was protecting them from something +dangerous. But the AI Lab, through the insistence of Stallman and other +hackers, remained a security-free zone. +={ Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) +1 } + +Stallman presented both ethical and practical arguments against adding +security. On the ethical side, Stallman appealed to the AI Lab community's +traditions of intellectual openness and trust. On the practical side, he +pointed to the internal structure of ITS, which was built to foster hacking and +cooperation rather than to keep every user under control. Any attempt to +reverse that design would require a major overhaul. To make it even more +difficult, he used up the last empty field in each file's descriptor for a +feature to record which user had most recently changed the file. This feature +left no place to store file security information, but it was so useful that +nobody could seriously propose to remove it. +={ security (computer), opposition to } + +"The hackers who wrote the Incompatible Timesharing System decided that file +protection was usually used by a self-styled system manager to get power over +everyone else," Stallman would later explain. "They didn't want anyone to be +able to get power over them that way, so they didn't implement that kind of a +feature. The result was, that whenever something in the system was broken, you +could always fix it" (since access control did not stand in your way).~{ See +Richard Stallman (1986). }~ + +Through such vigilance, hackers managed to keep the AI Lab's machines +security-free. In one group at the nearby MIT Laboratory for Computer Sciences, +however, security-minded faculty members won the day. The DM group installed +its first password system in 1977. Once again, Stallman took it upon himself to +correct what he saw as ethical laxity. Gaining access to the software code that +controlled the password system, Stallman wrote a program to decrypt the +encrypted passwords that the system recorded. Then he started an email +campaign, asking users to choose the null string as their passwords. If the +user had chosen "starfish," for example, the email message looked something +like this: +={ password-based systems, hacking into +5 } + +_1 I see you chose the password "starfish". I suggest that you switch to the +password "carriage return", which is what I use. It's easier to type, and also +opposes the idea of passwords and security. + +The users who chose "carriage return" - that is, users who simply pressed the +Enter or Return button, entering a blank string instead of a unique password - +left their accounts accessible to the world at large, just as all accounts had +been, not long before. That was the point: by refusing to lock the shiny new +locks on their accounts, they ridiculed the idea of having locks. They knew +that the weak security implemented on that machine would not exclude any real +intruders, and that this did not matter, because there was no reason to be +concerned about intruders, and that no one wanted to intrude anyway, only to +visit. + +Stallman, speaking in an interview for the 1984 book /{Hackers}/, proudly noted +that one-fifth of the LCS staff accepted this argument and employed the +null-string password.~{ See Steven Levy, Hackers (Penguin USA [paperback], +1984): 417. }~ +={ Hackers (Levy) } + +Stallman's null-string campaign, and his resistance to security in general, +would ultimately be defeated. By the early 1980s, even the AI Lab's machines +were sporting password security systems. Even so, it represented a major +milestone in terms of Stallman's personal and political maturation. Seen in the +context of Stallman's later career, it represents a significant step in the +development of the timid teenager, afraid to speak out even on issues of +life-threatening importance, into the adult activist who would soon turn +needling and cajoling into a full-time occupation. + +In voicing his opposition to computer security, Stallman drew on many of the +key ideas that had shaped his early life: hunger for knowledge, distaste for +authority, and frustration over prejudice and secret rules that rendered some +people outcasts. He would also draw on the ethical concepts that would shape +his adult life: responsibility to the community, trust, and the hacker spirit +of direct action. Expressed in software-computing terms, the null string +represents the 1.0 version of the Richard Stallman political world view - +incomplete in a few places but, for the most part, fully mature. +={ computer security, opposition to } + +Looking back, Stallman hesitates to impart too much significance to an event so +early in his hacking career. "In that early stage there were a lot of people +who shared my feelings," he says. "The large number of people who adopted the +null string as their password was a sign that many people agreed that it was +the proper thing to do. I was simply inclined to be an activist about it." + +Stallman does credit the AI Lab for awakening that activist spirit, however. As +a teenager, Stallman had observed political events with little idea as to how +he could do or say anything of importance. As a young adult, Stallman was +speaking out on matters in which he felt supremely confident, matters such as +software design, responsibility to the community, and individual freedom. "I +joined this community which had a way of life which involved respecting each +other's freedom," he says. "It didn't take me long to figure out that that was +a good thing. It took me longer to come to the conclusion that this was a moral +issue." + +Hacking at the AI Lab wasn't the only activity helping to boost Stallman's +esteem. At the start of his junior year at Harvard, Stallman began +participating in a recreational international folk dance group which had just +been started in Currier House. He was not going to try it, considering himself +incapable of dancing, but a friend pointed out, "You don't know you can't if +you haven't tried." To his amazement, he was good at it and enjoyed it. What +started as an experiment became another passion alongside hacking and studying; +also, occasionally, away to meet women, though it didn't lead to a date during +his college career. While dancing, Stallman no longer felt like the awkward, +un-coordinated 10-year-old whose attempts to play football had ended in +frustration. He felt confident, agile, and alive. In the early 80s, Stallman +went further and joined the MIT Folk Dance Performing Group. Dancing for +audiences, dressed in an imitation of the traditional garb of a Balkan peasant, +he found being in front of an audience fun, and discovered an aptitude for +being on stage which later helped him in public speaking. +={ folk dancing ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + folk dancing +} + +Although the dancing and hacking did little to improve Stallman's social +standing, they helped him overcome the sense of exclusion that had clouded his +pre-Harvard life. In 1977, attending a science-fiction convention for the first +time, he came across Nancy the Button maker, who makes calligraphic buttons +saying whatever you wish. Excited, Stallman ordered a button with the words +"Impeach God" emblazoned on it. + +For Stallman, the "Impeach God" message worked on many levels. An atheist since +early childhood, Stallman first saw it as an attempt to start a "second front" +in the ongoing debate on religion. "Back then everybody was arguing about +whether a god existed," Stallman recalls. "'Impeach God' approached the subject +from a completely different viewpoint. If a god was so powerful as to create +the world and yet did nothing to correct the problems in it, why would we ever +want to worship such a god? Wouldn't it be more just to put it on trial?" + +At the same time, "Impeach God" was a reference to the Watergate scandal of the +1970s, in effect comparing a tyrannical deity to Nixon. Watergate affected +Stallman deeply. As a child, Stallman had grown up resenting authority. Now, as +an adult, his mistrust had been solidified by the culture of the AI Lab hacker +community. To the hackers, Watergate was merely a Shakespearean rendition of +the daily power struggles that made life such a hassle for those without +privilege. It was an out sized parable for what happened when people traded +liberty and openness for security and convenience. + +Buoyed by growing confidence, Stallman wore the button proudly. People curious +enough to ask him about it received a well-prepared spiel. "My name is +Jehovah," Stallman would say. "I have a secret plan to end injustice and +suffering, but due to heavenly security reasons I can't tell you the workings +of my plan. I see the big picture and you don't, and you know I'm good because +I told you so. So put your faith in me and obey me without question. If you +don't obey, that means you're evil, so I'll put you on my enemies list and +throw you in a pit where the Infernal Revenue Service will audit your taxes +every year for all eternity." + +Those who interpreted the spiel as a parody of the Watergate hearings only got +half the message. For Stallman, the other half of the message was something +only his fellow hackers seemed to be hearing. One hundred years after Lord +Acton warned about absolute power corrupting absolutely, Americans seemed to +have forgotten the first part of Acton's truism: power, itself, corrupts. +Rather than point out the numerous examples of petty corruption, Stallman felt +content voicing his outrage toward an entire system that trusted power in the +first place. + +"I figured, why stop with the small fry," says Stallman, recalling the button +and its message. "If we went after Nixon, why not go after Mr. Big? The way I +see it, any being that has power and abuses it deserves to have that power +taken away." + +1~ Chapter 5 - Puddle of Freedom + +[RMS: In this chapter, I have corrected statements about facts, including facts +about my thoughts and feelings, and removed some gratuitous hostility in +descriptions of events. I have preserved Williams' statements of his own +impressions, except where noted.] + +Ask anyone who's spent more than a minute in Richard Stallman's presence, and +you'll get the same recollection: forget the long hair. Forget the quirky +demeanor. The first thing you notice is the gaze. One look into Stallman's +green eyes, and you know you're in the presence of a true believer. + +To call the Stallman gaze intense is an understatement. Stallman's eyes don't +just look at you; they look through you. Even when your own eyes momentarily +shift away out of simple primate politeness, Stallman's eyes remain locked-in, +sizzling away at the side of your head like twin photon beams. + +Maybe that's why most writers, when describing Stallman, tend to go for the +religious angle. In a 1998 Salon.com article titled "The Saint of Free +Software," Andrew Leonard describes Stallman's green eyes as "radiating the +power of an Old Testament prophet."1~{ See Andrew Leonard, "The Saint of Free +Software," Salon.com (August 1998), \\ +http://www.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/08/cov_31feature.html. }~ A 1999 Wired +magazine article describes the Stallman beard as "Rasputin-like,"~{ See Leander +Kahney, "Linux's Forgotten Man," Wired News (March 5, 1999), \\ +http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,18291,00.html. }~ while a London +Guardian profile describes the Stallman smile as the smile of "a disciple +seeing Jesus."~{ See "Programmer on moral high ground; Free software is a moral +issue for Richard Stallman believes in freedom and free software," London +Guardian (November 6, 1999), \\ +http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/nov/06/andrewbrown. \\ These are just a small +sampling of the religious comparisons. To date, the most extreme comparison has +to go to Linus Torvalds, who, in his autobiography - see Linus Torvalds and +David Diamond, Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary +(HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001): 58 - writes, "Richard Stallman is the +God of Free Software." Honorable mention goes to Larry Lessig, who, in a +footnote description of Stallman in his book - see Larry Lessig, The Future of +Ideas (Random House, 2001): 270 - likens Stallman to Moses:... \\ as with +Moses, it was another leader, Linus Torvalds, who finally carried the movement +into the promised land by facilitating the development of the final part of the +OS puzzle. Like Moses, too, Stallman is both respected and reviled by allies +within the movement. He is[an] unforgiving, and hence for many inspiring, +leader of a critically important aspect of modern culture. I have deep respect +for the principle and commitment of this extraordinary individual, though I +also have great respect for those who are courageous enough to question his +thinking and then sustain his wrath. \\ In a final interview with Stallman, I +asked him his thoughts about the religious comparisons. "Some people do compare +me with an Old Testament prophet, and the reason is Old Testament prophets said +certain social practices were wrong. They wouldn't compromise on moral issues. +They couldn't be bought off, and they were usually treated with contempt." }~ +={ Wired magazine ; + Leonard, Andrew ; + London Guardian ; + Salon.com +} + +Such analogies serve a purpose, but they ultimately fall short. That's because +they fail to take into account the vulnerable side of the Stallman persona. +Watch the Stallman gaze for an extended period of time, and you will begin to +notice a subtle change. What appears at first to be an attempt to intimidate or +hypnotize reveals itself upon second and third viewing as a frustrated attempt +to build and maintain contact. If his personality has a touch or "shadow" of +autism or Asperger's Syndrome, a possibility that Stallman has entertained from +time to time, his eyes certainly confirm the diagnosis. Even at their most +high-beam level of intensity, they have a tendency to grow cloudy and distant, +like the eyes of a wounded animal preparing to give up the ghost. +={ Asperger Syndrome ; + autism +} + +My own first encounter with the legendary Stallman gaze dates back to the +March, 1999, LinuxWorld Convention and Expo in San Jose, California. Billed as +a "coming out party" for the "Linux" software community, the convention also +stands out as the event that reintroduced Stallman to the technology media. +Determined to push for his proper share of credit, Stallman used the event to +instruct spectators and reporters alike on the history of the GNU Project and +the project's overt political objectives. +={ GNU Project : + GNOME 1.0 +1 ; + Linux +6 ; + LinuxWorld +8 +} + +As a reporter sent to cover the event, I received my own Stallman tutorial +during a press conference announcing the release of GNOME 1.0, a free software +graphic user interface. Unwittingly, I push an entire bank of hot buttons when +I throw out my very first question to Stallman himself: "Do you think GNOME's +maturity will affect the commercial popularity of the Linux operating system?" +={ GNOME 1.0 } + +"I ask that you please stop calling the operating system Linux," Stallman +responds, eyes immediately zeroing in on mine. "The Linux kernel is just a +small part of the operating system. Many of the software programs that make up +the operating system you call Linux were not developed by Linus Torvalds at +all. They were created by GNU Project volunteers, putting in their own personal +time so that users might have a free operating system like the one we have +today. To not acknowledge the contribution of those programmers is both +impolite and a misrepresentation of history. That's why I ask that when you +refer to the operating system, please call it by its proper name, GNU/Linux." +={ GNU Project : + Linux and | kernel ; + Torvalds, Linus +3 +} + +Taking the words down in my reporter's notebook, I notice an eerie silence in +the crowded room. When I finally look up, I find Stallman's unblinking eyes +waiting for me. Timidly, a second reporter throws out a question, making sure +to use the term "GNU/Linux" instead of Linux. Miguel de Icaza, leader of the +GNOME project, fields the question. It isn't until halfway through de Icaza's +answer, however, that Stallman's eyes finally unlock from mine. As soon as they +do, a mild shiver rolls down my back. When Stallman starts lecturing another +reporter over a perceived error in diction, I feel a guilty tinge of relief. At +least he isn't looking at me, I tell myself. +={ de Icaza, Miguel ; + GNU/Linux +} + +For Stallman, such face-to-face moments would serve their purpose. By the end +of the first LinuxWorld show, most reporters know better than to use the term +"Linux" in his presence, and Wired.com is running a story comparing Stallman to +a pre-Stalinist revolutionary erased from the history books by hackers and +entrepreneurs eager to downplay the GNU Project's overly political +objectives.~{ See Leander Kahney (1999). }~ Other articles follow, and while +few reporters call the operating system GNU/Linux in print, most are quick to +credit Stallman for launching the drive to build a free software operating +system 15 years before. + +I won't meet Stallman again for another 17 months. During the interim, Stallman +will revisit Silicon Valley once more for the August, 1999 LinuxWorld show. +Although not invited to speak, Stallman does manage to deliver the event's best +line. Accepting the show's Linus Torvalds Award for Community Service - an +award named after Linux creator Linus Torvalds - on behalf of the Free Software +Foundation, Stallman wisecracks, "Giving the Linus Torvalds Award to the Free +Software Foundation is a bit like giving the Han Solo Award to the Rebel +Alliance." + +This time around, however, the comments fail to make much of a media dent. +Midway through the week, Red Hat, Inc., a prominent GNU/Linux vendor, goes +public. The news merely confirms what many reporters such as myself already +suspect: "Linux" has become a Wall Street buzzword, much like "e-commerce" and +"dot-com" before it. With the stock market approaching the Y2K rollover like a +hyperbola approaching its vertical asymptote, all talk of free software or open +source as a political phenomenon falls by the wayside. +={ Red Hat Inc. : + going public +} + +Maybe that's why, when LinuxWorld follows up its first two shows with a third +LinuxWorld show in August, 2000, Stallman is conspicuously absent. + +My second encounter with Stallman and his trademark gaze comes shortly after +that third LinuxWorld show. Hearing that Stallman is going to be in Silicon +Valley, I set up a lunch interview in Palo Alto, California. The meeting place +seems ironic, not only because of his absence from the show but also because of +the overall backdrop. Outside of Redmond, Washington, few cities offer a more +direct testament to the economic value of proprietary software. Curious to see +how Stallman, a man who has spent the better part of his life railing against +our culture's predilection toward greed and selfishness, is coping in a city +where even garage-sized bungalows run in the half-million-dollar price range, I +make the drive down from Oakland. +={ Redmond (Washington) ; + Palo Alto (California) ; + Silicon Valley +1 +} + +I follow the directions Stallman has given me, until I reach the headquarters +of Art.net, a nonprofit "virtual artists collective." Located in a +hedge-shrouded house in the northern corner of the city, the Art.net +headquarters are refreshingly run-down. Suddenly, the idea of Stallman lurking +in the heart of Silicon Valley doesn't seem so strange after all. +={ Art.net } + +I find Stallman sitting in a darkened room, tapping away on his gray laptop +computer. He looks up as soon as I enter the room, giving me a full blast of +his 200-watt gaze. When he offers a soothing "Hello," I offer a return +greeting. Before the words come out, however, his eyes have already shifted +back to the laptop screen. + +"I'm just finishing an article on the spirit of hacking," Stallman says, +fingers still tapping. "Take a look." + +I take a look. The room is dimly lit, and the text appears as greenish-white +letters on a black background, a reversal of the color scheme used by most +desktop word-processing programs, so it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. When +they do, I find myself reading Stallman's account of a recent meal at a Korean +restaurant. Before the meal, Stallman makes an interesting discovery: the +person setting the table has left six chopsticks instead of the usual two in +front of Stallman's place setting. Where most restaurant goers would have +ignored the redundant pairs, Stallman takes it as challenge: find away to use +all six chopsticks at once. Like many software hacks, the successful solution +is both clever and silly at the same time. Hence Stallman's decision to use it +as an illustration. + +As I read the story, I feel Stallman watching me intently. I look over to +notice a proud but child-like half smile on his face. When I praise the essay, +my comment barely merits a raised eyebrow. + +"I'll be ready to go in a moment," he says. + +Stallman goes back to tapping away at his laptop. The laptop is gray and boxy, +not like the sleek, modern laptops that seemed to be a programmer favorite at +the recent LinuxWorld show. Above the keyboard rides a smaller, lighter +keyboard, a testament to Stallman's aging hands. During the mid 1990s, the pain +in Stallman's hands became so unbearable that he had to hire a typist. Today, +Stallman relies on a keyboard whose keys require less pressure than a typical +computer keyboard. + +Stallman has a tendency to block out all external stimuli while working. +Watching his eyes lock onto the screen and his fingers dance, one quickly gets +the sense of two old friends locked in deep conversation. + +The session ends with a few loud keystrokes and the slow disassembly of the +laptop. + +"Ready for lunch?" Stallman asks. + +We walk to my car. Pleading a sore ankle, Stallman limps along slowly. Stallman +blames the injury on a tendon in his left foot. The injury is three years old +and has gotten so bad that Stallman, a huge fan of folk dancing, has been +forced to give up all dancing activities."I love folk dancing intensely," +Stallman laments. "Not being able to dance has been a tragedy for me." +={ folk dancing ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + folk dancing +} + +Stallman's body bears witness to the tragedy. Lack of exercise has left +Stallman with swollen cheeks and a pot belly that was much less visible the +year before. You can tell the weight gain has been dramatic, because when +Stallman walks, he arches his back like a pregnant woman trying to accommodate +an unfamiliar load. + +The walk is further slowed by Stallman's willingness to stop and smell the +roses, literally. Spotting a particularly beautiful blossom, he strokes the +innermost petals against his nose, takes a deep sniff, and steps back with a +contented sigh. + +"Mmm, rhinophytophilia," he says, rubbing his back.~{ At the time, I thought +Stallman was referring to the flower's scientific name. Months later, I would +learn that rhino phytophilia was in fact a humorous reference to the activity - +i.e., Stallman's sticking his nose into a flower and enjoying the moment - +presenting it as the kinky practice of nasal sex with plants. For another +humorous Stallman flower incident, \\ visit: +http://www.stallman.org/articles/texas.html. }~ + +The drive to the restaurant takes less than three minutes. Upon recommendation +from Tim Ney, former executive director of the Free Software Foundation, I have +let Stallman choose the restaurant. While some reporters zero in on Stallman's +monk-like lifestyle, the truth is, Stallman is a committed epicure when it +comes to food. One of the fringe benefits of being a traveling missionary for +the free software cause is the ability to sample delicious food from around the +world. "Visit almost any major city in the world, and chances are Richard knows +the best restaurant in town," says Ney. "Richard also takes great pride in +knowing what's on the menu and ordering for the entire table." (If they are +willing, that is.) +={ Ney, Tim } + +For today's meal, Stallman has chosen a Cantonese-style dim sum restaurant two +blocks off University Avenue, Palo Alto's main drag. The choice is partially +inspired by Stallman's recent visit to China, including a stop in Hong Kong, in +addition to Stallman's personal aversion to spicier Hunanese and Szechuan +cuisine. "I'm not a big fan of spicy," Stallman admits. + +We arrive a few minutes after 11 a.m. and find ourselves already subject to a +20-minute wait. Given the hacker aversion to lost time, I hold my breath +momentarily, fearing an outburst. Stallman, contrary to expectations, takes the +news in stride. + +"It's too bad we couldn't have found somebody else to join us," he tells me. +"It's always more fun to eat with a group of people." + +During the wait, Stallman practices a few dance steps. His moves are tentative +but skilled. We discuss current events. Stallman says his only regret about not +attending LinuxWorld was missing out on a press conference announcing the +launch of the GNOME Foundation. Backed by Sun Microsystems and IBM, the +foundation is in many ways a vindication for Stallman, who has long championed +that free software and free-market economics need not be mutually exclusive. +Nevertheless, Stallman remains dissatisfied by the message that came out. + +"The way it was presented, the companies were talking about Linux with no +mention of the GNU Project at all," Stallman says. +={ GNU Project : + Linux and ; + Linux : + GNU Project and +} + +Such disappointments merely contrast the warm response coming from overseas, +especially Asia, Stallman notes. A quick glance at the Stallman 2000 travel +itinerary bespeaks the growing popularity of the free software message. Between +recent visits to India, China, and Brazil, Stallman has spent 12 of the last +115 days on United States soil. His travels have given him an opportunity to +see how the free software concept translates into different languages of +cultures. + +"In India many people are interested in free software, because they see it as a +way to build their computing infrastructure without spending a lot of money," +Stallman says. "In China, the concept has been much slower to catch on. +Comparing free software to free speech is harder to do when you don't have any +free speech. Still, the level of interest in free software during my last visit +was profound." + +The conversation shifts to Napster, the San Mateo, California software company, +which has become something of a media cause c'el'ebre in recent months. The +company markets a controversial software tool that lets music fans browse and +copy the music files of other music fans. Thanks to the magnifying powers of +the Internet, this so-called "peer-to-peer" program has evolved into a de facto +online jukebox, giving ordinary music fans a way to listen to MP3 music files +over the computer without paying a royalty or fee, much to record companies' +chagrin. +={ Napster +4 ; + San Mateo (California) +2 +} + +Although based on proprietary software, the Napster system draws inspiration +from the long-held Stallman contention that once a work enters the digital +realm - in other words, once making a copy is less a matter of duplicating +sounds or duplicating atoms and more a matter of duplicating information - the +natural human impulse to share a work becomes harder to restrict. Rather than +impose additional restrictions, Napster execs have decided to take advantage of +the impulse. Giving music listeners a central place to trade music files, the +company has gambled on its ability to steer the resulting user traffic toward +other commercial opportunities. + +The sudden success of the Napster model has put the fear in traditional record +companies, with good reason. Just days before my Palo Alto meeting with +Stallman, U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Patel granted a request filed by +the Recording Industry Association of America for an injunction against the +file-sharing service. The in-junction was subsequently suspended by the U.S. +Ninth District Court of Appeals, but by early 2001, the Court of Appeals, too, +would find the San Mateo-based company in breach of copyright law,~{ See Cecily +Barnes and Scott Ard, "Court Grants Stay of Napster Injunction," News.com (July +28, 2000), \\ http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2376465.html. }~ a decision +RIAA spokesperson Hillary Rosen would later proclaim a "clear victory for the +creative content community and the legitimate online marketplace."~{ See "A +Clear Victory for Recording Industry in Napster Case," RIAA press release +(February 12, 2001), \\ http://www.riaa.com/PR_story.cfm?id=372. }~ + +For hackers such as Stallman, the Napster business model is troublesome in +different ways. The company's eagerness to appropriate time-worn hacker +principles such as file sharing and communal information ownership, while at +the same time selling a service based on proprietary software, sends a +distressing mixed message. As a person who already has a hard enough time +getting his own carefully articulated message into the media stream, Stallman +is understandably reticent when it comes to speaking out about the company. +Still, Stallman does admit to learning a thing or two from the social side of +the Napster phenomenon. + +"Before Napster, I thought it might be [sufficient] for people to privately +redistribute works of entertainment," Stallman says. "The number of people who +find Napster useful, however, tells me that the right to redistribute copies +not only on a neighbor-to-neighbor basis, but to the public at large, is +essential and therefore may not be taken away." + +No sooner does Stallman say this than the door to the restaurant swings open +and we are invited back inside by the host. Within a few seconds, we are seated +in a side corner of the restaurant next to a large mirrored wall. + +The restaurant's menu doubles as an order form, and Stallman is quickly +checking off boxes before the host has even brought water to the table. +"Deep-fried shrimp roll wrapped in bean-curd skin," Stallman reads. "Bean-curd +skin. It offers such an interesting texture. I think we should get it." + +This comment leads to an impromptu discussion of Chinese food and Stallman's +recent visit to China. "The food in China is utterly exquisite," Stallman says, +his voice gaining an edge of emotion for the first time this morning. "So many +different things that I've never seen in the U.S., local things made from local +mushrooms and local vegetables. It got to the point where I started keeping a +journal just to keep track of every wonderful meal." + +The conversation segues into a discussion of Korean cuisine. During the same +June, 2000, Asian tour, Stallman paid a visit to South Korea. His arrival +ignited a mini-firestorm in the local media thanks to a Korean software +conference attended by Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates that same +week. Next to getting his photo above Gates's photo on the front page of the +top Seoul newspaper, Stallman says the best thing about the trip was the food. +"I had a bowl of naeng myun, which is cold noodles," says Stallman. "These were +a very interesting feeling noodle. Most places don't use quite the same kind of +noodles for your naeng myun, so I can say with complete certainty that this was +the most exquisite naeng myun I ever had." +={ Gates, Bill ; + South Korea +} + +The term "exquisite" is high praise coming from Stallman. I know this, because +a few moments after listening to Stallman rhapsodize about naeng myun, I feel +his laser-beam eyes singeing the top of my right shoulder. + +"There is the most exquisite woman sitting just behind you," Stallman says. + +I turn to look, catching a glimpse of a woman's back. The woman is young, +somewhere in her mid-20s, and is wearing a white sequined dress. She and her +male lunch companion are in the final stages of paying the check. When both get +up from the table to leave the restaurant, I can tell without looking, because +Stallman's eyes suddenly dim in intensity. + +"Oh, no," he says. "They're gone. And to think, I'll probably never even get to +see her again." + +After a brief sigh, Stallman recovers. The moment gives me a chance to discuss +Stallman's reputation vis-'a-vis the fairer sex. The reputation is a bit +contradictory at times. A number of hackers report Stallman's predilection for +greeting females with a kiss on the back of the hand.~{ See Mae Ling Mak, "A +Mae Ling Story" (December 17, 1998), \\ +http://crackmonkey.org/pipermail/crackmonkey/1998-December/001777.html. So far, +Mak is the only person I've found willing to speak on the record in regard to +this practice, although I've heard this from a few other female sources. Mak, +despite expressing initial revulsion at it, later managed to put aside her +misgivings and dance with Stallman at a 1999 LinuxWorld show. }~ A May 26, 2000 +Salon.com article, meanwhile, portrays Stallman as a bit of a hacker lothario. +Documenting the free software-free love connection, reporter Annalee Newitz +presents Stallman as rejecting traditional family values, telling her, "I +believe in love, but not monogamy."~{ See Annalee Newitz, "If Code is Free Why +Not Me?", Salon.com (May 26,2000), \\ +http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/05/26/free_love/print.html. }~ +={ Newitz, Annalee ; + Salon.com +} + +Stallman lets his menu drop a little when I bring this up. "Well, most men seem +to want sex and seem to have a rather contemptuous attitude towards women," he +says. "Even women they're involved with. I can't understand it at all." + +I mention a passage from the 1999 book /{Open Sources}/ in which Stallman +confesses to wanting to name the GNU kernel after a girl-friend at the time. +The girlfriend's name was Alix, a name that fit perfectly with the Unix +developer convention of putting an "x" at the end names of operating systems +and kernels - e.g., "Linux." Alix was a Unix system administrator, and had +suggested to her friends, "Someone should name a kernel after me." So Stallman +decided to name the GNU kernel "Alix" as a surprise for her. The kernel's main +developer renamed the kernel "Hurd," but retained the name "Alix" for part of +it. One of Alix's friends noticed this part in a source snapshot and told her, +and she was touched. A later redesign of the Hurd eliminated that part.~{ See +Richard Stallman, "The GNU Operating System and the Free Software Movement," +Open Sources (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1999): 65. [RMS: Williams +interpreted this vignette as suggesting that I am a hopeless romantic, and that +my efforts were meant to impress some as-yet-unidentified woman. No MIT hacker +would believe this, since we learned quite young that most women wouldn't +notice us, let alone love us, for our programming. We programmed because it was +fascinating. Meanwhile, these events were only possible because I had a +thoroughly identified girlfriend at the time. If I was a romantic, at the time +I was neither a hopeless romantic nor a hopeful romantic, but rather +temporarily a successful one. On the strength of that naive interpretation, +Williams went on to compare meto Don Quijote. For completeness' sake, here's a +somewhat inarticulate quote from the first edition: "I wasn't really trying to +be romantic. It was more of a teasing thing. I mean, it was romantic, but it +was also teasing, you know? It would have been a delightful surprise."] }~ +={ HURD kernel ; + Open Sources (DiBona, et al) +} + +For the first time all morning, Stallman smiles. I bring up the hand kissing. +"Yes, I do do that," Stallman says. "I've found it's a way of offering some +affection that a lot of women will enjoy. It's a chance to give some affection +and to be appreciated for it." + +Affection is a thread that runs clear through Richard Stallman's life, and he +is painfully candid about it when questions arise. "There really hasn't been +much affection in my life, except in my mind," he says. Still, the discussion +quickly grows awkward. After a few one-word replies, Stallman finally lifts up +his menu, cutting off the inquiry. + +"Would you like some shu mai?" he asks. + +When the food comes out, the conversation slaloms between the arriving courses. +We discuss the oft-noted hacker affection for Chinese food, the weekly dinner +runs into Boston's Chinatown district during Stallman's days as a staff +programmer at the AI Lab, and the underlying logic of the Chinese language and +its associated writing system. Each thrust on my part elicits a well-informed +parry on Stallman's part. + +"I heard some people speaking Shanghainese the last time I was in China," +Stallman says. "It was interesting to hear. It sounded quite different [from +Mandarin]. I had them tell me some cognate words in Mandarin and Shanghainese. +In some cases you can see the resemblance, but one question I was wondering +about was whether tones would be similar. They're not. That's interesting to +me, because there's a theory that the tones evolved from additional syllables +that got lost and replaced. Their effect survives in the tone. If that's true, +and I've seen claims that that happened within historic times, the dialects +must have diverged before the loss of these final syllables." + +The first dish, a plate of pan-fried turnip cakes, has arrived. Both Stallman +and I take a moment to carve up the large rectangular cakes, which smell like +boiled cabbage but taste like potato latkes fried in bacon. + +I decide to bring up the outcast issue again, wondering if Stallman's teenage +years conditioned him to take unpopular stands, most notably his uphill battle +since 1994 to get computer users and the media to replace the popular term +"Linux" with "GNU/Linux." + +"I believe [being an outcast] did help me [to avoid bowing to popular views]," +Stallman says, chewing on a dumpling. "I have never understood what peer +pressure does to other people. I think the reason is that I was so hopelessly +rejected that for me, there wasn't anything to gain by trying to follow any of +the fads. It wouldn't have made any difference. I'd still be just as rejected, +so I didn't try." + +Stallman points to his taste in music as a key example of his contrarian +tendencies. As a teenager, when most of his high school classmates were +listening to Motown and acid rock, Stallman preferred classical music. The +memory leads to a rare humorous episode from Stallman's middle-school years. +Following the Beatles' 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, most of +Stallman's classmates rushed out to purchase the latest Beatles albums and +singles. Right then and there, Stallman says, he made a decision to boycott the +Fab Four. +={ Beatles +2 ; + music +4 +} + +"I liked some of the pre-Beatles popular music," Stallman says. "But I didn't +like the Beatles. I especially disliked the wild way people reacted to them. It +was like: who was going to have a Beatles assembly to adulate the Beatles the +most?" + +When his Beatles boycott failed to take hold, Stallman looked for other ways to +point out the herd-mentality of his peers. Stallman says he briefly considered +putting together a rock band himself dedicated to satirizing the Liverpool +group. + +"I wanted to call it Tokyo Rose and the Japanese Beetles." + +Given his current love for international folk music, I ask Stallman if he had a +similar affinity for Bob Dylan and the other folk musicians of the early 1960s. +Stallman shakes his head. "I did like Peter, Paul and Mary," he says. "That +reminds me of a great filk." +={ Dylan, Bob ; + Peter, Paul and Mary +} + +When I ask for a definition of "filk," Stallman explains that the term is used +in science fiction fandom to refer to the writing of new lyrics for songs. (In +recent decades, some filkers write melodies too.) Classic filks include "On Top +of Spaghetti," a rewrite of "On Top of Old Smokey," and "Yoda," filk-master +"Weird" Al Yankovic's Star Wars-oriented rendition of the Kinks tune, "Lola." + +Stallman asks me if I would be interested in hearing the filk. As soon as I say +yes, Stallman's voice begins singing in an unexpectedly clear tone, using the +tune of "Blowin' in the Wind": + +poem{ + + How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, + f a woodchuck could chuck wood? + How many poles could a polak lock, + If a polak could lock poles? + How many knees could a negro grow, + If a negro could grow knees? + The answer, my dear, + is stick it in your ear. + The answer is, stick it in your ear... + +}poem + +The singing ends, and Stallman's lips curl into another child-like half smile. +I glance around at the nearby tables. The Asian families enjoying their Sunday +lunch pay little attention to the bearded alto in their midst.~{ For Stallman's +own filks, \\ visit http://www.stallman.org/doggerel.html . To hear Stallman +singing "The Free Software Song," \\ visit +http://www.gnu.org/music/free-software-song.html. }~ After a few moments of +hesitation, I finally smile too. + +"Do you want that last cornball?" Stallman asks, eyes twinkling. Before I can +screw up the punch line, Stallman grabs the corn-encrusted dumpling with his +two chopsticks and lifts it proudly. "Maybe I'm the one who should get the +cornball," he says. + +The food gone, our conversation assumes the dynamics of a normal interview. +Stallman reclines in his chair and cradles a cup of tea in his hands. We resume +talking about Napster and its relation to the free software movement. Should +the principles of free software be extended to similar arenas such as music +publishing? I ask. + +"It's a mistake to transfer answers from one thing to another," says Stallman, +contrasting songs with software programs. "The right approach is to look at +each type of work and see what conclusion you get." + +When it comes to copyrighted works, Stallman says he divides the world into +three categories. The first category involves "functional" works - e.g., +software programs, dictionaries, and textbooks. The second category involves +works that might best be described as "testimonial" - e.g., scientific papers +and historical documents. Such works serve a purpose that would be undermined +if subsequent readers or authors were free to modify the work at will. It also +includes works of personal expression - e.g., diaries, journals, and +autobiographies. To modify such documents would be to alter a person's +recollections or point of view, which Stallman considers ethically +unjustifiable. The third category includes works of art and entertainment. +={ copyrighted works, categories of } + +Of the three categories, the first should give users the unlimited right to +make modified versions, while the second and third should regulate that right +according to the will of the original author. Regardless of category, however, +the freedom to copy and redistribute non-commercially should remain unabridged +at all times, Stallman insists. If that means giving Internet users the right +to generate a hundred copies of an article, image, song, or book and then email +the copies to a hundred strangers, so be it. "It's clear that private +occasional redistribution must be permitted, because only a police state can +stop that," Stallman says. "It's antisocial to come between people and their +friends. Napster has convinced me that we also need to permit, must permit, +even noncommercial redistribution to the public for the fun of it. Because so +many people want to do that and find it so useful." +={ Napster } + +When I ask whether the courts would accept such a permissive outlook, Stallman +cuts me off. + +"That's the wrong question," he says. "I mean now you've changed the subject +entirely from one of ethics to one of interpreting laws. And those are two +totally different questions in the same field. It's useless to jump from one to +the other. How the courts would interpret the existing laws is mainly in a +harsh way, because that's the way these laws have been bought by publishers." + +The comment provides an insight into Stallman's political philosophy: just +because the legal system currently backs up businesses' ability to treat +copyright as the software equivalent of land title doesn't mean computer users +have to play the game according to those rules. Freedom is an ethical issue, +not a legal issue. "I'm looking beyond what the existing laws are to what they +should be," Stallman says. "I'm not trying to draft legislation. I'm thinking +about what should the law do? I consider the law prohibiting the sharing of +copies with your friend the moral equivalent of Jim Crow. It does not deserve +respect." + +The invocation of Jim Crow prompts another question. How much influence or +inspiration does Stallman draw from past political leaders? Like the +civil-rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, his attempt to drive social +change is based on an appeal to timeless values: freedom, justice, and fair +play. + +Stallman divides his attention between my analogy and a particularly tangled +strand of hair. When I stretch the analogy to the point where I'm comparing +Stallman with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stallman, after breaking off a split +end and popping it into his mouth, cuts me off. + +"I'm not in his league, but I do play the same game," he says, chewing. + +I suggest Malcolm X as another point of comparison. Like the former Nation of +Islam spokesperson, Stallman has built up a reputation for courting +controversy, alienating potential allies, and preaching a message favoring +self-sufficiency over cultural integration. + +Chewing on another split end, Stallman rejects the comparison. "My message is +closer to King's message," he says. "It's a universal message. It's a message +of firm condemnation of certain practices that mistreat others. It's not a +message of hatred for anyone. And it's not aimed at a narrow group of people. I +invite anyone to value freedom and to have freedom." + +Many criticize Stallman for rejecting handy political alliances; some +psychologize this and describe it as a character trait. In the case of his +well-publicized distaste for the term "open source," the unwillingness to +participate in recent coalition-building projects seems understand-able. As a +man who has spent the last two decades stumping on the behalf of free software, +Stallman's political capital is deeply invested in the term. Still, comments +such as the "Han Solo" comparison at the 1999 LinuxWorld have only reinforced +Stallman's reputation, amongst those who believe virtue consists of following +the crowd, as a disgruntled mossback unwilling to roll with political or +marketing trends. + +"I admire and respect Richard for all the work he's done," says Red Hat +president Robert Young, summing up Stallman's paradoxical political conduct. +"My only critique is that sometimes Richard treats his friends worse than his +enemies." +={ Young, Robert ; + Red Hat Inc. +} + +[RMS: The term "friends" only partly fits people such as Young, and companies +such as Red Hat. It applies to some of what they did, and do: for instance, Red +Hat contributes to development of free software, including some GNU programs. +But Red Hat does other things that work against the free software movement's +goals - for instance, its versions of GNU/Linux contain non-free software. +Turning from deeds to words, referring to the whole system as "Linux" is +unfriendly treatment of the GNU Project, and promoting "open source" instead of +"free software" rejects our values. I could work with Young and Red Hat when we +were going in the same direction, but that was not often enough to make them +possible allies.] + +Stallman's reluctance to ally the free software movement with other political +causes is not due to lack of interest in them. Visit his offices at MIT, and +you instantly find a clearinghouse of left-leaning news articles covering +civil-rights abuses around the globe. Visit his personal web site, +stallman.org, and you'll find attacks on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, +the War on Drugs, and the World Trade Organization. Stallman explains, "We have +to be careful of entering the free software movement into alliances with other +political causes that substantial numbers of free software supporters might not +agree with. For instance, we avoid linking the free software movement with any +political party because we do not want to drive away the supporters and elected +officials of other parties." +={ Digital Millennium Copyright Act ; + War on Drugs ; + World Trade Organization +} + +Given his activist tendencies, I ask, why hasn't Stallman sought a larger +voice? Why hasn't he used his visibility in the hacker world as a platform to +boost his political voice? [RMS: But I do - when I see a good opportunity. +That's why I started stallman.org. ] + +Stallman lets his tangled hair drop and contemplates the question for a moment. +[RMS: My quoted response doesn't fit that question. It does fit a different +question, "Why do you focus on free software rather than on the other causes +you believe in?" I suspect the question I was asked was more like that one.] + +"I hesitate to exaggerate the importance of this little puddle of freedom," he +says. "Because the more well-known and conventional areas of working for +freedom and a better society are tremendously important. I wouldn't say that +free software is as important as they are. It's the responsibility I undertook, +because it dropped in my lap and I saw a way I could do something about it. +But, for example, to end police brutality, to end the war on drugs, to end the +kinds of racism we still have, to help everyone have a comfortable life, to +protect the rights of people who do abortions, to protect us from theocracy, +these are tremendously important issues, far more important than what I do. I +just wish I knew how to do something about them." + +Once again, Stallman presents his political activity as a function of personal +confidence. Given the amount of time it has taken him to develop and hone the +free software movement's core tenets, Stallman is hesitant to believe he can +advance the other causes he supports. + +"I wish I knew how to make a major difference on those bigger issues, because I +would be tremendously proud if I could, but they're very hard and lots of +people who are probably better than I am have been working on them and have +gotten only so far," he says. "But as I see it, while other people were +defending against these big visible threats, I saw another threat that was +unguarded. And so I went to defend against that threat. It may not be as big a +threat, but I was the only one there [to oppose it]." + +Chewing a final split end, Stallman suggests paying the check. Be-fore the +waiter can take it away, however, Stallman pulls out a white-colored dollar +bill and throws it on the pile. The bill looks so clearly counterfeit, I can't +help but pick it up and read it. Sure enough, it did not come from the US Mint. +Instead of bearing the image of a George Washington or Abe Lincoln, the bill's +front side bears the image of a cartoon pig. Instead of the United States of +America, the banner above the pig reads, "Untied Status of Avarice." The bill +is for zero dollars,~{ RMS: Williams was mistaken to call this bill +"counterfeit." It is legal tender, worth zero dollars for payment of any debt. +Any U.S. government office will convert it into zero dollars' worth of gold. }~ +and when the waiter picks up the money, Stallman makes sure to tug on his +sleeve. + +"I added an extra zero to your tip," Stallman says, yet another half smile +creeping across his lips. + +The waiter, uncomprehending or fooled by the look of the bill, smiles and +scurries away. + +"I think that means we're free to go," Stallman says. + +1~ Chapter 6 - The Emacs Commune +={ Emacs Commune +52 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + AI Lab, as a programmer +18 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + Emacs Commune and +52 +} + +The AI Lab of the 1970s was by all accounts a special place. Cutting-edge +projects and top-flight researchers gave it an esteemed position in the world +of computer science. The internal hacker culture and its anarchic policies lent +a rebellious mystique as well. Only later, when many of the lab's scientists +and software superstars had departed, would hackers fully realize the unique +and ephemeral world they had once inhabited. + +"It was a bit like the Garden of Eden," says Stallman, summing up the lab and +its software-sharing ethos in a 1998 /{Forbes}/ article. "It hadn't occurred to +us not to cooperate."~{ See Josh McHugh, "For the Love of Hacking," Forbes +(August 10, 1998), \\ http://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0810/6203094a.html. }~ + +Such mythological descriptions, while extreme, underline an important fact. The +ninth floor of 545 Tech Square was more than a workplace for many. For hackers +such as Stallman, it was home. + +The word "home" is a weighted term in the Stallman lexicon. In a pointed swipe +at his parents, Stallman, to this day, refuses to acknowledge any home before +Currier House, the dorm he lived in during his days at Harvard. He has also +been known to describe leaving that home in tragicomic terms. Once, while +describing his years at Harvard, Stallman said his only regret was getting +kicked out. It wasn't until I asked Stallman what precipitated his ouster, that +I realized I had walked into a classic Stallman setup line. +={ Currier House (Harvard University) } + +"At Harvard they have this policy where if you pass too many classes they ask +you to leave," Stallman says. + +With no dorm and no desire to return to New York, Stallman followed a path +blazed by Greenblatt, Gosper, Sussman, and the many other hackers before him. +Enrolling at MIT as a grad student, Stallman rented a room in an apartment in +nearby Cambridge but soon viewed the AI Lab itself as his de facto home. In a +1986 speech, Stallman recalled his memories of the AI Lab during this period: +={ Gosper, Bill ; + Greenblat, Richard ; + Sussman, Gerald +} + +_1 I may have done a little bit more living at the lab than most people, +because every year or two for some reason or other I'd have no apartment and I +would spend a few months living at the lab. And I've always found it very +comfortable, as well as nice and cool in the summer. But it was not at all +uncommon to find people falling asleep at the lab, again because of their +enthusiasm; you stay up as long as you possibly can hacking, because you just +don't want to stop. And then when you're completely exhausted, you climb over +to the nearest soft horizontal surface. A very informal atmosphere.~{ See +Stallman (1986). }~ + +The lab's home-like atmosphere could be a problem at times. What some saw as a +dorm, others viewed as an electronic opium den. In the 1976 book /{Computer +Power and Human Reason}/, MIT researcher Joseph Weizenbaum offered a withering +critique of the "computer bum," Weizenbaum's term for the hackers who populated +computer rooms such as the AI Lab. "Their rumpled clothes, their unwashed hair +and unshaved faces, and their uncombed hair all testify that they are oblivious +to their bodies and to the world in which they move," Weizenbaum wrote. +"[Computer bums] exist, at least when so engaged, only through and for the +computers."~{ See Joseph Weizenbaum, Computer Power and Human Reason: From +Judgment to Calculation (W. H. Freeman, 1976): 116. }~ +={ computer bums ; + Computer Power and Human Reason (Weizenbaum) ; + Weizenbaum, Joseph +1 +} + +Almost a quarter century after its publication, Stallman still bristles when +hearing Weizenbaum's "computer bum" description, discussing it in the present +tense as if Weizenbaum himself was still in the room. "He wants people to be +just professionals, doing it for the money and wanting to get away from it and +forget about it as soon as possible," Stallman says. "What he sees as a normal +state of affairs, I see as a tragedy." + +Hacker life, however, was not without tragedy. Stallman characterizes his +transition from weekend hacker to full-time AI Lab denizen as a series of +painful misfortunes that could only be eased through the euphoria of hacking. +As Stallman himself has said, the first misfortune was his graduation from +Harvard. Eager to continue his studies in physics, Stallman enrolled as a +graduate student at MIT. The choice of schools was a natural one. Not only did +it give Stallman the chance to follow the footsteps of great MIT alumni: +William Shockley ('36), Richard P. Feynman ('39), and Murray Gell-Mann ('51), +it also put him two miles closer to the AI Lab and its new PDP-10 computer. "My +attention was going toward programming, but I still thought, well, maybe I can +do both," Stallman says. +={ Feynman, Richard ; + Gell-Mann, Murray ; + Harvard University : + graduation from ; + Shockley, William +} + +Toiling in the fields of graduate-level science by day and programming in the +monastic confines of the AI Lab by night, Stallman tried to achieve a perfect +balance. The fulcrum of this geek teeter-totter was his weekly outing with the +Folk-Dance Club, his one social outlet that guaranteed at least a modicum of +interaction with the opposite sex. Near the end of that first year at MIT, +however, disaster struck. A knee injury forced Stallman to stop dancing. At +first, Stallman viewed the injury as a temporary problem; he went to dancing +and chatted with friends while listening to the music he loved. By the end of +the summer, when the knee still ached and classes reconvened, Stallman began to +worry. "My knee wasn't getting any better," Stallman recalls," which meant I +had to expect to be unable to dance, permanently. I was heartbroken." + +With no dorm and no dancing, Stallman's social universe imploded. Dancing was +the only situation in which he had found success in meeting women and +occasionally even dating them. No more dancing ever was painful enough, but it +also meant, it seemed, no more dates ever. + +"I felt basically that I'd lost all my energy," Stallman recalls. "I'd lost my +energy to do anything but what was most immediately tempting. The energy to do +something else was gone. I was in total despair." + +Stallman retreated from the world even further, focusing entirely on his work +at the AI Lab. By October, 1975, he dropped out of MIT and out of physics, +never to return to studies. Software hacking, once a hobby, had become his +calling. + +Looking back on that period, Stallman sees the transition from full-time +student to full-time hacker as inevitable. Sooner or later, he believes, the +siren's call of computer hacking would have overpowered his interest in other +professional pursuits. "With physics and math, I could never figure out a way +to contribute," says Stallman, recalling his struggles prior to the knee +injury. "I would have been proud to advance either one of those fields, but I +could never see a way to do that. I didn't know where to start. With software, +I saw right away how to write things that would run and be useful. The pleasure +of that knowledge led me to want to do it more." + +Stallman wasn't the first to equate hacking with pleasure. Many of the hackers +who staffed the AI Lab boasted similar, incomplete academic resumes. *** Most +had come in pursuing degrees in math or electrical engineering only to +surrender their academic careers and professional ambitions to the sheer +exhilaration that came with solving problems never before addressed. Like St. +Thomas Aquinas, the scholastic known for working so long on his theological +summae that he sometimes achieved spiritual visions, hackers reached +transcendent internal states through sheer mental focus and physical +exhaustion. Although Stallman shunned drugs, like most hackers, he enjoyed the +"high" that came near the end of a 20-hour coding bender. +={ Thomas Aquinas, saint } + +Perhaps the most enjoyable emotion, however, was the sense of personal +fulfillment. When it came to hacking, Stallman was a natural. A childhood's +worth of late-night study sessions gave him the ability to work long hours with +little sleep. As a social outcast since age 10, he had little difficulty +working alone. And as a mathematician with a built-in gift for logic and +foresight, Stallman possessed the ability to circumvent design barriers that +left most hackers spinning their wheels. + +"He was special," recalls Gerald Sussman, an AI Lab faculty member and (since +1985) board member of the Free Software Foundation. Describing Stallman as a +"clear thinker and a clear designer," Sussman invited Stallman to join him in +AI research projects in 1973 and 1975, both aimed at making AI programs that +could analyze circuits the way human engineers do it. The project required an +expert's command of Lisp, a programming language built specifically for AI +applications, as well as understanding (supplied by Sussman) of how a human +might approach the same task. The 1975 project pioneered an AI technique called +dependency-directed backtracking or truth maintenance, which consists of +positing tentative assumptions, noticing if they lead to contradictions, and +reconsidering the pertinent assumptions if that occurs. +={ LISP programming language ; + Sussman, Gerald +} + +When he wasn't working on official projects such as these, Stallman devoted his +time to pet projects. It was in a hacker's best interest to improve the lab's +software infrastructure, and one of Stallman's biggest pet projects during this +period was the lab's editor program TECO. +={ TECO editor program +23 } + +The story of Stallman's work on TECO during the 1970s is inextricably linked +with Stallman's later leadership of the free software movement. It is also a +significant stage in the history of computer evolution, so much so that a brief +recapitulation of that evolution is necessary. During the 1950s and 1960s, when +computers were first appearing at universities, computer programming was an +incredibly abstract pursuit. To communicate with the machine, programmers +created a series of punch cards, with each card representing an individual +software command. Programmers would then hand the cards over to a central +system administrator who would then insert them, one by one, into the machine, +waiting for the machine to spit out a new set of punch cards, which the +programmer would then decipher as output. This process, known as "batch +processing," was cumbersome and time consuming. It was also prone to abuses of +authority. One of the motivating factors behind hackers' inbred aversion to +centralization was the power held by early system operators in dictating which +jobs held top priority. +={ batch processing ; + Free Software Foundation (FSF) : + TECO text-editor and ; + punch cards, for batch processing +} + +In 1962, computer scientists and hackers involved in MIT's Project MAC, an +early forerunner of the AI Lab, took steps to alleviate this frustration. +Time-sharing, originally known as "time stealing," made it possible for +multiple programs to take advantage of a machine's operational capabilities. +Teletype interfaces also made it possible to communicate with a machine not +through a series of punched holes but through actual text. A programmer typed +in commands and read the line-by-line output generated by the machine. +={ Project MAC ; + teletype interfaces vs. batch processing +3 +} + +During the late 1960s, interface design made additional leaps. In a famous 1968 +lecture, Doug Engelbart, a scientist then working at the Stanford Research +Institute, unveiled a prototype of the modern graphical interface. Rigging up a +television set to the computer and adding a pointer device which Engelbart +dubbed a "mouse," the scientist created a system even more interactive than the +time-sharing system developed at MIT. Treating the video display like a +high-speed printer, Engelbart's system gave a user the ability to move the +cursor around the screen and see the cursor position updated by the computer in +real time. The user suddenly had the ability to position text anywhere on the +screen. +={ Engelbart, Doug ; + graphial interfaces ; + mice, as video pointers ; + Stanford Research Institute +} + +Such innovations would take another two decades to make their way into the +commercial marketplace. Still, by the 1970s, video screens had started to +replace teletypes as display terminals, creating the potential for full-screen +- as opposed to line-by-line - editing capabilities. +={ display terminals, replacing teletypes ; + video screens +} + +One of the first programs to take advantage of this full-screen capability was +the MIT AI Lab's TECO. Short for Text Editor and COrrector, the program had +been upgraded by hackers from an old teletype line editor for the lab's PDP-6 +machine.~{ According to the Jargon File, TECO's name originally stood for Tape +Editor and Corrector. \\ See http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/T/TECO.html. }~ + +TECO was a substantial improvement over old editors, but it still had its +drawbacks. To create and edit a document, a programmer had to enter a series of +commands specifying each edit. It was an abstract process. Unlike modern word +processors, which update text with each keystroke, TECO demanded that the user +enter an extended series of editing instructions followed by an "end of command +string" sequence just to change the text. Over time, a hacker grew proficient +enough to make large changes elegantly in one command string, but as Stallman +himself would later point out, the process required "a mental skill like that +of blindfold chess."~{ See Richard Stallman, "EMACS: The Extensible, +Customizable, Display Editor," AI Lab Memo (1979). An updated HTML version of +this memo, from which I am quoting, is available at \\ +http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/emacs-paper.html. }~ + +To facilitate the process, AI Lab hackers had built a system that displayed +both the text and the command string on a split screen. Despite this innovative +hack, editing with TECO still required skill and planning. + +TECO wasn't the only full-screen editor floating around the computer world at +this time. During a visit to the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab in 1976, +Stallman encountered an edit program named E. The program contained an internal +feature, which allowed a user to update display text after each command +keystroke. In the language of 1970s programming, E was one of the first +rudimentary WYSIWYG editors. Short for "what you see is what you get," WYSIWYG +meant that a user could manipulate the file by moving through the displayed +text, as opposed to working through a back-end editor program."~{ See Richard +Stallman, "Emacs the Full Screen Editor" (1987), \\ +http://www.lysator.liu.se/history/garb/txt/87-1-emacs.txt. }~ +={ E edit program ; + Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory +} + +Impressed by the hack, Stallman looked for ways to expand TECO's functionality +in similar fashion upon his return to MIT. He found a TECO feature called +Control-R, written by Carl Mikkelson and named after the two-key combination +that triggered it. Mikkelson's hack switched TECO from its usual abstract +command-execution mode to a more intuitive keystroke-by-keystroke mode. The +only flaws were that it used just five lines of the screen and was too +inefficient for real use. Stallman reimplemented the feature to use the whole +screen efficiently, then extended it in a subtle but significant way. He made +it possible to attach TECO command strings, or "macros," to keystrokes. +Advanced TECO users already saved macros in files; Stallman's hack made it +possible to call them up fast. The result was a user-programmable WYSIWYG +editor. "That was the real breakthrough," says Guy Steele, a fellow AI Lab +hacker at the time.~{ Ibid. }~ +={ macro modes, adding to TECO +11 ; + Steele, Guy +13 +} + +By Stallman's own recollection, the macro hack touched off an explosion of +further innovation. "Everybody and his brother was writing his own collection +of redefined screen-editor commands, a command for everything he typically +liked to do," Stallman would later recall. "People would pass them around and +improve them, making them more powerful and more general. The collections of +redefinitions gradually became system programs in their own right."~{ Ibid. }~ + +So many people found the macro innovations useful and had incorporated it into +their own TECO programs that the TECO editor had become secondary to the macro +mania it inspired. "We started to categorize it mentally as a programming +language rather than as an editor," Stallman says. Users were experiencing +their own pleasure tweaking the software and trading new ideas.~{ Ibid. }~ + +Two years after the explosion, the rate of innovation began to exhibit +inconvenient side effects. The explosive growth had provided an exciting +validation of the collaborative hacker approach, but it had also led to +incompatibility. "We had a Tower of Babel effect," says Guy Steele. + +The effect threatened to kill the spirit that had created it, Steele says. +Hackers had designed ITS to facilitate programmers' ability to share knowledge +and improve each other's work. That meant being able to sit down at another +programmer's desk, open up a programmer's work and make comments and +modifications directly within the software. "Sometimes the easiest way to show +somebody how to program or debug something was simply to sit down at the +terminal and do it for them," explains Steele. + +The macro feature, after its second year, began to foil this capability. In +their eagerness to embrace the new full-screen capabilities, hackers had +customized their versions of TECO to the point where a hacker sitting down at +another hacker's terminal usually had to spend the first hour just figuring out +what macro commands did what. + +Frustrated, Steele took it upon himself to solve the problem. He gathered +together the four different macro packages and began assembling a chart +documenting the most useful macro commands. In the course of implementing the +design specified by the chart, Steele say she attracted Stallman's attention. + +"He started looking over my shoulder, asking me what I was doing," recalls +Steele. + +For Steele, a soft-spoken hacker who interacted with Stallman infrequently, the +memory still sticks out. Looking over another hacker's shoulder while he worked +was a common activity at the AI Lab. Stallman, the TECO maintainer at the lab, +deemed Steele's work "interesting" and quickly set off to complete it. + +"As I like to say, I did the first 0.001 percent of the implementation, and +Stallman did the rest," says Steele with a laugh. + +The project's new name, Emacs, came courtesy of Stallman. Short for "editing +macros," it signified the evolutionary transcendence that had taken place +during the macros explosion two years before. It also took advantage of a gap +in the software programming lexicon. Noting a lack of programs on ITS starting +with the letter "E," Stallman chose Emacs, making it natural to reference the +program with a single letter. Once again, the hacker lust for efficiency had +left its mark.~{ Ibid. }~ +={ Emacs text editor +11 ; + GNU Emacs +11 +} + +Of course, not everyone switched to Emacs, or not immediately. Users were free +to continue maintaining and running their own TECO-based editors as before. But +most found it preferable to switch to Emacs, especially since Emacs was +designed to make it easy to replace or add some parts while using others +unchanged. + +"On the one hand, we were trying to make a uniform command set again; on the +other hand, we wanted to keep it open ended, because the programmability was +important," recalls Steele. + +Stallman now faced another conundrum: if users made changes but didn't +communicate those changes back to the rest of the community, the Tower of Babel +effect would simply emerge in other places. Falling back on the hacker doctrine +of sharing innovation, Stallman embedded a statement within the source code +that set the terms of use. Users were free to modify and redistribute the code +on the condition that they gave back all the extensions they made. Stallman +called this "joining the Emacs Commune." Just as TECO had become more than a +simple editor, Emacs had become more than a simple software program. To +Stallman, it was a social contract. In a 1981 memo documenting the project, +Stallman spelled out the contract terms. "EMACS," he wrote, "was distributed on +a basis of communal sharing, which means that all improvements must be given +back to me to be incorporated and distributed."~{ See Stallman (1979): #SEC34. +}~ +={ Emacs Commune } + +The original Emacs ran only on the PDP-10 computer, but soon users of other +computers wanted an Emacs to edit with. The explosive innovation continued +throughout the decade, resulting in a host of Emacs-like programs with varying +degrees of cross-compatibility. The Emacs Commune's rules did not apply to +them, since their code was separate. A few cited their relation to Stallman's +original Emacs with humorously recursive names: Sine (Sine is not Emacs), Eine +(Eine isnot Emacs), and Zwei (Zwei was Eine initially). A true Emacs had to +provide user-programmability like the original; editors with similar keyword +commands but without the user-programmability were called "ersatz Emacs." One +example was Mince (Mince is Not Complete Emacs). +={ Eine (Eine is not Emacs) text editor ; + Zwei (Zwei was Eine initially) text editor ; + Sine (Sine is not Emacs) text editor +} + +While Stallman was developing Emacs in the AI Lab, there were other, unsettling +developments elsewhere in the hacker community. Brian Reid's 1979 decision to +embed "time bombs" in Scribe, making it possible for Unilogic to limit unpaid +user access to the software, was a dark omen to Stallman. "He considered it the +most Nazi thing he ever saw in his life," recalls Reid. Despite going on to +later Internet fame as the co-creator of the Usenet /{alt}/ hierarchy, Reid +says he still has yet to live down that 1979 decision, at least in Stallman's +eyes. "He said that all software should be free and the prospect of charging +money for software was a crime against humanity."~{ In a 1996 interview with +online magazine MEME , Stallman cited Scribe's sale as irksome, but declined to +mention Reid by name. "The problem was nobody censured or punished this student +for what he did," Stallman said. "The result was other people got tempted to +follow his example." See MEME 2.04, \\ http://memex.org/meme2-04.html. }~ +={ Reid, Brian +1 ; + Unilogic software company ; + time bombs, in software ; + Scribe text-formatting program +} + +Although Stallman had been powerless to head off Reid's sale, he did possess +the ability to curtail other forms of behavior deemed contrary to the hacker +ethos. As central source-code maintainer for the original Emacs, Stallman began +to wield his power for political effect. During his final stages of conflict +with the administrators at the Laboratory for Computer Science over password +systems, Stallman initiated a software "strike," refusing to send lab members +the latest version of Emacs until they rejected the security system on the +lab's computers.~{ See Steven Levy, Hackers (Penguin USA [paperback], 1984): +419. }~ This was more gesture than sanction, since nothing could stop them from +installing it themselves. But it got the point across: putting passwords on an +ITS system would lead to condemnation and reaction. +={ security (computer), opposition to ; + strike, at the Laboratory for Computer Science +} + +"A lot of people were angry with me, saying I was trying to hold them hostage +or blackmail them, which in a sense I was," Stallman would later tell author +Steven Levy. "I was engaging in violence against them because I thought they +were engaging in violence to everyone at large."~{ Ibid. }~ + +Over time, Emacs became a sales tool for the hacker ethic. The flexibility +Stallman had built into the software not only encouraged collaboration, it +demanded it. Users who didn't keep abreast of the latest developments in Emacs +evolution or didn't contribute their contributions back to Stallman ran the +risk of missing out on the latest breakthroughs. And the breakthroughs were +many. Twenty years later, users of GNU Emacs (a second implementation started +in 1984)have modified it for so many different uses - using it as a +spreadsheet, calculator, database, and web browser - that later Emacs +developers adopted an overflowing sink to represent its versatile +functionality. "That's the idea that we wanted to convey," says Stallman. "The +amount of stuff it has contained within it is both wonderful and awful at the +same time." + +Stallman's AI Lab contemporaries are more charitable. Hal Abelson, an MIT grad +student who worked with Sussman during the 1970sand would later assist Stallman +as a charter board member of the FreeSoftware Foundation, describes Emacs as +"an absolutely brilliant creation." In giving programmers a way to add new +software libraries and features without messing up the system, Abelson says, +Stallman paved the way for future large-scale collaborative software projects. +"Its structure was robust enough that you'd have people all over the world who +were loosely collaborating [and] contributing to it," Abelson says. "I don't +know if that had been done before."~{ In writing this chapter, I've elected to +focus more on the social significance of Emacs than the software significance. +To read more about the software side, I recommend Stallman's 1979 memo. I +particularly recommend the section titled "Research Through Development of +Installed Tools" (#SEC27). Not only is it accessible to the nontechnical +reader, it also sheds light on how closely inter-twined Stallman's political +philosophies are with his software-design philosophies. A sample excerpt +follows:EMACS could not have been reached by a process of careful design, +because such processes arrive only at goals which are visible at the outset, +and whose desirability is established on the bottom line at the outset. Neither +I nor anyone else visualized an extensible editor until I had made one, nor +appreciated its value until he had experienced it. EMACS exists because I felt +free to make individually useful small improvements on a path whose end was not +in sight. }~ +={ Abelson, Hal } + +Guy Steele expresses similar admiration. Currently a research scientist for Sun +Microsystems, he remembers Stallman primarily as a "brilliant programmer with +the ability to generate large quantities of relatively bug-free code." Although +their personalities didn't exactly mesh, Steele and Stallman collaborated long +enough for Steele to get a glimpse of Stallman's intense coding style. He +recalls a notable episode in the late 1970s when the two programmers banded +together to write the editor's "pretty print" feature. Originally conceived by +Steele, pretty print was another keystroke-triggered feature that reformatted +Emacs' source code so that it was both more readable and took up less space, +further bolstering the program's WYSIWYG qualities. The feature was strategic +enough to attract Stallman's active interest, and it wasn't long before Steele +wrote that he and Stallman were planning an improved version. +={ Steele, Guy +3 ; + Sun Microsystems +} + +"We sat down one morning," recalls Steele. "I was at the keyboard, and he was +at my elbow," says Steele. "He was perfectly willing to let me type, but he was +also telling me what to type. + +The programming session lasted 10 hours. Throughout that entire time, Steele +says, neither he nor Stallman took a break or made any small talk. By the end +of the session, they had managed to hack the pretty print source code to just +under 100 lines. "My fingers were on the keyboard the whole time," Steele +recalls, "but it felt like both of our ideas were flowing onto the screen. He +told me what to type, and I typed it." + +The length of the session revealed itself when Steele finally left the AI Lab. +Standing outside the building at 545 Tech Square, he was surprised to find +himself surrounded by nighttime darkness. Asa programmer, Steele was used to +marathon coding sessions. Still, something about this session was different. +Working with Stallman had forced Steele to block out all external stimuli and +focus his entire mental energies on the task at hand. Looking back, Steele says +he found the Stallman mind-meld both exhilarating and scary at the same time. +"My first thought afterward was [that] it was a great experience, very intense, +and that I never wanted to do it again in my life." + +1~ Chapter 7 - A Stark Moral Choice +={ Stallman, Richard M. : + GNU Project +72 +} + +On September 27, 1983, computer programmers logging on to the Usenet newsgroup +net.unix-wizards encountered an unusual message. Posted in the small hours of +the morning, 12:30 a.m. to be exact, and signed by rms@mit-oz, the message's +subject line was terse but attention-grabbing. "New UNIX implementation," it +read. Instead of introducing a newly released version of Unix, however, the +message's opening paragraph issued a call to arms: +={ GNU Project : + new UNIX implementation ; + net.unix-wizards newsgroup +} + +_1 Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to write a complete Unix-compatible +software system called GNU (for Gnu's Not Unix), and give it away free to +everyone who can use it. Contributions of time, money, programs and equipment +are greatly needed.~{ See Richard Stallman, "Initial GNU Announcement" +(September 1983). }~ +={ Unix operating system : + GNU system and +} + +To an experienced Unix developer, the message was a mixture of idealism and +hubris. Not only did the author pledge to rebuild the already mature Unix +operating system from the ground up, he also proposed to improve it in places. +The new GNU system, the author predicted, would carry all the usual components +- a text editor, a shell program to run Unix-compatible applications, a +compiler, "and a few other things."~{ Ibid. }~ It would also contain many +enticing features that other Unix systems didn't yet offer: a graphic user +interface based on the Lisp programming language, a crash-proof file system, +and networking protocols built according to MIT's internal networking system. +={ LISP programming language : + GNU system and +} + +"GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical to Unix," the +author wrote. "We will make all improvements that are convenient, based on our +experience with other operating systems." + +Anticipating a skeptical response on some readers' part, the author made sure +to follow up his operating-system outline with a brief biographical sketch +titled, "Who am I?": + +_1 I am Richard Stallman, inventor of the original much-imitated EMACS editor, +now at the Artificial Intelligence Lab at MIT. I have worked extensively on +compilers, editors, debuggers, command interpreters, the Incompatible +Timesharing System and the Lisp Machine operating system. I pioneered +terminal-independent display support in ITS. In addition I have implemented one +crash proof file system and two window systems for Lisp machines.~{ Ibid. }~ + +As fate would have it, Stallman's fanciful GNU Project missed its Thanksgiving +launch date. By January, 1984, however, Stallman made good on his promise and +fully immersed himself in the world of Unix software development. For a +software architect raised on ITS, it was like designing suburban shopping malls +instead of Moorish palaces. Even so, building a Unix-like operating system had +its hidden advantages. ITS had been powerful, but it also possessed an +Achilles' heel: MIT hackers had written it specifically to run on the powerful +DEC-built PDP-10 computer. When AI Lab administrators elected to phase out the +lab's PDP-10 machine in the early 1980s, the operating system that hackers once +likened to a vibrant city became an instant ghost town. Unix, on the other +hand, was designed for portability, which made it immune to such dangers. +Originally developed by junior scientists at AT&T, the program had slipped out +under corporate-management radar, finding a happy home in the cash-strapped +world of academic computer systems. With fewer resources than their MIT +brethren, Unix developers had customized the software to ride atop a motley +assortment of hardware systems, primarily the 16-bit PDP-11 - a machine +considered fit for only small tasks by most AI Lab hackers - but later also +32-bit mainframes such as the VAX 11/780. By 1983, a few companies, most +notably Sun Microsystems, were developing a more powerful generation of desktop +computers, dubbed "workstations," to take advantage of that increasingly +ubiquitous operating system on machines comparable in power to the much older +PDP-10. +={ AT&T ; + Incompatible Timesharing System (ITS) +5 ; + VAX 11/780 ; + PDP-10 computer ; + PDP-11 computer ; + Sun Microsystems : + developing workstations +} + +To facilitate portability, the developers of Unix had put an extra layer of +abstraction between the software and the machine. Rather than writing it in the +instructions of a specific machine type - as the AI Lab hackers had done with +ITS and the PDP-10 - Unix developers wrote in a high-level language, called C. +Focusing more on the inter-locking interfaces and specifications that held the +operating system's many subcomponents together, rather than the actual +components themselves, they created a system that could be quickly modified to +run on any machine. If a user disliked a certain component, the interface +specifications made it possible to pull out an individual subcomponent and +either fix it or replace it with something better. Simply put, the Unix +approach promoted flexibility and economy, hence its rapid adoption.~{ See +Marshall Kirk McKusick, "Twenty Years of Berkeley Unix," Open Sources (O'Reilly +& Associates, Inc., 1999): 38. }~ +={ abstraction : + designing Unix ; + Unix operating system : + adoption through flexibility +} + +Stallman's decision to start developing the GNU system was triggered by the end +of the ITS system that the AI Lab hackers had nurtured for so long. The demise +of ITS, and the AI Lab hacker community which had sustained it, had been a +traumatic blow to Stallman. If the Xerox laser printer episode had taught him +to recognize the in- justice of proprietary software, the community's death +forced him to choose between surrendering to proprietary software and opposing +it. +={ AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) : + ITS demise +3 +} + +Like the software code that composed it, the roots of ITS' demise stretched way +back. By 1980, most of the lab's hackers were working on developing the Lisp +Machine and its operating system. + +Created by artificial-intelligence research pioneer John McCarthy, a MIT +artificial-intelligence researcher during the late 1950s, Lisp is an elegant +language, well-suited for writing complex programs to operate on data with +irregular structure. The language's name is a shortened version of LISt +Processing. Following McCarthy's departure to the Stanford Artificial +Intelligence Laboratory, MIT hackers refined the language into a local dialect +dubbed MACLISP. The "MAC" stood for Project MAC, the DARPA-funded research +project that gave birth to the AI Lab and the Laboratory for Computer Science. +Led by AI Labarch-hacker Richard Greenblatt, the AI Lab hackers during the late +1970s designed a computer specialized for running Lisp efficiently and +conveniently, the Lisp Machine, then developed an entire Lisp-based operating +system for it. + +By 1980, two rival groups of hackers had formed two companies to manufacture +and sell copies of the Lisp Machine. Greenblatt started Lisp Machines +Incorporated. He planned to avoid outside investment and make a "hacker +company." Most of the hackers joined Symbolics, a conventional startup. In 1982 +they entirely ceased to work at MIT. + +With few hackers left to mind the shop, programs and machines took longer to +fix - or were not fixed at all. Even worse, Stallman says, the lab began to +undergo a "demographic change." The hackers who had once formed a vocal +minority within the AI Lab were almost gone while "the professors and the +students who didn't really love the [PDP-10] were just as numerous as +before."~{ See Richard Stallman (1986). }~ +={ PDP-10 computer +4 } + +In 1982, the AI Lab received the replacement for its main computer, the PDP-10, +which was over 12 years old. Digital's current model, the Dec system 20, was +compatible for user programs but would have re-quired a drastic rewrite or +"port" of ITS if hackers wanted to continue running the same operating system. +Fearful that the lab had lost its critical mass of in-house programming talent, +AI Lab faculty members pressed for Twenex, a commercial operating system +developed by Digital. Outnumbered, the hackers had no choice but to comply. + +"Without hackers to maintain the system, [faculty members] said,'We're going to +have a disaster; we must have commercial software,'" Stallman would recall a +few years later. "They said, 'We can expect the company to maintain it.' It +proved that they were utterly wrong, but that's what they did."~{ Ibid. }~ + +At first, hackers viewed the Twenex system as yet another authoritarian symbol +begging to be subverted. The system's name itself was a protest. Officially +dubbed TOPS-20 by DEC, it was named as a successor to TOPS-10, a proprietary +operating system DEC distributed for the PDP-10. But TOPS-20 was not based on +TOPS-10. It was derived from the Tenex system which Bolt Beranek Newmanhad +developed for the PDP-10.~{ Multiple sources: see Richard Stallman interview, +Gerald Sussman email, and Jargon File 3.0.0 at \\ +http://catb.org/jargon/html/T/TWENEX.html. }~ Stallman, the hacker who coined +the Twenex term, says he came up with the name as a way to avoid using the +TOPS-20 name. "The system was far from tops, so there was noway I was going to +call it that," Stallman recalls. "So I decided to insert a 'w' in the Tenex +name and call it Twenex." +={ DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) ; + TOPS-20 operating system +1 ; + KL-10 mainframe +11 ; + Twenex operating systems +4 +} + +{free_as_in_freedom_2_01_pdp_1_processor_with_kl_10.png 302x203 "PDP-1 processor with KL-10 (a PDP-10 similar to that of the AI Lab), Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, 1979." }http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman + +The machine that ran the Twenex/TOPS-20 system had its own derisive nickname: +Oz. According to one hacker legend, the machine got its nickname because it +required a smaller PDP-11 machine to power its terminal. One hacker, upon +viewing the KL-10-PDP-11setup for the first time, likened it to the wizard's +bombastic on screen introduction in the Wizard of Oz. "I am the great and +powerful Oz," the hacker intoned. "Pay no attention to the PDP-11 behind that +console."~{ See http://www.as.cmu.edu/~geek/humor/See_Figure_1.txt. }~ +={ Oz +8 ; + PDP-11 computer +} + +If hackers laughed when they first encountered the KL-10, their laughter +quickly died when they encountered Twenex. Not only did Twenex boast built-in +security, but the system's software engineers had designed the tools and +applications with the security system in mind. What once had been a +cat-and-mouse game over passwords in the case of the Laboratory for Computer +Science's security system, now became an out-and-out battle over system +management. System administrators argued that without security, the Oz system +was more prone to accidental crashes. Hackers argued that crashes could be +better prevented by overhauling the source code. Unfortunately, the number of +hackers with the time and inclination to perform this sort of overhaul had +dwindled to the point that the system-administrator argument prevailed. +={ security (computer), opposition to : + Twenex operating systems and +} + +The initial policy was that any lab member could have the "wheel privilege" to +bypass security restrictions. But anyone who had the "wheel privilege" could +take it away from anyone else, who would then be powerless to restore it. This +state of affairs tempted a small group of hackers to try to seize total control +by canceling the "wheel privilege" for all but themselves. + +Cadging passwords, and applying the debugger during startup, Stallman +successfully foiled these attempts. After the second foiled" /{coup d'état}/," +Stallman issued an alert to all the AI Lab personnel.~{ See Richard Stallman +(1986). }~ + +"There has been another attempt to seize power," Stallman wrote. "So far, the +aristocratic forces have been defeated." To protect his identity, Stallman +signed the message "Radio Free OZ." + +The disguise was a thin one at best. By 1982, Stallman's aversion to passwords +and secrecy had become so well known that users outside the AI Laboratory were +using his account from around the ARPAnet - the research-funded computer +network that would serve as a foundation for today's Internet. One such +"tourist" during the early 1980s was Don Hopkins, a California programmer who +learned through the hacking grapevine that all an outsider needed to do to gain +access to MIT's vaunted ITS system was to log in under the initials RMS and +enter the same three-letter monogram when the system requested a password. +={ ARPAnet +2 ; + Hopkins, Don +} + +"I'm eternally grateful that MIT let me and many other people use their +computers for free," says Hopkins. "It meant a lot to many people." + +This so-called "tourist" policy, which had been openly tolerated by MIT +management during the ITS years,~{ See "MIT AI Lab Tourist Policy," \\ +http://www.art.net/~hopkins/Don/text/tourist-policy.html. }~ fell by the +wayside when Oz became the lab's primary link to the ARPAnet. At first, +Stallman continued his policy of repeating his login ID as a password so +outside users could have access through his account. Over time, however, Oz's +fragility prompted administrators to bar outsiders who, through sheer accident +or malicious intent, might bring down the system. When those same +administrators eventually demanded that Stall-man stop publishing his password, +Stallman, citing personal ethics, instead ceased using the Oz system +altogether.~{ See Richard Stallman (1986). }~ + +"[When] passwords first appeared at the MIT AI Lab I [decided] to follow my +belief that there should be no passwords," Stallman would later say. "Because I +don't believe that it's really desirable to have security on a computer, I +shouldn't be willing to help uphold the security regime."~{ Ibid. }~ + +Stallman's refusal to bow before the great and powerful Oz symbolized the +growing tension between hackers and AI Lab management during the early 1980s. +This tension paled in comparison to the conflict that raged within the hacker +community itself. By the time the Dec system 20 arrived, the hacker community +was divided into two camps, LMI and Symbolics. +={ Symbolics +15 ; + LISP programming language +1 +} + +Symbolics, with its outside investment, recruited various AI Lab hackers and +set some of them working on improving parts of the Lisp Machine operating +system outside the auspices of the AI Lab. By the end of 1980, the company had +hired 14 AI Lab staffers as part-time consultants to develop its version of the +Lisp Machine. The remaining few, apart from Stallman, worked for LMI.~{ See +Steve Levy, Hackers, page 423. }~ Stallman, preferring the unpressured life at +the AI Lab and not wishing to take a side, chose to join neither company. +={ AI Lab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) : + Symbolics and +10 +} + +At first, the other hackers continued spending some of their time at MIT, and +contributed to MIT's Lisp Machine operating system. Both LMI and Symbolics had +licensed this code from MIT. The license required them to return their changes +to MIT, but did not require them to let MIT redistribute these changes. +However, through 1981 they adhered to a gentleman's agreement to permit that, +so all their system improvements were included in the MIT version and thus +shared with all Lisp Machine users. This situation allowed those still at MIT +to remain neutral. + +On March 16, 1982, a date Stallman remembers well because it was his birthday, +Symbolics executives ended the gentleman's agreement. The motive was to attack +LMI. LMI had fewer hackers, and fewer staff in general, so the Symbolics +executives thought that LMI was getting the main benefit of sharing the system +improvements. By ending the sharing of system code, they hoped to wipe out LMI. +So they decided to enforce the letter of the license. Instead of contributing +their improvements to the MIT version of the system, which LMI could use, they +provided MIT with a copy of the Symbolics version of the system for users at +MIT to run. Anyone using it would provide the service of testing only to +Symbolics, and if he made improvements, most likely they too would only be +useful for Symbolics. + +As the person responsible (with help from Greenblatt for the first couple of +months) for keeping up the lab's Lisp Machine system, Stallman was incensed. +The Symbolics hackers had left the system code with hundreds of half-made +changes that caused errors. Viewing this announcement as an "ultimatum," he +retaliated by disconnecting Symbolics' microwave communications link to the +laboratory. He then vowed never to work on a Symbolics machine, and pledged to +continue the development of MIT's system so as to defend LMI from Symbolics. +"The way I saw it, the AI Lab was a neutral country, like Belgium in World War +II," Stallman says. "If Germany invades Belgium, Belgium declares war on +Germany and sides with Britain and France." +={ DARPA; + Greenblat, Richard; + LISP programming language: + operating system for+4; + MACLISP language; + McCarthy, John; + Project MAC; + Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory +} + +When Symbolics executives noticed that their latest features were still +appearing in the MIT Lisp Machine system and, by extension, the LMI Lisp +machine, they were not pleased. Stallman knew what copyright law required, and +was rewriting the features from scratch.He took advantage of the opportunity to +read the source code Symbolics supplied to MIT, so as to understand the +problems and fixes, and then made sure to write his changes in a totally +different way. But the Symbolics executives didn't believe this. They installed +a "spy" program on Stallman's computer terminal looking for evidence against +him. However, when they took their case to MIT administration, around the start +of 1983, they had little evidence to present: a dozen places in the sources +where both versions had been changed and appeared similar. +={ Brain Makers : + Genius, Ego, and Greed in the Quest for Machines that Think, The Newquist ; + Newquist, Harvey +} + +When the AI Lab administrators showed Stallman Symbolics' supposed evidence, he +refuted it, showing that the similarities were actually held over from before +the fork. Then he turned the logic around:if, after the thousands of lines he +had written, Symbolics could produce no better evidence than this, it +demonstrated that Stallman's diligent efforts to avoid copying were effective. +The AI Lab approved Stallman's work, which he continued till the end of 1983.~{ +The Brain Makers by H. P. Newquist says inaccurately that the AI Lab told +Stallman to stay away from the Lisp Machine project. }~ + +Stallman did make a change in his practices, though. "Just to be ultra safe, I +no longer read their source code [for new features and major changes]. I used +only the documentation and wrote the code from that." For the biggest new +features, rather than wait for Symbolics to release documentation, he designed +them on his own; later, when the Symbolics documentation appeared, he added +compatibility with Symbolics' interface for the feature. Then he read +Symbolics' source code changes to find minor bugs they had fixed, and fixed +each of them differently. + +The experience solidified Stallman's resolve. As Stallman designed replacements +for Symbolics' new features, he also enlisted members of the AI Lab to keep +using the MIT system, so as to provide a continuous stream of bug reports. MIT +continued giving LMI direct access to the changes. "I was going to punish +Symbolics if it was the last thing I did," Stallman says. Such statements are +revealing. Not only do they shed light on Stallman's non pacifist nature, they +also reflect the intense level of emotion triggered by the conflict. + +The level of despair owed much to what Stallman viewed as the "destruction" of +his "home" - i.e., the demise of the AI Lab's close-knit hacker subculture. In +a later email interview with Levy, Stall-man would liken himself to the +historical figure Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi, a Pacific +Northwest tribe wiped out during the Indian wars of the 1860s and 1870s. The +analogy casts Stallman's survival in epic, almost mythical, terms.~{ Steven +Levy in Hackers had this period in mind when he described Stallman as the "last +of the true hackers," but his intended meaning was not what you might think. +Levy used the term "true hackers" to distinguish the MIT hacker community from +two other hacker communities described later in the book, to which he gave +other names. When this community had dissolved, leaving only Stallman, he +therefore became the last of the "true hackers." Levy did not mean that nobody +else was truly a hacker, but people tend to interpret his words that way, +especially those who see them without reading the explanations in Levy's book. +Stallman has never described himself using those words of Levy's. }~ The +hackers who worked for Symbolics saw it differently. Instead of seeing +Symbolics as an ex-terminating force, many of Stallman's colleagues saw it as a +belated bid for relevance. In commercializing the Lisp Machine, the company +pushed hacker principles of engineer-driven software design out of the +ivory-tower confines of the AI Lab and into the corporate market place where +manager-driven design principles held sway. Rather than viewing Stallman as a +holdout, many hackers saw him as the representative of an obsolete practice. +={ Ishi ; + Yahi +} + +Personal hostilities also affected the situation. Even before Symbolics hired +away most of the AI Lab's hacker staff, Stallman says many of the hackers who +later joined Symbolics were shunning him. "I was no longer getting invited to +go to Chinatown," Stallman recalls. "The custom started by Greenblatt was that +if you went out to dinner, you went around or sent a message asking anybody at +the lab if they also wanted to go. Sometime around 1980-1981, I stopped getting +asked. They were not only not inviting me, but one person later confessed that +he had been pressured to lie to me to keep their going away to dinner without +me a secret." +={ Greenblat, Richard } + +Although Stallman felt hurt by this petty form of ostracism, there was nothing +to be done about it. The Symbolics ultimatum changed the matter from a personal +rejection to a broader injustice. When Symbolics excluded its source changes +from redistribution, as a means to defeat its rival, Stallman determined to +thwart Symbolics' goal. By holing up in his MIT offices and writing equivalents +for each new software feature and fix, he gave users of the MIT system, +including LMI customers, access to the same features as Symbolics users. + +It also guaranteed Stallman's legendary status within the hacker community. +Already renowned for his work with Emacs, Stallman's ability to match the +output of an entire team of Symbolics programmers - a team that included more +than a few legendary hackers itself - still stands as one of the major human +accomplishments of the Information Age, or of any age for that matter. Dubbing +it a "master hack" and Stallman himself a "virtual John Henry of computer +code," author Steven Levy notes that many of his Symbolics-employed rivals had +no choice but to pay their idealistic former comrade grudging respect. Levy +quotes Bill Gosper, a hacker who eventually went to work for Symbolics in the +company's Palo Alto office, expressing amazement over Stallman's output during +this period: +={ Gosper, Bill } + +_1 I can see something Stallman wrote, and I might decide it was bad (probably +not, but somebody could convince me it was bad), and I would still say, "But +wait a minute - Stallman doesn't have anybody to argue with all night over +there. He's working alone! It's incredible anyone could do this alone!"~{ See +Steven Levy, Hackers (Penguin USA [paperback], 1984): 426 }~ + +For Stallman, the months spent playing catch up with Symbolics evoke a mixture +of pride and profound sadness. As a dyed-in-the-wool liberal whose father had +served in World War II, Stallman is no pacifist. In many ways, the Symbolics +war offered the rite of passage toward which Stallman had been careening ever +since joining the AI Lab staff a decade before. At the same time, however, it +coincided with the traumatic destruction of the AI Lab hacker culture that had +nurtured Stallman since his teenage years. One day, while taking a break from +writing code, Stallman experienced a traumatic moment passing through the lab's +equipment room. There, Stallman encountered the hulking, unused frame of the +PDP-10 machine. Startled by the dormant lights, lights that once actively +blinked out a silent code indicating the status of the internal program, +Stallman says the emotional impact was not unlike coming across a beloved +family member's well-preserved corpse. +={ PDP-10 computer } + +"I started crying right there in the machine room," he says. "Seeing the +machine there, dead, with nobody left to fix it, it all drove home how +completely my community had been destroyed." + +Stallman would have little opportunity to mourn. The Lisp Ma-chine, despite all +the furor it invoked and all the labor that had gone into making it, was merely +a sideshow to the large battles in the technology marketplace. The relentless +pace of computer miniaturization was bringing in newer, more powerful +microprocessors that would soon incorporate the machine's hardware and software +capabilities like a modern metropolis swallowing up an ancient desert village. + +Riding atop this microprocessor wave were hundreds - thousands- of proprietary +software programs, each protected by a patchwork of user licenses and +nondisclosure agreements that made it impossible for hackers to review or share +source code. The licenses were crude and ill-fitting, but by 1983 they had +become strong enough to satisfy the courts and scare away would-be interlopers. +Software, once a form of garnish most hardware companies gave away to make +their expensive computer systems more flavorful, was quickly becoming the main +dish. In their increasing hunger for new games and features, users were putting +aside the traditional demand to review the recipe after every meal. + +Nowhere was this state of affairs more evident than in the realm of personal +computer systems. Companies such as Apple Computer and Commodore were minting +fresh millionaires selling machines with built-in operating systems. Unaware of +the hacker culture and its distaste for binary-only software, many of these +users saw little need to protest when these companies failed to attach the +accompanying source-code files. A few anarchic adherents of the hacker ethic +helped propel that ethic into this new marketplace, but for the most part, the +marketplace rewarded the programmers speedy enough to write new programs and +savvy enough to write End User License Agreements to lock them up tight. +={ Apple Computers ; + Commodore computers ; + software +10 +} + +One of the most notorious of these programmers was Bill Gates, a Harvard +dropout two years Stallman's junior. Although Stallman didn't know it at the +time, seven years before sending out his message to the net.unix-wizards +newsgroup, Gates, a budding entrepreneur and general partner with the +Albuquerque-based software firm Micro-Soft, later spelled as Microsoft, had +sent out his own open letter to the software-developer community. Written in +response to the PC users copying Micro-Soft's software programs, Gates' "Open +Letter to Hobbyists" had excoriated the notion of communal software +development. +={ Gates, Bill +2 ; + Micro-Soft ; + net.unix-wizards newsgroup ; + Open Letter to Hobbyists (Gates) +1 +} + +"Who can afford to do professional work for nothing?" asked Gates. "What +hobbyist can put three man-years into programming, finding all bugs, +documenting his product, and distributing it for free?"~{ See Bill Gates, "An +Open Letter to Hobbyists" (February 3, 1976). To view an online copy of this +letter, \\ go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists. }~ + +Although few hackers at the AI Lab saw the missive, Gates' 1976 letter +nevertheless represented the changing attitude toward software both among +commercial software companies and commercial software developers. Why treat +software as a zero-cost commodity when the market said otherwise? As the 1970s +gave way to the 1980s, selling software became more than a way to recoup costs; +it became a political statement. At a time when the Reagan Administration was +rushing to dismantle many of the federal regulations and spending programs that +had been built up during the half century following the Great Depression, more +than a few software programmers saw the hacker ethic as anticompetitive and, by +extension, un-American. At best, it was a throwback to the anti-corporate +attitudes of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Like a Wall Street banker +discovering an old tie-dyed shirt hiding between French-cuffed shirts and +double-breasted suits, many computer programmers treated the hacker ethic as an +embarrassing reminder of an idealistic age. + +For a man who had spent the entire 1960s as a throwback to the 1950s, Stallman +didn't mind living out of step with his peers. As a programmer used to working +with the best machines and the best software, however, Stallman faced what he +could only describe as a "stark moral choice": either swallow his ethical +objection for "proprietary" software - the term Stallman and his fellow hackers +used to describe any program that carried copyright terms or an end-user +license that restricted copying and modification - or dedicate his life to +building an alternate, non-proprietary system of software programs. After his +two-year battle with Symbolics, Stallman felt confident enough to undertake the +latter option. "I suppose I could have stopped working +={ proprietary software +3 } + +on computers altogether," Stallman says. "I had no special skills, but I'm sure +I could have become a waiter. Not at a fancy restaurant, probably, but I +could've been a waiter somewhere." + +Being a waiter - i.e., dropping out of programming altogether -would have meant +completely giving up an activity, computer programming, that had given him so +much pleasure. Looking back on his life since moving to Cambridge, Stallman +finds it easy to identify lengthy periods when software programming provided +the only pleasure. Rather than drop out, Stallman decided to stick it out. + +An Atheist, Stallman rejects notions such as fate, karma, or a divine calling +in life. Nevertheless, he does feel that the decision to shun proprietary +software and build an operating system to help others do the same was a natural +one. After all, it was Stallman's own personal combination of stubbornness, +foresight, and coding virtuosity that led him to consider a fork in the road +most others didn't know existed. In his article, "The GNU Project," Stallman +affirms agreement with the ideals encapsulated in the words of the Jewish sage +Hillel: +={ Hillel +1 ; + Open Sources (DiBona, et al) +1 +} + +% ### group --> ? compare earlier version + +_1 If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am +I? If not now, when?~{ See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html. +Stallman adds his own footnote to this statement, writing, "As an Atheist, I +don't follow any religious leaders, but I sometimes find I admire something one +of them has said. }~ + +Speaking to audiences, Stallman avoids the religious route and ex-presses the +decision in pragmatic terms. "I asked myself: what could I, an operating-system +developer, do to improve the situation? It wasn't until I examined the question +for a while that I realized an operating-system developer was exactly what was +needed to solve the problem." + +Once he recognized that, Stallman says, everything else "fell into place." In +1983, MIT was acquiring second-generation Lisp Machines from Symbolics, on +which the MIT Lisp Machine system could not possibly run. Once most of the MIT +machines were replaced, he would be unable to continue maintaining that system +effectively for lack of users' bug reports. He would have to stop. But he also +wanted to stop. The MIT Lisp Machine system was not free software: even though +users could get the source code, they could not redistribute it freely. +Meanwhile, the goal of continuing the MIT system had already been achieved: LMI +had survived and was developing software on its own. + +Stallman didn't want to spend his whole life punishing those who had destroyed +his old community. He wanted to build a new one. He decided to denounce +software that would require him to compromise his ethical beliefs, and devote +his life to the creation of programs that would make it easier for him and +others to escape from it. Pledging to build a free software operating system +"or die trying - of old age, of course," Stallman quips, he resigned from the +MIT staff in January, 1984, to build GNU. + +The resignation distanced Stallman's work from the legal auspices of MIT. +Still, Stallman had enough friends and allies within the AI Lab to continue +using the facilities, and later his own office. He also had the ability to +secure outside consulting gigs to underwrite the early stages of the GNU +Project. In resigning from MIT, however, Stallman negated any debate about +conflict of interest or Institute ownership of the software. The man whose +early adulthood fear of social isolation had driven him deeper and deeper into +the AI Lab's embrace was now building a legal firewall between himself and that +environment. +={ GNU Project } + +For the first few months, Stallman operated in isolation from the Unix +community as well. Although his announcement to the net.unix-wizards group had +attracted sympathetic responses, few volunteers signed on to join the crusade +in its early stages. +={ net.unix-wizards newsgroup } + +"The community reaction was pretty much uniform," recalls Rich Morin, leader of +a Unix user group at the time. "People said, 'Oh, that's a great idea. Show us +your code. Show us it can be done.'" + +Aware that the job was enormous, Stallman decided to try to reuse existing free +software wherever possible. So he began looking for existing free programs and +tools that could be converted into GNU programs and tools. One of the first +candidates was a compiler named VUCK, which converted programs written in the +popular C programming language into machine-runnable code. Translated from the +Dutch, the program's acronym stood for the Free University Compiler Kit. +Optimistic, Stallman asked the program's author if the program was free. When +the author informed him that the words "Free University" were a reference to +the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, and that the program was not free, +Stallman was chagrined. + +"He responded derisively, stating that the university was free but the compiler +was not," recalls Stallman. He had not only refused to help - he suggested +Stallman drop his plan to develop GNU, and instead write some add-ons to boost +sales of VUCK, in return for a share of the profits. "I therefore decided that +my first program for the GNU Project would be a multi-language, multi-platform +compiler." 19~{ See Richard Stallman, "The GNU Operating System and the Free +Software Movement," Open Sources (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1999): 65. }~ + +Instead of VUCK, Stallman found the Pastel compiler ("off-color Pascal"), +written by programmers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. According to what +they said when they gave him a copy, the compiler was free to copy and modify. +Unfortunately, the program was unsuitable for the job, because its memory +requirements were enormous. It parsed the entire input file in core memory, +then retained all the internal data until it finished compiling the file. On +mainframe systems this design had been forgivable. On Unix systems it was a +crippling barrier, since even 32-bit machines that ran Unix were often unable +to provide so much memory to a program. Stallman made substantial progress at +first, building a C-compatible front end to the compiler and testing it on the +larger Vax, whose system could handle large memory spaces. When he tried +porting the system to the 68010, and investigated why it crashed, he discovered +the memory size problem, and concluded he would have to build a totally new +compiler from scratch. Stallman eventually did this, producing the GNU C +Compiler or GCC. But it was not clear in 1984 what to do about the compiler, so +he decided to let those plans gel while turning his attention to other parts of +GNU. +={ C programming language : + VUCK compiler for ; + VUCK compiler +} + +In September of 1984, thus, Stallman began development of a GNU version of +Emacs, the replacement for the program he had been supervising for a decade. +Within the Unix community, the two native editor programs were vi, written by +Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, and ed, written by Bell Labs scientist +(and Unix co-creator) Ken Thompson. Both were useful and popular, but neither +offered the endlessly expandable nature of Emacs. +={ Bell Labs ; + Emacs text editor : + rewriting for Unix +2 ; + GNU Emacs : + rewriting for Unix +2 ; + Joy, Bill ; + vi text editor ; + Thompson, Ken +} + +Looking back, Stallman says he didn't view the decision in strategic terms. "I +wanted an Emacs, and I had a good opportunity to develop one." + +Once again, Stallman had found existing code with which he hoped to save time. +In writing a Unix version of Emacs, Stallman was soon following the footsteps +of Carnegie Mellon graduate student James Gosling, author of a C-based version +dubbed Gosling Emacs or Gosmacs. Gosling's version of Emacs included an +interpreter for a simplified offshoot of the Lisp language, called Mocklisp. +Although Gosling had put Gosmacs under copyright and had sold the rights to +UniPress, a privately held software company, Stallman received the assurances +of a fellow developer who had participated in early Gosmacs development. +According to the developer, Gosling, while a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon, +had given him permission by email to distribute his own version of Gosmacs in +exchange for his contribution to the code. +={ Carnegie Mellon University ; + Gosling, James +3 ; + GOSMACS (Gosling Emacs) ; + interpreters for LISP +1 ; + LISP programming language : + EMACS and +1 ; + MOCKLISP language ; + UniPress software company +1 +} + +At first Stallman thought he would change only the user-level commands, to +implement full compatibility with the original PDP-10Emacs. However, when he +found how weak Mocklisp was in comparison with real Lisp, he felt compelled to +replace it with a true Lisp system. This made it natural to rewrite most of the +higher-level code of Gosmacs in a completely different way, taking advantage of +the greater power and flexible data structures of Lisp. By mid-1985, in GNU +Emacs as released on the Internet, only a few files still had code remaining +from Gosmacs. + +Then UniPress caught wind of Stallman's project, and denied that the other +developer had received permission to distribute his own version of Gosmacs. He +could not find a copy of the old email to defend his claim. Stallman eliminated +this problem by writing replacements for the few modules that remained from +Gosmacs. + +Nevertheless, the notion of developers selling off software rights - indeed, +the very notion of developers having such powers to sell in the first place - +rankled Stallman. In a 1986 speech at the Swedish Royal Technical Institute, +Stallman cited the UniPress incident as yet another example of the dangers +associated with proprietary software. +={ proprietary software : + Emacs and +4 ; + Swedish Royal Technical Institute +} + +"Sometimes I think that perhaps one of the best things I could do with my life +is find a gigantic pile of proprietary software that was a trade secret, and +start handing out copies on a street corner so it wouldn't be a trade secret +any more," said Stallman. "Perhaps that would be a much more efficient way for +me to give people new free software than actually writing it myself; but +everyone is too cowardly to even take it."~{ See Richard Stallman (1986). }~ + +Despite the stress it generated, the dispute over Gosling's code would assist +both Stallman and the free software movement in the longterm. It would force +Stallman to address the weaknesses of the Emacs Commune and the informal trust +system that had allowed problematic offshoots to emerge. It would also force +Stallman to sharpen the free software movement's political objectives. +Following the release of GNU Emacs in 1985, Stallman issued /{The GNU +Manifesto}/, an expansion of the original announcement posted in September, +1983. Stallman included within the document a lengthy section devoted to the +many arguments used by commercial and academic programmers to justify the +proliferation of proprietary software programs. One argument, "Don't +programmers deserve a reward for their creativity," earned a response +encapsulating Stallman's anger over the recent Gosling Emacs episode: +={ Emacs Commune : + proprietary software and ; + Emacs text editor ; + GNU Emacs ; + GNU Manifesto +} + +"If anything deserves a reward, it is social contribution," Stallman wrote. +"Creativity can be a social contribution, but only in so far [ sic ] as society +is free to use the results. If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating +innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they +restrict the use of these programs."~{ See Richard Stallman, The GNU Manifesto +(1985), \\ http://www.gnu.org/gnu/ manifesto.html. }~ + +With the release of GNU Emacs, the GNU Project finally had code to show. It +also had the burdens of any software-based enterprise. As more and more Unix +developers began playing with the software, money, gifts, and requests for +tapes began to pour in. To address the business side of the GNU Project, +Stallman drafted a few of his colleagues and formed the Free Software +Foundation (FSF), a non-profit organization dedicated to speeding the GNU +Project towards its goal. With Stallman as president and various friends and +hacker allies as board members, the FSF helped provide a corporate face for the +GNU Project. +={ Free Software Foundation (FSF) : + GNU Project and ; + GNU Project : + Emacs, release of +} + +Robert Chassell, a programmer then working at Lisp Machines, Inc., became one +of five charter board members at the Free Software Foundation following a +dinner conversation with Stallman. Chassell also served as the organization's +treasurer, a role that started small but quickly grew. +={ Chassell, Robert +6 ; + LISP Machines Inc. (LMI) ; + LMI (LISP Machines Inc.) +} + +"I think in '85 our total expenses and revenue were something in the order of +$23,000, give or take," Chassell recalls. "Richard had his office, and we +borrowed space. I put all the stuff, especially the tapes, under my desk. It +wasn't until sometime later LMI loaned us some space where we could store tapes +and things of that sort." + +In addition to providing a face, the Free Software Foundation provided a center +of gravity for other disenchanted programmers. The Unix market that had seemed +so collegial even at the time of Stallman's initial GNU announcement was +becoming increasingly competitive. In an attempt to tighten their hold on +customers, companies were starting to deny users access to Unix source code, a +trend that only speeded the number of inquiries into ongoing GNU software +projects. + +The Unix wizards who once regarded Stallman as a noisy kook were now beginning +to see him as a software prophet or a software Cassandra, according as they +felt hope or despair over escaping the problem she identified. + +"A lot of people don't realize, until they've had it happen to them, how +frustrating it can be to spend a few years working on a software program only +to have it taken away," says Chassell, summarizing the feelings and opinions of +the correspondents writing in to the FSF during the early years. "After that +happens a couple of times, you start to say to yourself, 'Hey, wait a minute.'" + +For Chassell, the decision to participate in the Free Software Foundation came +down to his own personal feelings of loss. Prior to LMI, Chassell had been +working for hire, writing an introductory book on Unix for Cadmus, Inc., a +Cambridge-area software company. When Cadmus folded, taking the rights to the +book down with it, Chassell says he attempted to buy the rights back with no +success. + +"As far as I know, that book is still sitting on a shelf somewhere, unusable, +uncopyable, just taken out of the system," Chassell says. "It was quite a good +introduction if I may say so myself. It would have taken maybe three or four +months to convert [the book] into a perfectly usable introduction to GNU/Linux +today. The whole experience, aside from what I have in my memory, was lost." + +Forced to watch his work sink into the mire while his erstwhile employer +struggled through bankruptcy, Chassell says he felt a hint of the anger that +drove Stallman to fits of apoplexy. "The main clarity, for me, was the sense +that if you want to have a decent life, you don't want to have bits of it +closed off," Chassell says. "This whole idea of having the freedom to go in and +to fix something and modify it, whatever it may be, it really makes a +difference. It makes one think happily that after you've lived a few years that +what you've done is worthwhile. Because otherwise it just gets taken away and +thrown out or abandoned or, at the very least, you no longer have any relation +to it. It's like losing a bit of your life." + +1~ Chapter 8 - St. Ignucius +={ Ignucius, (St.) ; + St. Ignucius +} + +The Maui High Performance Computing Center is located in a single-story +building in the dusty red hills just above the town of Kihei. Framed by +million-dollar views and the multi-million dollar real estate of the +Silversword Golf Course, the center seems like the ultimate scientific +boondoggle. Far from the boxy, sterile confines of Tech Square or even the +sprawling research metropolises of Argonne, Illinois and Los Alamos, New +Mexico, the MHPCC seems like the kind of place where scientists spend more time +on their tans than their post-doctoral research projects. +={ Argonne (Illinois) ; + Los Alamos (New Mexico) ; + Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC) ; + MHPCC (Maui High Performance Computing Center) +} + +The image is only half true. Although researchers at the MHPCC do take +advantage of the local recreational opportunities, they also take their work +seriously. According to { Top500.org }http://top500.org, a web site that tracks +the most powerful supercomputers in the world, the IBMSP Power3 supercomputer +housed within the MHPCC clocks in at 837 billion floating-point operations per +second, making it one of 25most powerful computers in the world. Co-owned and +operated by the University of Hawaii and the U.S. Air Force, the machine +divides its computer cycles between the number crunching tasks associated with +military logistics and high-temperature physics research. +={ IBM SP Power3 supercomputer ; + U.S Air Force ; + University of Hawaii ; + Top500.org +} + +Simply put, the MHPCC is a unique place, a place where the brainy culture of +science and engineering and the laid-back culture of the Hawaiian islands +coexist in peaceful equilibrium. A slogan on the lab's 2000 web site sums it +up: "Computing in paradise." + +It's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find Richard Stallman, a man +who, when taking in the beautiful view of the nearby Maui Channel through the +picture windows of a staffer's office, mutters a terse critique: "Too much +sun." Still, as an emissary from one computing paradise to another, Stallman +has a message to deliver, even if it means subjecting his hacker eyes to +painful solar glare. + +The conference room is already full by the time I arrive to catch Stallman's +speech. The gender breakdown is a little better than at the New York speech, +85% male, 15% female, but not by much. About half of the audience members wear +khaki pants and logo-encrusted golf shirts. The other half seems to have gone +native. Dressed in the gaudy flower-print shirts so popular in this corner of +the world, their faces area deep shade of ochre. The only residual indication +of geek status are the gadgets: Nokia cell phones, Palm Pilots, and Sony VAIO +laptops. + +Needless to say, Stallman, who stands in front of the room dressed in plain +blue T-shirt, brown polyester slacks, and white socks, sticks out like a sore +thumb. The fluorescent lights of the conference room help bring out the +unhealthy color of his sun-starved skin.~{ RMS: The idea that skin can be +"sun-starved" or that paleness is "unhealthy"is dangerous misinformation; +staying out of the sun can't hurt you as long as you have enough Vitamin D. +What damages the skin, and can even kill you, is excessive exposure to +sunlight. }~ His beard and hair are enough to trigger beads of sweat on even +the coolest Hawaiian neck. Short of having the words "mainlander" tattooed on +his forehead, Stallman couldn't look more alien if he tried. [RMS: Is there +something bad about looking different from others?] + +As Stallman putters around the front of the room, a few audience members +wearing T-shirts with the logo of the Maui FreeBSD Users Group (MFUG) race to +set up camera and audio equipment. FreeBSD, a free software offshoot of the +Berkeley Software Distribution, the venerable 1970s academic version of Unix, +is technically a competitor to the GNU/Linux operating system. Still, in the +hacking world, Stallman speeches are documented with a fervor reminiscent of +the Grateful Dead and its legendary army of amateur archivists. As the local +free software heads, it's up to the MFUG members to make sure fellow +programmers in Hamburg, Mumbai, and Novosibirsk don't miss out on the latest +pearls of RMS wisdom. +={ Berkely Software Distribution (BSD) ; + BSD (Berkely Software Distribution) ; + Grateful Dead, The +1 ; + Maui FreeBSD Users Group +} + +The analogy to the Grateful Dead is apt. Often, when describing the business +opportunities inherent within the free software model, Stallman has held up the +Grateful Dead as an example. In refusing to restrict fans' ability to record +live concerts, the Grateful Dead became more than a rock group. They became the +center of a tribal community dedicated to Grateful Dead music. Over time, that +tribal community became so large and so devoted that the band shunned record +contracts and supported itself solely through musical tours and live +appearances. In 1994, the band's last year as a touring act, the Grateful Dead +drew $52 million in gate receipts alone.~{ See "Grateful Dead Time Capsule: +1985-1995 North American Tour Grosses," \\ http://www.dead101.com/1197.htm. }~ + +While few software companies have been able to match that success, the tribal +aspect of the free software community is one reason many in the latter half of +the 1990s started to accept the notion that publishing software source code +might be a good thing. Hoping to build their own loyal followings, companies +such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Hewlett Packard have come to accept the +letter, if not the spirit, of the Stallman free software message. Describing +the GPL as the information-technology industry's /{Magna Carta}/, ZDNet +software columnist Evan Leibovitch sees the growing affection for all things +GNU as more than just a trend. "This societal shift is letting users take back +control of their futures," Leibovitch writes. "Just as the /{Magna Carta}/ gave +rights to British subjects, the GPL enforces consumer rights and freedoms on +behalf of the users of computer software."~{ See Evan Leibovitch, "Who's Afraid +of Big Bad Wolves," /{ZDNet}/ Tech Update (December 15, 2000), \\ +http://www.zdnet.com/news/whos-afraid-of-the-big-bad-wolves/298394. }~ +={ Hewlett Packard ; + IBM ; + Sun Microsystems +} + +The tribal aspect of the free software community also helps explain why 40-odd +programmers, who might otherwise be working on physics projects or surfing the +Web for windsurfing buoy reports, have packed into a conference room to hear +Stallman speak. + +Unlike the New York speech, Stallman gets no introduction. He also offers no +self-introduction. When the FreeBSD people finally get their equipment up and +running, Stallman simply steps forward, starts speaking, and steamrolls over +every other voice in the room. +={ FreeBSD } + +"Most of the time when people consider the question of what rules society +should have for using software, the people considering it are from software +companies, and they consider the question from a self-serving perspective," +says Stallman, opening his speech. "What rules can we impose on everybody else +so they have to pay us lots of money? I had the good fortune in the 1970s to be +part of a community of programmers who shared software. And because of this I +always like to look at the same issue from a different direction to ask: what +kind of rules make possible a good society that is good for the people who are +in it? And therefore I reach completely different answers." + +Once again, Stallman quickly segues into the parable of the Xerox laser +printer, taking a moment to deliver the same dramatic finger-pointing gestures +to the crowd. He also devotes a minute or two to the GNU/Linux name. + +"Some people say to me, 'Why make such a fuss about getting credit for this +system? After all, the important thing is the job is done, not whether you get +recognition for it.' Well, this would be wise advice if it were true. But the +job wasn't to build an operating system; the job is to spread freedom to the +users of computers. And to do that we have to make it possible to do everything +with computers in freedom."~{ For narrative purposes, I have hesitated to go +in-depth when describing Stallman's full definition of software "freedom." The +GNU Project web site lists four fundamental components: \\ _* The freedom to +run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0). \\ _* The freedom to +study the program's source code, and change it so that the program does what +you wish (freedom 1). \\ _* The freedom to redistribute copies of the program +so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2). \\ _* The freedom to distribute +copies of your modified versions, so that the whole community can benefit from +them (freedom 3). For more information, please visit "The Free Software +Definition" at \\ http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html. }~ + +Adds Stallman, "There's a lot more work to do." + +For some in the audience, this is old material. For others, it's a little +arcane. When a member of the golf-shirt contingent starts dozing off, Stallman +stops the speech and asks somebody to wake the person up. + +"Somebody once said my voice was so soothing, he asked if I was some kind of +healer," says Stallman, drawing a quick laugh from the crowd. "I guess that +probably means I can help you drift gently into a blissful, relaxing sleep. And +some of you might need that. I guess I shouldn't object if you do. If you need +to sleep, by all means do." + +The speech ends with a brief discussion of software patents, a growing issue of +concern both within the software industry and within the free software +community. Like Napster, software patents reflect the awkward nature of +applying laws and concepts written for the physical world to the frictionless +universe of information technology. + +Copyright law and patent law work differently, and have totally different +effects in the software field. The copyright on a program controls the copying +and adaptation of that program's code, and it belongs to the program's +developer. But copyright does not cover ideas. In other words, a developer is +free, under copyright, to implement in his own code features and commands he +has seen in existing programs. Those aspects are ideas, not expression, and +thus outside the scope of copyright law. + +It is likewise lawful - though hard work - to decode how a binary program +works, and then implement the same ideas and algorithms indifferent code. This +practice is known as "reverse engineering." + +Software patents work differently. According to the U.S. Patent Office, +companies and individuals can obtain patents for computing ideas that are +innovative (or, at least, unknown to the Patent Office). In theory, this allows +the patent-holder to trade off disclosure of the technique for a specific +monopoly lasting a minimum of 20 years after the patent filing. In practice, +the disclosure is of limited value to the public, since the operation of the +program is often self-evident, and could in any case be determined by reverse +engineering. Unlike copyright, a patent gives its holder the power to forbid +the independent development of software programs which use the patented idea. +={ U.S. Patent Office } + +In the software industry, where 20 years can cover the entire life cycle of a +marketplace, patents take on a strategic weight. Where companies such as +Microsoft and Apple once battled over copyright and the "look and feel" of +various technologies, today's Internet companies use patents as a way to stake +out individual applications and business models, the most notorious example +being Amazon.com's 2000 attempt to patent the company's "one-click" on line +shopping process. For most companies, however, software patents have become a +defensive tool, with cross-licensing deals balancing one set of corporate +patents against another in a tense form of corporate detente. Still, in a few +notable cases of computer encryption and graphic imaging algorithms, software +vendors have successfully stifled rival developments. For instance, some +font-rendering features are missing from free soft-ware because of patent +threats from Apple. + +For Stallman, the software-patent issue dramatizes the need for eternal hacker +vigilance. It also underlines the importance of stressing the political +benefits of free software programs over the competitive benefits. Stallman says +competitive performance and price, two areas where free software operating +systems such as GNU/Linux and FreeBSD already hold a distinct advantage over +their proprietary counterparts, are side issues compared to the large issues of +user and developer freedom. +={ FreeBSD +2 } + +This position is controversial within the community: open source advocates +emphasize the utilitarian advantages of free software over the political +advantages. Rather than stress the political significance of free software +programs, open source advocates have chosen to stress the engineering integrity +of the hacker development model. Citing the power of peer review, the open +source argument paints programs such as GNU/Linux or FreeBSD as better built, +better inspected and, by extension, more trustworthy to the average user. + +That's not to say the term "open source" doesn't have its political +implications. For open source advocates, the term open source serves two +purposes. First, it eliminates the confusion associated with the word "free," a +word many businesses interpret as meaning "zero cost." Second, it allows +companies to examine the free software phenomenon on a technological, rather +than ethical, basis. Eric Raymond, co-founder of the Open Source Initiative and +one of the leading hackers to endorse the term, explained his refusal to follow +Stallman's political path in a 1999 essay, titled "Shut Up and Show Them the +Code": +={ OSI (Open Source Initiative) ; + Open Source Initiative (OSI) ; + Raymond, Eric ; + Shut Up and Show Them the Code (Raymond) +1 +} + +_1 RMS's rhetoric is very seductive to the kind of people we are. We hackers +are thinkers and idealists who readily resonate with appeals to "principle" and +"freedom" and "rights." Even when we disagree with bits of his program, we want +RMS's rhetorical style to work; we think it ought to work; we tend to be +puzzled and disbelieving when it fails on the 95% of people who aren't wired +like we are.~{ See Eric Raymond, "Shut Up and Show Them the Code," online +essay, (June28, 1999), \\ +http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/shut-up-and-show-them.html. }~ + +Included among that 95%, Raymond writes, are the bulk of business managers, +investors, and non-hacker computer users who, through sheer weight of numbers, +tend to decide the overall direction of the commercial software marketplace. +Without a way to win these people over, Raymond argues, programmers are doomed +to pursue their ideology on the periphery of society: + +_1 When RMS insists that we talk about "computer users' rights," he's issuing a +dangerously attractive invitation to us to repeat old failures. It's one we +should reject - not because his principles are wrong, but because that kind of +language, applied to software, simply does not persuade anybody but us. In +fact, it confuses and repels most people outside our culture.~{ Ibid. }~ + +Stallman, however, rejects Raymond's premises: + +_1 Raymond's attempt to explain our failure is misleading because we have not +failed. Our goal is large, and we have a long way to go, but we have also come +a long way. + +_1 Raymond's pessimistic assertion about the values of non-hackers is an +exaggeration. Many non-hackers are more concerned with the political issues we +focus on than with the technical advantages that open source emphasizes. This +often includes political leaders too, though not in all countries. + +_1 It was the ethical ideals of free software, not "better software," which +persuaded the presidents of Ecuador and Brazil to move government agencies to +free software. They are not geeks, but they understand freedom. + +But the principal flaw in the open source argument, according to Stallman, is +that it leads to weaker conclusions. It convinces many users to run some +programs which are free, but does not offer the many reason to migrate entirely +to free software. This partially gives them freedom, but does not teach them to +recognize it and value it as such, so they remain likely to let it drop and +lose it. For instance, what happens when the improvement of free software is +blocked by a patent? + +Most open source advocates are equally, if not more, vociferous as Stallman +when it comes to opposing software patents. So too are most proprietary +software developers, since patents threaten their projects too. However, +pointing to software patents' tendency to put areas of software functionality +off limits, Stallman contrasts what the free software idea and the open source +idea imply about such cases. + +"It's not because we don't have the talent to make better software," says +Stallman. "It's because we don't have the right. Somebody has prohibited us +from serving the public. So what's going to happen when users encounter these +gaps in free software? Well, if they have been persuaded by the open source +movement that these freedoms are good because they lead to more-powerful +reliable software, they're likely to say, 'You didn't deliver what you +promised. This software's not more powerful. It's missing this feature. You +lied to me.' But if they have come to agree with the free software movement, +that the freedom is important in itself, then they will say, 'How dare those +people stop me from having this feature and my freedom too.' And with that kind +of response, we may survive the hits that we're going to take as these patents +explode." + +Watching Stallman deliver his political message in person, it is hard to see +anything confusing or repellent. Stallman's appearance may seem off-putting, +but his message is logical. When an audience member asks if, in shunning +proprietary software, free software proponents lose the ability to keep up with +the latest technological advancements, Stallman answers the question in terms +of his own personal beliefs. "I think that freedom is more important than mere +technical advance," he says. "I would always choose a less advanced free +program rather than a more advanced non free program, because I won't give up +my freedom for something like that [advance]. My rule is, if I can't share it +with you, I won't take it." + +In the minds of those who assume ethics means religion, such answers reinforce +the quasi-religious nature of the Stallman message. However, unlike a Jew +keeping kosher or a Mormon refusing to drink alcohol, Stallman is not obeying a +commandment, but simply refusing to cede his freedom. His speech explains the +practical requisites for doing so: a proprietary program takes away your +freedom, so if you want freedom, you need to reject the program. + +Stallman paints his decision to use free software in place of proprietary in +the color of a personal belief he hopes others will come to share. As software +evangelists go, Stallman avoids forcing those beliefs down listeners' throats. +Then again, a listener rarely leaves a Stallman speech not knowing where the +true path to software righteousness lies. + +As if to drive home this message, Stallman punctuates his speech with an +unusual ritual. Pulling a black robe out of a plastic grocery bag, Stallman +puts it on. Then he pulls out a reflective brown computer disk and places it on +his head. The crowd lets out a startled laugh. + +"I am St. IGNUcius of the Church of Emacs," says Stallman, raising his right +hand in mock-blessing. "I bless your computer, my child." +={ Ignucius, (St.) ; + St. Ignucius +} + +The laughter turns into full-blown applause after a few seconds. As audience +members clap, the computer disk on Stallman's head catches the glare of an +overhead light, eliciting a perfect halo effect. In the blink of an eye, +Stallman resembles a Russian religious icon. + +{free_as_in_freedom_2_02_rms_st_ignucius.png 254x240 "Stallman dressed as St. IGNUcius. The photo was taken by Stian Eikeland in Bergen, Norway on February 19, 2009." }http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_stallman + +"Emacs was initially a text editor," says Stallman, explaining the getup. +"Eventually it became a way of life for many and a religion for some. We call +this religion the Church of Emacs." +={ Church of Emacs +8 ; + Emacs text editor +11 ; + GNU Emacs +11 +} + +The skit is a lighthearted moment of self-parody, a humorous return-jab at the +many people who might see Stallman's form of software asceticism as religious +fanaticism in disguise. It is also the sound of the other shoe dropping - +loudly. It's as if, in donning his robe and halo, Stallman is finally letting +listeners off the hook, saying, "It's OK to laugh. I know I'm weird." [RMS: To +laugh at someone for being weird is boorish, and it is not my intention to +excuse that. But I hope people will laugh at my St. IGNUcius comedy routine.] + +Discussing the St. IGNUcius persona afterward, Stallman says he first came up +with it in 1996, long after the creation of Emacs but well before the emergence +of the "open source" term and the struggle for hacker-community leadership that +precipitated it. At the time, Stallman says, he wanted a way to "poke fun at +himself," to remind listeners that, though stubborn, Stallman was not the +fanatic some made him out to be. It was only later, Stallman adds, that others +seized the persona as a convenient way to play up his reputation as software +ideologue, as Eric Raymond did in an 1999 interview with the Linux.com web +site: +={ linux.com ; + Raymond, Eric : + St. Ignucius and +2 +} + +_1 When I say RMS calibrates what he does, I'm not belittling or accusing him +of insincerity. I'm saying that like all good communicators he's got a +theatrical streak. Sometimes it's conscious - have you ever seen him in his St. +IGNUcius drag, blessing software with a disk platter on his head? Mostly it's +unconscious; he's just learned the degree of irritating stimulus that works, +that holds attention without (usually) freaking people out.~{ See "Guest +Interview: Eric S. Raymond," /{Linux.com}/ (May 18, 1999), \\ +http://www.linux.com/interviews/19990518/8/. }~ + +Stallman takes issue with the Raymond analysis. "It's simply my way of making +fun of myself," he says. "The fact that others see it as anything more than +that is a reflection of their agenda, not mine." + +That said, Stallman does admit to being a ham. "Are you kidding?" he says at +one point. "I love being the center of attention." To facilitate that process, +Stallman says he once enrolled in Toastmasters, an organization that helps +members bolster their public-speaking skills and one Stallman recommends highly +to others. He possesses a stage presence that would be the envy of most +theatrical performers and feels a link to vaudevillians of years past. A few +days after the Maui High Performance Computing Center speech, I allude to the +1999 LinuxWorld performance and ask Stallman if he has a Groucho Marx complex - +i.e., the unwillingness to belong to any club that would have him as a +member.~{ RMS: Williams misinterprets Groucho's famous remark by treating it as +psychological. It was intended as a jab at the overt antisemitism of many +clubs, which was why they would refuse him as a member. I did not understand +this either until my mother explained it to me. Williams and I grew up when +bigotry had gone underground, and there was no need to veil criticism of +bigotry in humor as Groucho did. }~ Stallman's response is immediate: "No, but +I admire Groucho Marx in a lot of ways and certainly have been in some things I +say inspired by him. But then I've also been inspired in some ways by Harpo." +={ Marx, Groucho +1 } + +The Groucho Marx influence is certainly evident in Stallman's lifelong fondness +for punning. Then again, punning and wordplay are common hacker traits. Perhaps +the most Groucho-like aspect of Stallman's personality, however, is the deadpan +manner in which the puns are delivered. Most come so stealthily - without even +the hint of a raised eyebrow or upturned smile - you almost have to wonder if +Stal-man's laughing at his audience more than the audience is laughing at him. + +Watching members of the Maui High Performance Computer Center laugh at the St. +IGNUcius parody, such concerns evaporate. While not exactly a standup act, +Stallman certainly possesses the chops to keep a roomful of engineers in +stitches. "To be a saint in the Church of Emacs does not require celibacy, but +it does require making a commitment to living a life of moral purity," he tells +the Maui audience. "You must exorcise the evil proprietary operating systems +from all your computers, and then install a wholly [holy] free operating +system. And then you must install only free software on top of that. If you +make this commitment and live by it, then you too will be a saint in the Church +of Emacs, and you too may have a halo." + +The St. IGNUcius skit ends with a brief inside joke. On most Unix systems and +Unix-related offshoots, the primary competitor program to Emacs is vi, +pronounced vee-eye, a text-editing program developed by former UC Berkeley +student and current Sun Microsystems chief scientist, Bill Joy. Before doffing +his "halo," Stallman pokes fun at the rival program. "People sometimes ask me +if it is a sin in the Church of Emacs to use vi," he says. "Using a free +version of vi is not a sin;it is a penance. So happy hacking."~{ The service of +the Church of Emacs has developed further since 2001. Users can now join the +Church by reciting the Confession of the Faith: "There is no system but GNU, +and Linux is one of its kernels." Stallman sometimes mentions the religious +ceremony known as the Foobar Mitzvah, the Great Schism between various rival +versions of Emacs, and the cult of the Virgin of Emacs (which refers to any +person that has not yet learned to use Emacs). In addition, "vi vi vi" has been +identified as the Editor of the Beast. }~ +={ Joy, Bill ; + vi text editor : + as an Emacs competitor ; + UC Berkeley ; + Sun Microsystems +} + +After a brief question-and-answer session, audience members gather around +Stallman. A few ask for autographs. "I'll sign this," says Stallman, holding up +one woman's print out of the GNU General Public License, "but only if you +promise me to use the term GNU/Linux instead of Linux" (when referring to the +system), "and tell all your friends to do likewise." +={ GNU General Public License ; + GPL +} + +The comment merely confirms a private observation. Unlike other stage +performers and political figures, Stallman has no "off" mode. Aside from the +St. IGNUcius character, the ideologue you see on stage is the ideologue you +meet backstage. Later that evening, during a dinner conversation in which a +programmer mentions his affinity for "open source" programs, Stallman, between +bites, upbraids his table-mate: "You mean free software. That's the proper way +to refer to it." + +During the question-and-answer session, Stallman admits to playing the +pedagogue at times. "There are many people who say, 'Well, first let's invite +people to join the community, and then let's teach them about freedom.' And +that could be a reasonable strategy, but what we have is almost everybody's +inviting people to join the community, and hardly anybody's teaching them about +freedom once they come in." + +The result, Stallman says, is something akin to a third-world city. "You have +millions of people moving in and building shantytowns, but nobody's working on +step two: getting them out of those shantytowns. If you think talking about +software freedom is a good strategy, please join in doing step two. There are +plenty working on step one. We need more people working on step two." + +Working on "step two" means driving home the issue that freedom, not +acceptance, is the root issue of the free software movement. Those who hope to +reform the proprietary software industry from the inside are on a fool's +errand. "Change from the inside is risky," Stallman stays. "Unless you're +working at the level of a Gorbachev, you're going to be neutralized." + +Hands pop up. Stallman points to a member of the golf shirt-wearing contingent. +"Without patents, how would you suggest dealing with commercial espionage?" + +"Well, those two questions have nothing to do with each other, really," says +Stallman. + +"But I mean if someone wants to steal another company's piece of software." + +Stallman's recoils as if hit by a poisonous spray. "Wait a second," Stallman +says. "Steal? I'm sorry, there's so much prejudice in that statement that the +only thing I can say is that I reject that prejudice." Then he turns to the +substance of the question. "Companies that develop non-free software and other +things keep lots and lots of trade secrets, and so that's not really likely to +change. In the old days -even in the 1980s - for the most part programmers were +not aware that there were even software patents and were paying no attention to +them. What happened was that people published the interesting ideas, and if +they were not in the free software movement, they kept secret the little +details. And now they patent those broad ideas and keep secret the little +details. So as far as what you're describing, patents really make no difference +to it one way or another." + +"But if it doesn't affect their publication," a new audience member jumps in, +his voice trailing off almost as soon as he starts speaking. + +"But it does," Stallman says. "Their publication is telling you that this is an +idea that's off limits to the rest of the community for 20 years. And what the +hell good is that? Besides, they've written it in such a hard way to read, both +to obfuscate the idea and to make the patent as broad as possible, that it's +basically useless looking at the published information [in the patent] to learn +anything anyway. The only reason to look at patents is to see the bad news of +what you can't do." + +The audience falls silent. The speech, which began at 3:15, is now nearing the +5:00 whistle, and most listeners are already squirming in their seats, antsy to +get a jump start on the weekend. Sensing the fatigue, Stallman glances around +the room and hastily shuts things down. "So it looks like we're done," he says, +following the observation with an auctioneer's "going, going, gone" to flush +out any last-minute questioners. When nobody throws their hand up, Stallman +signs off with a traditional exit line. + +"Happy hacking," he says. + +1~ Chapter 9 - The GNU General Public License +={ GNU General Public License +82 ; + GPL +82 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + childhood | GNU General Public License +82 +} + +By the spring of 1985, Richard Stallman had produced the GNU Project's first +useful result - a Lisp-based version of Emacs for Unix-like operating systems. +To make it available to others as free software, he had to develop the way to +release it - in effect, the follow-on for the Emacs Commune. +={ Emacs Commune +7 ; + Emacs text editor : + Lisp-based free software version ; + GNU Emacs : + List-based free software version +} + +The tension between the freedom to modify and authorial privilege had been +building before Gosmacs. The Copyright Act of 1976 had overhauled U.S. +copyright law, extending the legal coverage of copyright to software programs. +According to Section 102(b) of the Act, individuals and companies could +copyright the "expression" of a software program but not the "actual processes +or methods embodied in the program."~{ See Hal Abelson, Mike Fischer, and +Joanne Costello, "Software and Copyright Law," updated version (1997), \\ +http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/articles/int-prop/software-copyright.html. +}~ +={ Copyright Act of 1976 ; + copyright laws ; + GOSMACS (Gosling Emacs) ; + software : + copyright laws on +} + +Translated, this treated a program much like an algebra textbook:its author can +claim copyright on the text but not on the mathematical ideas of algebra or the +pedagogical technique employed to explain it. Thus, regardless of what Stallman +said about using the code of the original Emacs, other programmers were legally +entitled to write their own implementations of the ideas and commands of Emacs, +and they did. Gosmacs was one of 30-odd imitations of the original Emacs +developed for various computer systems. + +The Emacs Commune applied only to the code of the original Emacs program +written by Stallman himself. Even if it had been legally enforced, it would not +have applied to separately developed imitations such as Gosmacs. Making Gosmacs +non-free was unethical according to the ethical ideas of the free software +movement, because(as proprietary software) it did not respect its users' +freedom, but this issue had nothing to do with where the ideas in Gosmacs came +from. + +Under copyright, programmers who wanted to copy code from an existing program +(even with changes) had to obtain permission from the original developer. The +new law applied copyright even in the absence of copyright notices - though +hackers generally did not know this - and the copyright notices too began +appearing. + +Stallman saw these notices as the flags of an invading, occupying army. Rare +was the program that didn't borrow source code from past programs, and yet, +with a single stroke of the president's pen, the U.S. government had given +programmers and companies the legal power to forbid such reuse. Copyright also +injected a dose of formality into what had otherwise been an informal system. +Simply put, disputes that had once been settled hacker-to-hacker were now to be +settled lawyer-to-lawyer. In such a system, companies, not hackers, held the +automatic advantage. Some saw placing one's name in a copyright notice as +taking responsibility for the quality of the code, but the copyright notice +usually has a company's name, and there are other ways for individuals to say +what code they wrote. +={ source code : + copy rights for +} + +However, Stallman also noticed, in the years leading up to the GNU Project, +that copyright allowed an author to grant permission for certain activities +covered by copyright, and place conditions on them too. "I had seen email +messages with copyright notices plus simple 'verbatim copying permitted' +licenses," he recalls. "Those definitely were [an] inspiration." These licenses +carried the condition not to remove the license. Stallman's idea was to take +this a few steps further. For example, a permission notice could allow users to +redistribute even modified versions, with the condition that these versions +carry the same permission. + +Thus Stallman concluded that use of copyright was not necessarily unethical. +What was bad about software copyright was the way it was typically used, and +designed to be used: to deny the user essential freedoms. Most authors imagined +no other way to use it. But copyright could be used in a different way: to make +a program free and assure its continued freedom. + +By GNU Emacs 16, in early 1985, Stallman drafted a copyright-based license that +gave users the right to make and distribute copies. It also gave users the +right to make and distribute modified versions, but only under the same +license. They could not exercise the unlimited power of copyright over those +modified versions, so they could not make their versions proprietary as Gosmacs +was. And they had to make the source code available. Those conditions closed +the legal gap that would otherwise allow restricted, non-free versions of GNU +Emacs to emerge. +={ Emacs text editor : + copyrights and | GNU Emacs License and ; + GNU Emacs : + copyrights and | GNU Emacs License and ; + GOSMACS (Gosling Emacs) : + copyrights and ; + licenses +15 +} + +Although helpful in codifying the social contract of the Emacs Commune, the +early GNU Emacs license remained too "informal" for its purpose, Stallman says. +Soon after forming the Free Software Foundation he began working on a more +airtight version, consulting with the other directors and with the attorneys +who had helped to set it up. + +Mark Fischer, a Boston copyright attorney who initially provided Stallman's +legal advice, recalls discussing the license with Stallman during this period. +"Richard had very strong views about how it should work," Fischer says, "He had +two principles. The first was to make the software absolutely as open as +possible." (By the time he said this, Fischer seems to have been influenced by +open source supporters; Stallman never sought to make software "open.") "The +second was to encourage others to adopt the same licensing practices." The +requirements in the license were designed for the second goal. +={ Fischer, Mark +2 } + +The revolutionary nature of this final condition would take a while to sink in. +At the time, Fischer says, he simply viewed the GNU Emacs license as a simple +trade. It put a price tag on GNU Emacs' use. Instead of money, Stallman was +charging users access to their own later modifications. That said, Fischer does +remember the license terms as unique. + +"I think asking other people to accept the price was, if not unique, highly +unusual at that time," he says. + +In fashioning the GNU Emacs license, Stallman made one major change to the +informal tenets of the old Emacs Commune. Where he had once demanded that +Commune members send him all the changes they wrote, Stallman now demanded only +that they pass along source code and freedom whenever they chose to +redistribute the program. In other words, programmers who simply modified Emacs +for private use no longer needed to send the source-code changes back to +Stallman. In a rare alteration of free software doctrine, Stallman slashed the +"price tag" for free software. Users could innovate without Stallman looking +over their shoulders, and distribute their versions only when they wished, just +so long as all copies came with permission for their possessors to develop and +redistribute them further. + +Stallman says this change was fueled by his own dissatisfaction with the Big +Brother aspect of the original Emacs Commune social contract. As much as he had +found it useful for everyone to send him their changes, he came to feel that +requiring this was unjust. "It was wrong to require people to publish all +changes," says Stallman. + +"It was wrong to require them to be sent to one privileged developer. That kind +of centralization and privilege for one was not consistent with a society in +which all had equal rights." + +The GNU Emacs General Public License made its debut on a version of GNU Emacs +in 1985. Following the release, Stallman welcomed input from the general hacker +community on how to improve the license's language. One hacker to take up the +offer was future software activist John Gilmore, then working as a consultant +to Sun Microsystems. As part of his consulting work, Gilmore had ported Emacs +over to SunOS, the company's in-house version of Unix. In the process of doing +so, Gilmore had published the changed version under the GNU Emacs license. +Instead of viewing the license as a liability, Gilmore saw it as clear and +concise expression of the hacker ethos. "Up until then, most licenses were very +informal," Gilmore recalls. +={ Gilmore, John +6 ; + SunOS : + porting Emacs to ; + Sun Microsystems +} + +As an example of this informality, Gilmore cites the mid-1980s copyright +license of trn, a news reader program written by Larry Wall, a hacker who could +go onto later fame as the creator of both the Unix "patch" utility and the Perl +scripting language. In the hope of striking a balance between common hacker +courtesy and an author's right to dictate the means of commercial publication, +Wall used the program's accompanying copyright notice as an editorial sounding +board. +={ Wall, Larry +1 ; + patches, inserting into source code ; + Perl programming language ; + source code : + patches +} + +_1 Copyright (c) 1985, Larry Wall \\ You may copy the trn kit in whole or in +part as long as you don't try to make money off it, or pretend that you wrote +it.~{ See Trn Kit README, \\ +http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/project/trn/src/trn-3.6/README. }~ + +Such statements, while reflective of the hacker ethic, also reflected the +difficulty of translating the loose, informal nature of that ethic into the +rigid, legal language of copyright. In writing the GNU Emacs license, Stallman +had done more than close up the escape hatch that permitted proprietary +offshoots. He had expressed the hacker ethic in a manner understandable to both +lawyer and hacker alike. + +It wasn't long, Gilmore says, before other hackers began discussing ways to +"port" the GNU Emacs license over to their own programs. Prompted by a +conversation on Usenet, Gilmore sent an email to Stallman in November, 1986, +suggesting modification: + +_1 You should probably remove "EMACS" from the license and replace it with +"SOFTWARE" or something. Soon, we hope, Emacs will not be the biggest part of +the GNU system, and the license applies to all of it.~{ See John Gilmore, +quoted from email to author. }~ + +Gilmore wasn't the only person suggesting a more general approach. By the end +of 1986, Stallman himself was at work with GNU Project's next major milestone, +the source-code debugger GDB. To release this, he had to modify the GNU Emacs +license so it applied to GDB instead of GNU Emacs. It was not a big job, but it +was an opening for possible errors. In 1989, Stallman figured out how to remove +the specific references to Emacs, and express the connection between the +program code and the license solely in the program's source files. This way, +any developer could apply the license to his program without changing the +license. The GNU General Public License, GNU GPL for short, was born. The GNU +Project soon made it the official license of all existing GNU programs. +={ GNU Debugger (GDB) +1 ; + GDB (GNU Debugger) ; + Debugger +1 +} + +In publishing the GPL, Stallman followed the software convention of using +decimal numbers to indicate versions with minor changes and whole numbers to +indicate versions with major changes. The first version, in 1989, was labeled +Version 1.0. The license contained a preamble spelling out its political +intentions: + +_1 The General Public License is designed to make sure that you have the +freedom to give away or sell copies of free software, that you receive source +code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use +pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things. + +_1 To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to +deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions +translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the +software, or if you modify it.~{ See Richard Stallman, et al., "GNU General +Public License: Version 1,"(February, 1989), \\ +http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-1.0.html. }~ + +As hacks go, the GPL stands as one of Stallman's best. It created a system of +communal ownership within the normally proprietary confines of copyright law. +More importantly, it demonstrated the intellectual similarity between legal +code and software code. Implicit within the GPL's preamble was a profound +message: instead of viewing copyright law with suspicion, hackers should view +it as a dangerous system that could be hacked. +% ={Emacs Commune+1} + +"The GPL developed much like any piece of free software with a large community +discussing its structure, its respect or the opposite in their observation, +needs for tweaking and even to compromise it mildly for greater acceptance," +says Jerry Cohen, another attorney who advised Stallman after Fischer departed. +"The process worked very well and GPL in its several versions has gone from +widespread skeptical and at times hostile response to widespread acceptance." + +In a 1986 interview with /{BYTE}/ magazine, Stallman summed up the GPL in +colorful terms. In addition to proclaiming hacker values, Stallman said, +readers should also "see it as a form of intellectual ju-jitsu, using the legal +system that software hoarders have set up against them."~{ See David Betz and +Jon Edwards, "Richard Stallman discusses his public-domain [ sic ] +Unix-compatible software system with BYTE editors," BYTE (July, 1986). +(Reprinted on the GNU Project web site: \\ +http://www.gnu.org/gnu/byte-interview.html .) \\ This interview offers an +interesting, not to mention candid, glimpse at Stallman's political attitudes +during the earliest days of the GNU Project. It is also helpful in tracing the +evolution of Stallman's rhetoric. \\ Describing the purpose of the GPL, +Stallman says, "I'm trying to change the way people approach knowledge and +information in general. I think that to try to own knowledge, to try to control +whether people are allowed to use it, or to try to stop other people from +sharing it, is sabotage." \\ Contrast this with a statement to the author in +August 2000: "I urge you not to use the term 'intellectual property' in your +thinking. It will lead you to misunderstand things, because that term +generalizes about copyrights, patents, and trademarks. And those things are so +different in their effects that it is entirely foolish to try to talk about +them at once. If you hear somebody saying something' about intellectual +property,' without [putting it in] quotes, then he's not thinking very clearly +and you shouldn't join." \\ [RMS: The contrast it shows is that I've learned to +be more cautious in generalizing. I probably wouldn't talk about "owning +knowledge" today, since it's a very broad concept. But "owning knowledge" is +not the same generalization as "intellectual property," and the difference +between those three laws is crucial to understanding any legal issue about +owning knowledge. Patents are direct monopolies over using specific knowledge; +that really is one form of "owning knowledge." Copyrights are one of the +methods used to stop the sharing of works that embody or explain knowledge, +which is a very different thing. Meanwhile, trademarks have very little to do +with the subject of knowledge.] }~ Years later, Stallman would describe the +GPL's creation in less hostile terms. "I was thinking about issues that were in +a sense ethical and in a sense political and in a sense legal," he says. "I had +to try to do what could be sustained by the legal system that we're in. In +spirit the job was that of legislating the basis for a new society, but since I +wasn't a government, I couldn't actually change any laws. I had to try to do +this by building on top of the existing legal system, which had not been +designed for anything like this." +={ Byte magazine } + +About the time Stallman was pondering the ethical, political, and legal issues +associated with free software, a California hacker named Don Hopkins mailed him +a manual for the 68000 microprocessor. Hopkins, a Unix hacker and fellow +science-fiction buff, had borrowed the manual from Stallman a while earlier. As +a display of gratitude, Hopkins decorated the return envelope with a number of +stickers obtained at a local science-fiction convention. One sticker in +particular caught Stallman's eye. It read, "Copyleft (L), All Rights Reversed." +Stallman, inspired by the sticker, nicknamed the legal technique employed in +the GNU Emacs license (and later in the GNU GPL) "Copyleft," jocularly +symbolized by a backwards "C" in a circle. Over time, the nickname would become +general Free Software Foundation terminology for any copyright license "making +a program free software and requiring all modified and extended versions of the +program to be free software as well." +={ copyleft ; + Hopkins, Don +} + +The German sociologist Max Weber once proposed that all great religions are +built upon the "routinization" or "institutionalization" of charisma. Every +successful religion, Weber argued, converts the charisma or message of the +original religious leader into a social, political, and ethical apparatus more +easily translatable across cultures and time. +={ Weber, Max } + +While not religious per se, the GNU GPL certainly qualifies as an interesting +example of this "routinization" process at work in the modern, decentralized +world of software development. Since its unveiling, programmers and companies +who have otherwise expressed little loyalty or allegiance to Stallman have +willingly accepted the GPL bargain at face value. Thousands have also accepted +the GPL as a preemptive protective mechanism for their own software programs. +Even those who reject the GPL conditions as too limiting still credit it as +influential. + +One hacker falling into this latter group was Keith Bostic, a University of +California employee at the time of the GPL 1.0 release. Bostic's department, +the Computer Systems Research Group (SRG), had been involved in Unix +development since the late 1970s and was responsible for many key parts of +Unix, including the TCP/IP networking protocol, the cornerstone of modern +Internet communications. By the late 1980s, AT&T, the original owner of the +Unix software, began to focus on commercializing Unix and began looking to the +Berkeley Software Distribution, or BSD, the academic version of Unix developed +by Bostic and his Berkeley peers, as a key source of commercial technology. +={ AT&T +1 ; + Berkely Software Distribution (BSD) +6 ; + Bostic, Keith +5 ; + BSD (Berkely Software Distribution) +6 ; + Computer Systems Research Group ; + University of California +4 ; + TCP/IP +} + +The code written by Bostic and friends was off limits to nearly everyone, +because it was intermixed with proprietary AT&T code. Berkeley distributions +were therefore available only to institutions that already had a Unix source +license from AT&T. As AT&T raised its license fees, this arrangement, which had +at first seemed innocuous (to those who thought only of academia) became +increasingly burdensome even there. To use Berkeley's code in GNU, Stallman +would have to convince Berkeley to separate it from AT&T's code and release it +as free software. In 1984 or 1985 he met with the leaders of the BSD effort, +pointing out that AT&T was not a charity and that for a university to donate +its work (in effect) to AT&T was not proper. He asked them to separate out +their code and release it as free software. +={ licenses : + AT&T UNIX source code and +2 +} + +Hired in 1986, Bostic had taken on the personal project of porting the latest +version of BSD to the PDP-11 computer. It was during this period, Bostic says, +that he came into close interaction with Stallman during Stallman's occasional +forays out to the west coast. "I remember vividly arguing copyright with +Stallman while he sat at borrowed workstations at CSRG," says Bostic. "We'd go +to dinner afterward and continue arguing about copyright over dinner." +={ PDP-11 computer } + +The arguments eventually took hold, although not in the way Stallman would have +preferred. In June, 1989, Berkeley had separated its networking code from the +rest of the AT&T-owned operating system and began distributing it under a +copyright-based free license. The license terms were liberal. All a licensee +had to do was give credit to the university in advertisements touting +derivative programs.~{ The University of California's "obnoxious advertising +clause" would later prove to be a problem. Looking for a permissive alternative +to the GPL, some hackers used the original BSD license, replacing "University +of California" with their own names or the names of their institutions. The +result: free software systems using many of these programs would have to cite +dozens of names in advertisements. In 1999, after a few years of lobbying on +Stallman's part, the University of California agreed to drop this clause. See +"The BSD License Problem" at \\ http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/bsd.html. }~ In +contrast to the GPL, this license permitted proprietary offshoots. One problem +limited the use of the BSD Networking release: it wasn't a complete operating +system, just the network-related parts of one. While the code would be a major +contribution to any free operating system, it could only be run at that time in +conjunction with other, proprietary-licensed code. +={ AT&T +1 } + +Over the next few years, Bostic and other University of California employees +worked to replace the missing components and turn BSD into a complete, freely +redistributable operating system. Although delayed by a legal challenge from +Unix Systems Laboratories - the AT&T spin-off that retained ownership of the +Unix code - the effort would finally bear fruit in the early 1990s. Even before +then, however, many of the Berkeley network utilities would make their way into +Stallman's GNU system. + +"I think it's highly unlikely that we ever would have gone as strongly as we +did without the GNU influence," says Bostic, looking back. "It was clearly +something where they were pushing hard and we liked the idea." + +By the end of the 1980s, the GPL was beginning to exert a gravitational effect +on the free software community. A program didn't have to carry the GPL to +qualify as free software - witness the case of the BSD network utilities - but +putting a program under the GPL sent a definite message. "I think the very +existence of the GPL inspired people to think through whether they were making +free software, and how they would license it," says Bruce Perens, creator of +Electric Fence, a popular Unix utility, and future leader of the Debian +GNU/Linux development team. A few years after the release of the GPL, Perens +says he decided to discard Electric Fence's homegrown license in favor of +Stallman's lawyer-vetted copyright. "It was actually pretty easy to do," Perens +recalls. +={ Perens, Bruce } + +Rich Morin, the programmer who had viewed Stallman's initial GNU announcement +with a degree of skepticism, recalls being impressed by the software that began +to gather under the GPL umbrella. As the leader of a SunOS user group, one of +Morin's primary duties during the 1980s had been to send out distribution tapes +containing the best freeware or free software utilities. The job often mandated +calling up original program authors to verify whether their programs were +copyrighted or whether they had been consigned to the public domain. Around +1989, Morin says, he began to notice that the best software programs typically +fell under the GPL license. "As a software distributor, as soon as I saw the +word GPL, I knew I was home free,"recalls Morin. +={ SunOS } + +To compensate for the prior hassles that went into compiling distribution tapes +to the Sun User Group, Morin had charged recipients a convenience fee. Now, +with programs moving over to the GPL, Morin was suddenly getting his tapes put +together in half the time, turning a tidy profit in the process. Sensing a +commercial opportunity, Morin rechristened his hobby as a business: Prime Time +Freeware. +={ Sun User Group } + +Such commercial exploitation was completely consistent with the free software +agenda. "When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not +price," advised Stallman in the GPL's preamble. By the late 1980s, Stallman had +refined it to a more simple mnemonic: "Don't think free as in free beer; think +free as in free speech." + +For the most part, businesses ignored Stallman's entreaties. Still, for a few +entrepreneurs, the freedom associated with free software was the same freedom +associated with free markets. Take software ownership out of the commercial +equation, and you had a situation where even the smallest software company was +free to compete against the IBMs and DECs of the world. + +One of the first entrepreneurs to grasp this concept was Michael Tiemann, a +software programmer and graduate student at Stanford University. During the +1980s, Tiemann had followed the GNU Project like an aspiring jazz musician +following a favorite artist. It wasn't until the release of the GNU C Compiler, +or GCC, in 1987, however, that he began to grasp the full potential of free +software. Dubbing GCC a "bombshell," Tiemann says the program's own existence +underlined Stallman's determination as a programmer. +={ C Compiler (GNU) +9 ; + GNU C Compiler (GCC) +9 ; + GCC (GNU C Compiler) +9 ; + Tiemann, Michael +8 ; + Stanford University +} + +"Just as every writer dreams of writing the great American novel, every +programmer back in the 1980s talked about writing the great American compiler," +Tiemman recalls. "Suddenly Stallman had done it. It was very humbling." + +"You talk about single points of failure, GCC was it," echoes Bostic. "Nobody +had a compiler back then, until GCC came along." + +Rather than compete with Stallman, Tiemann decided to build on top of his work. +The original version of GCC weighed in at 110,000 lines of code, but Tiemann +recalls the program as surprisingly easy to understand. So easy in fact that +Tiemann says it took less than five days to master and another week to port the +software to a new hardware platform, National Semiconductor's 32032 microchip. +Over the next year, Tiemann began playing around with the source code, creating +the first "native" or direct compiler for the C++ programming language, by +extending GCC to handle C++ as well as C. (The existing, proprietary +implementation of the C++ language worked by converting the code to the C +language, then feeding the result to a C compiler.) One day, while delivering a +lecture on the program at Bell Labs, Tiemann ran into some AT&T developers +struggling to pull off the same thing. +={ C+ programming language } + +"There were about 40 or 50 people in the room, and I asked how many people were +working on the native code compiler," Tiemann recalls. "My host said the +information was confidential but added that if I took a look around the room I +might get a good general idea." + +It wasn't long after, Tiemann says, that the light bulb went off in his head. +"I had been working on that project for six months," Tiemann says. I just +thought to myself, whether it's me or the code, this is a level of efficiency +that the free market should be ready to reward." + +Tiemann found added inspiration in the /{GNU Manifesto}/: while excoriating the +greed of proprietary software vendors, it also encourages companies, as long as +they respect users freedom, to use and redistribute free software in their +commercial activities. By removing the power of monopoly from the commercial +software question, the GPL makes it possible for even small companies to +compete on the basis of service, which extends from simple tech support to +training to extending free programs for specific clients' needs. +={ GNU Manifesto } + +In a 1999 essay, Tiemann recalls the impact of Stallman's /{Manifesto}/. "It +read like a socialist polemic, but I saw something different. I saw a business +plan in disguise."~{ See Michael Tiemann, "Future of Cygnus Solutions: An +Entrepreneur's Account," Open Sources (O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1999): 139, +\\ http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/tiemans.html. }~ + +This business plan was not new; Stallman supported himself in the late 80s by +doing this on a small scale. But Tiemann intended to take it to a new level. +Teaming up with John Gilmore and David Vinayak Wallace, Tiemann launched a +software consulting service dedicated to customizing GNU programs. Dubbed +Cygnus Support (informally, "Cygnus" was a recursive acronym for "Cygnus, Your +GNU Support"), the company signed its first development contract in February, +1990. By the end of the year, the company had $725,000 worth of support and +development contracts. +={ Gilmore, John } + +The complete GNU operating system Stallman envisioned required more than +software development tools. In the 1990s, GNU also developed a command line +interpreter or "shell," which was an extended replacement for the Bourne Shell +(written by FSF employee Brian Fox, and christened by Stallman the Bourne Again +Shell, or BASH), as well as the PostScript interpreter Ghostscript, the +documentation browser platform Texinfo, the C Library which C programs need in +order to run and talk to the system's kernel, the spreadsheet Oleo ("better for +you than the more expensive spreadsheet"), and even a fairly good chess game. +However, programmers were typically most interested in the GNU programming +tools. + +GNU Emacs, GDB, and GCC were the "big three" of developer-oriented tools, but +they weren't the only ones developed by the GNU Project in the 80s. By 1990, +GNU had also generated GNU versions of the build-controller Make, the +parser-generator YACC (rechristened Bison), and awk (rechristened gawk); as +well as dozens more. Like GCC, GNU programs were usually designed to run on +multiple systems, not just a single vendor's platform. In the process of making +programs more flexible, Stallman and his collaborators often made them more +useful as well. + +Recalling the GNU universalist approach, Prime Time Freeware's Morin points to +a useless but vitally important software package called GNU Hello, which serves +as an example to show programmers how to properly package a program for GNU. +"It's the hello world program which is five lines of C, packaged up as if it +were a GNU distribution," Morin says. "And so it's got the Texinfo stuff and +the configure stuff. It's got all the other software engineering goo that the +GNU Project has come up with to allow packages to port to all these different +environments smoothly. That's tremendously important work, and it affects not +only all of [Stallman's] software, but also all of the other GNU Project +software." + +According to Stallman, improving technically on the components of Unix was +secondary to replacing them with free software. "With each piece I may or may +not find a way to improve it," said Stallman to /{BYTE}/. "To some extent I am +getting the benefit of reimplementation, which makes many systems much better. +To some extent it's because I have been in the field a long time and worked on +many other systems. I therefore have many ideas [which I learned from them] to +bring to bear."~{ See Richard Stallman, BYTE (1986). }~ +={ Byte magazine } + +Nevertheless, as GNU tools made their mark in the late 1980s, Stallman's AI +Lab-honed reputation for design fastidiousness soon became legendary throughout +the entire software-development community. + +Jeremy Allison, a Sun user during the late 1980s and programmer destined to run +his own free software project, Samba, in the 1990s, recalls that reputation +with a laugh. During the late 1980s, Allison began using Emacs. Inspired by the +program's community-development model, Allison says he sent in a snippet of +source code only to have it rejected by Stallman. +={ Allison, Jeramy +1 } + +"It was like the /{Onion}/ headline," Allison says. "'Child's prayers to God +answered: No.'" +={ Onion, The } + +As the GNU Project moved from success to success in creation of user-level +programs and libraries, it postponed development of the kernel, the central +"traffic cop" program that controls other programs' access to the processor and +all machine resources. + +As with several other major system components, Stallman sought a head-start on +kernel development by looking for an existing program to adapt. A review of GNU +Project "GNUs letters" of the late 1980s reveals that this approach, like the +initial attempt to build GCC out of Pastel, had its problems. A January, 1987 +GNUs letter reported the GNU Project's intention to overhaul TRIX, a kernel +developed at MIT. However, Stallman never actually tried to do this, since he +was working on GCC at the time; later he concluded that TRIX would require too +much change to be a good starting point. By February of 1988, according to a +newsletter published that month, the GNU Project had shifted its kernel plans +to Mach, a lightweight "micro-kernel" developed at Carnegie Mellon. Mach was +not then free software, but its developers privately said they would liberate +it; when this occurred, in 1990, GNU Project kernel development could really +commence.~{ See "Hurd History," \\ +http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/history.html. }~ + +The delays in kernel development were just one of many concerns weighing on +Stallman during this period. In 1989, Lotus Development Corporation filed suit +against rival software companies, Paperback Software International and Borland, +for copying menu commands from Lotus' popular 1-2-3 Spreadsheet program. Lotus' +suit, coupled with the Apple-Microsoft "look and feel" battle, endangered the +future of the GNU system. Although neither suit directly attacked the GNU +Project, both threatened the right to develop software compatible with existing +programs, as many GNU programs were. These lawsuits could impose a chilling +effect on the entire culture of software development. Determined to do +something, Stallman and a few professors put an ad in /{The Tech}/ (the MIT +student newspaper) blasting the lawsuits and calling for a boycott of both +Lotus and Apple. He then followed up the ad by helping to organize a group to +protest the corporations filing the suit. Calling itself the League for +Programming Freedom, the group held protests outside the offices of Lotus, Inc. +={ Apple Computers ; + Lotus Development Corp. ; + Microsoft Corporation : + Apple Computer lawsuit ; + Paperback Software International +} + +The protests were notable.~{ According to a League for Programming Freedom +press release at \\ +http://progfree.org/Links/prep.ai.mit.edu/demo.final.release, the protests were +no-table for featuring the first hexadecimal protest chant: \\ 1-2-3-4, toss +the lawyers out the door \\ 5-6-7-8, innovate don't litigate \\ 9-A-B-C, 1-2-3 +is not for me \\ D-E-F-O, look and feel have got to go }~ + +They document the evolving nature of the software industry. Applications had +quietly replaced operating systems as the primary corporate battleground. In +its unfinished quest to build a free software operating system, the GNU Project +seemed hopelessly behind the times to those whose primary values were fashion +and success. Indeed, the very fact that Stallman had felt it necessary to put +together an entirely new group dedicated to battling the "look and feel" +lawsuits led some observers to think that the FSF was obsolete. + +However, Stallman had a strategic reason to start a separate organization to +fight the imposition of new monopolies on software development: so that +proprietary software developers would join it too. Extending copyright to cover +interfaces would threaten many proprietary software developers as well as many +free software developers. These proprietary developers were unlikely to endorse +the Free Soft-ware Foundation, but there was, intentionally, nothing in the +League for Programming Freedom to drive them away. For the same reason, +Stallman handed over leadership of LPF to others as soon as it was feasible. + +In 1990, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation certified Stallman's +genius status when it granted Stallman a Mac Arthur fellowship, the so-called +"genius grant," amounting in this case to$240,000 over 5 years. Although the +Foundation does not state a reason for its grants, this one was seen as an +award for launching the GNU Project and giving voice to the free software +philosophy. The grant relieved a number of short-term concerns for Stallman. +For instance, it enabled him to cease the consulting work through which he had +obtained his income in the 80s and devote more time to the free software cause. + +The award also made it possible for Stallman to register normally to vote. In +1985 a fire in the house where Stallman lived left him without an official +domicile. It also covered most of his books with ash, and cleaning these "dirty +books" did not yield satisfying results. From that time he lived as a +"squatter" at 545 Technology Square, and had to vote as a "homeless person."~{ +See Reuven Lerner, "Stallman wins $240,000 MacArthur award," MIT, The Tech +(July 18, 1990), \\ http://the-tech.mit.edu/V110/N30/rms.30n.html. }~ "[The +Cambridge Election Commission] didn't want to accept that as my address," +Stallman would later recall. "A newspaper article about the MacArthur grant +said that, and then they let me register."~{ See Michael Gross, "Richard +Stallman: High School Misfit, Symbol of Free Software, Mac Arthur-certified +Genius" (1999). }~ + +Most importantly, the MacArthur fellowship gave Stallman press attention and +speaking invitations, which he used to spread the word about GNU, free +software, and dangers such as "look and feel" lawsuits and software patents. + +Interestingly, the GNU system's completion would stem from one of these trips. +In April 1991, Stallman paid a visit to the Polytechnic University in Helsinki, +Finland. Among the audience members was 21-year-old Linus Torvalds, who was +just beginning to develop the Linux kernel - the free software kernel destined +to fill the GNU system's main remaining gap. +={ Helsinki, Finland +3 ; + Polytechnic University (Finland) ; + Torvalds, Linus +16 +} + +A student at the nearby University of Helsinki at the time, Torvalds regarded +Stallman with bemusement. "I saw, for the first time in my life, the +stereotypical long-haired, bearded hacker type," recalls Torvalds in his 2001 +autobiography /{Just for Fun}/. "We don't have much of them in Helsinki."~{ See +Linus Torvalds and David Diamond, Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental +Revolutionary (Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 2001): 58-59. Although +presumably accurate in regard to Torvalds' life, what the book says about +Stallman is sometimes wrong. For instance, it says that Stallman "wants to make +everything open source," and that he "complains about other people not using +the GPL." In fact, Stallman advocates free software, not open source. He urges +authors to choose the GNU GPL, in most circumstances, but says that all free +software licenses are ethical. }~ + +While not exactly attuned to the "socio political" side of the Stallman agenda, +Torvalds nevertheless appreciated one aspect of the agenda's underlying logic: +no programmer writes error-free code. Even when users have no wish to adapt a +program to their specific preferences, any program can use improvement. By +sharing software, hackers put a program's improvement ahead of individual +motivations such as greed or ego protection. + +Like many programmers of his generation, Torvalds had cut his teeth not on +mainframe computers like the IBM 7094, but on a motley assortment of home-built +computer systems. As a university student, Torvalds had made the step up from +PC programming to Unix, using the university's MicroVAX. This ladder-like +progression had given Torvalds a different perspective on the barriers to +machine access. For Stallman, the chief barriers were bureaucracy and +privilege. For Torvalds, the chief barriers were geography and the harsh +Helsinki winter. Forced to trek across the University of Helsinki just to log +in to his Unix account, Torvalds quickly began looking for a way to log in from +the warm confines of his off-campus apartment. +={ IBM 7094 computer ; + MicroVAX +1 +} + +Torvalds was using Minix, a lightweight non-free system developed as an +instructional example by Dutch university professor Andrew Tanenbaum.~{ It was +non-free in 1991. Minix is free software now. }~ It included the non-free Free +University Compiler Kit, plus utilities of the sort that Tanenbaum had +contemptuously invited Stallman in 1983 to write.~{ Tanenbaum describes Minix +as an "operating system" in his book, Operating System Design and +Implementation , but what the book discusses is only the part of the system +that corresponds to the kernel of Unix. There are two customary usages of the +term "operating system," and one of them is what is called the "kernel" in Unix +terminology. But that's not the only terminological complication in the +subject. That part of Minix consists of a microkernel plus servers that run on +it, a design of the same kind as the GNU Hurd plus Mach. The microkernel plus +servers are comparable to the kernel of Unix. But when that book says "the +kernel," it refers to the microkernel only. See Andrew Tanenbaum, Operating +System Design and Implementation , 1987. }~ +={ Minix operating system +2 ; + Unix operating system : + Minix and ; + Tanenbaum, Andrew +} + +Minix fit within the memory confines of Torvalds' 386 PC, but it was intended +more to be studied than used. The Minix system also lacked the facility of +terminal emulation, which would mimic a typical display terminal and thus +enable Torvalds to log in to the MicroVAX from home. + +Early in 1991, Torvalds began writing a terminal emulation program. He used +Minix to develop his emulator, but the emulator didn't run on Minix; it was a +stand-alone program. Then he gave it features to access disk files in Minix's +file system. Around then, Torvalds referred to his evolving work as the +"GNU/Emacs of terminal emulation programs."~{ See Linus Torvalds and David +Diamond, Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary (Harper Collins +Publishers, Inc., 2001): 78. }~ + +Since Minix lacked many important features. Torvalds began extending his +terminal emulator into a kernel comparable to that of Minix, except that it was +monolithic. Feeling ambitious, he solicited a Minix newsgroup for copies of the +POSIX standards, the specifications for a Unix-compatible kernel.~{ POSIX was +subsequently extended to include specifications for many command-line features, +but that did not exist in 1991. }~ A few weeks later, having put his kernel +together with some GNU programs and adapted them to work with it, Torvalds was +posting a message reminiscent of Stallman's original 1983 GNU posting: + +_1 Hello everybody out there using minix- + +_1 I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and +professional like gnu) for 386 (486) AT clones. This has been brewing since +April, and is starting to get ready. I'd like any feedback on things people +like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of +the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things). I've currently +ported bash (1.08) and gcc(1.40)...~{ Ibid, p. 85. }~ + +The posting drew a smattering of responses and within a month, Torvalds had +posted a 0.01 version of his kernel - i.e., the earliest possible version fit +for outside review - on an Internet FTP site. In the course of doing so, +Torvalds had to come up with a name for the new kernel. On his own PC hard +drive, Torvalds had saved the program as Linux, a name that paid its respects +to the software convention of giving each Unix variant a name that ended with +the letter X. Deeming the name too "egotistical," Torvalds changed it to Freax, +only to have the FTP site manager change it back. +={ Freax } + +Torvalds said he was writing a free operating system, and his comparing it with +GNU shows he meant a complete system. However, what he actually wrote was a +kernel, pure and simple. Torvalds had no need to write more than the kernel +because, as he knew, the other needed components were already available, thanks +to the developers of GNU and other free software projects. Since the GNU +Project wanted to use them all in the GNU system, it had perforce made them +work together. While Torvalds continued developing the kernel, he (and later +his collaborators) made those programs work with it too. + +Initially, Linux was not free software: the license it carried did not qualify +as free, because it did not allow commercial distribution. Torvalds was worried +that some company would swoop in and take Linux away from him. However, as the +growing GNU/Linux combination gained popularity, Torvalds saw that sale of +copies would be useful for the community, and began to feel less worried about +a possible takeover.~{ Ibid, p. 94-95. }~ This led him to reconsider the +licensing of Linux. + +Neither compiling Linux with GCC nor running GCC with Linux required him +legally to release Linux under the GNU GPL, but Torvalds' use of GCC implied +for him a certain obligation to let other users borrow back. As Torvalds would +later put it: "I had hoisted myself up on the shoulders of giants."~{ Ibid, p. +95-97. }~ Not surprisingly, he began to think about what would happen when +other people looked to him for similar support. A decade after the decision, +Torvalds echoes the Free Software Foundation's Robert Chassell when he sums up +his thoughts at the time: +={ C Compiler (GNU) : + Linux development and +3 ; + GNU C Compiler (GCC) : + Linux development and ; + GCC (GNU C Compiler) : + Linux development and} +} + +_1 You put six months of your life into this thing and you want to make it +available and you want to get something out of it, but you don't want people to +take advantage of it. I wanted people to be able to see [Linux], and to make +changes and improvements to their hearts' content. But I also wanted to make +sure that what I got out of it was to see what they were doing. I wanted to +always have access to the sources so that if they made improvements, I could +make those improvements myself.~{ See Linus Torvalds and David Diamond, Just +For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary (Harper Collins Publishers, +Inc., 2001): 94-95. }~ + +When it was time to release the 0.12 version of Linux, the first to operate +fully with GCC, Torvalds decided to throw his lot in with the free software +movement. He discarded the old license of Linux and replaced it with the GPL. +Within three years, Linux developers were offering release 1.0 of Linux, the +kernel; it worked smoothly with the almost complete GNU system, composed of +programs from the GNU Project and elsewhere. In effect, they had completed the +GNU operating system by adding Linux to it. The resulting system was basically +GNU plus Linux. Torvalds and friends, however, referred to it confusingly as +"Linux." + +By 1994, the amalgamated system had earned enough respect in the hacker world +to make some observers from the business world wonder if Torvalds hadn't given +away the farm by switching to the GPL in the project's initial months. In the +first issue of /{Linux Journal}/, publisher Robert Young sat down with Torvalds +for an interview. When Young asked the Finnish programmer if he felt regret at +giving up private ownership of the Linux source code, Torvalds said no. "Even +with 20/20 hindsight," Torvalds said, he considered the GPL "one of the very +best design decisions" made during the early stages of the Linux project.~{ See +Robert Young, "Interview with Linus, the Author of Linux," Linux Journal (March +1, 1994), \\ http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2736. }~ +={ Young, Robert } + +That the decision had been made with zero appeal or deference to Stallman and +the Free Software Foundation speaks to the GPL's growing portability. Although +it would take a couple of years to be recognized by Stallman, the explosiveness +of Linux development conjured flashbacks of Emacs. This time around, however, +the innovation triggering the explosion wasn't a software hack like Control-R +but the novelty of running a Unix-like system on the PC architecture. The +motives may have been different, but the end result certainly fit the ethical +specifications: a fully functional operating system composed entirely of free +software. +={ Control-R (^R) } + +As his initial email message to the comp.os.minix newsgroup indicates, it would +take a few months before Torvalds saw Linux as anything more than a holdover +until the GNU developers delivered on the Hurd kernel. As far as Torvalds was +concerned, he was simply the latest in a long line of kids taking apart and +reassembling things just for fun. Nevertheless, when summing up the runaway +success of a project that could have just as easily spent the rest of its days +on an abandoned computer hard drive, Torvalds credits his younger self for +having the wisdom to give up control and accept the GPL bargain. "I may not +have seen the light," writes Torvalds, reflecting on Stallman's 1991 +Polytechnic University speech and his subsequent decision to switch to the GPL. +"But I guess something from his speech sunk in."~{ See Linus Torvalds and David +Diamond, Just For Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary (Harper Collins +Publishers, Inc., 2001): 59. }~ +={ HURD kernel } + +1~ Chapter 10 - GNU/Linux +={ GNU/Linux +45 ; + Linux +45 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + GNU Linux +46 +} + +By 1993, the free software movement was at a crossroads. To the optimistically +inclined, all signs pointed toward success for the hacker culture. /{Wired}/ +magazine, a funky, new publication offering stories on data encryption, Usenet, +and software freedom, was flying off magazine racks. The Internet, once a slang +term used only by hackers and research scientists, had found its way into +mainstream lexicon. Even President Clinton was using it. The personal computer, +once a hobbyist's toy, had grown to full-scale respectability, giving a whole +new generation of computer users access to hacker-built software. And while the +GNU Project had not yet reached its goal of a fully intact, free GNU operating +system, users could already run the GNU/Linux variant. +={ Internet +3 ; + Wired magazine ; + PCs (personal computers) +2 ; + personal computers (PCs) +2 +} + +Any way you sliced it, the news was good, or so it seemed. After a decade of +struggle, hackers and hacker values were finally gaining acceptance in +mainstream society. People were getting it. + +Or were they? To the pessimistically inclined, each sign of acceptance carried +its own troubling countersign. Sure, being a hacker was suddenly cool, but was +cool good for a community that thrived on alienation? Sure, the White House was +saying nice things about the Internet, even going so far as to register its own +domain name, white-house.gov, *** but it was also meeting with the companies, +censorship advocates, and law-enforcement officials looking to tame the +Internet's Wild West culture. Sure, PCs were more powerful, but in +commoditizing the PC marketplace with its chips, Intel had created a situation +in which proprietary software vendors now held the power. For every new user +won over to the free software cause via GNU/Linux, hundreds, perhaps thousands, +were booting up Microsoft Windows for the first time. GNU/Linux had only +rudimentary graphical interfaces, so it was hardly user-friendly. In 1993, only +an expert could use it. The GNU Project's first attempt to develop a graphical +desktop had been abortive. +={ Intel } + +Then there was the political situation. Copyrighting of user interfaces was +still a real threat - the courts had not yet rejected the idea. Meanwhile, +patents on software algorithms and features were a growing danger that +threatened to spread to other countries. + +Finally, there was the curious nature of GNU/Linux itself. Unrestricted by +legal disputes (such as BSD faced), GNU/Linux's high-speed evolution had been +so unplanned, its success so accidental, that programmers closest to the +software code itself didn't know what to make of it. More compilation album +than unified project, it was comprised of a hacker medley of greatest hits: +everything from GCC, GDB, and glibc (the GNU Project's newly developed C +Library) toX (a Unix-based graphic user interface developed by MIT's Laboratory +for Computer Science) to BSD-developed tools such as BIND (the Berkeley +Internet Naming Daemon, which lets users substitute easy-to-remember Internet +domain names for numeric IP addresses) and TCP/IP. In addition, it contained +the Linux kernel - itself designed as a replacement for Minix. Rather than +developing a new operating system, Torvalds and his rapidly expanding Linux +development team had plugged their work into this matrix. As Torvalds himself +would later translate it when describing the secret of his success: "I'm +basically a very lazy person who likes to take credit for things other people +actually do."~{ Torvalds has offered this quote in many different settings. To +date, however, the quote's most notable appearance is in the Eric Raymond +essay, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" (May, 1997), \\ +http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/. }~ +={ BIND (Berkely Internet Naming Daemon) ; + Berkely Internet Naming Daemon (BIND) ; + C programming language : + glibc ; + GNU Debugger (GDB) : + Linux and ; + GDB (GNU Debugger) : + Linux and ; + glibc (GNU C Library) ; + GNU C Library (glibc) ; + kernel (Linux) ; + X graphic user interface ; + Laboratory for Computer Science : + X, developing ; + Minix operating system : + kernel, used for Linux ; + TCP/IP ; + Torvalds, Linus : + Minix, reworking for Linux +2 +} + +Such laziness, while admirable from an efficiency perspective, was troubling +from a political perspective. For one thing, it underlined the lack of an +ideological agenda on Torvalds' part. Unlike the GNU developers, Torvalds +hadn't built his kernel out of a desire to give his fellow hackers freedom; +he'd built it to have something he himself could play with. So what exactly was +the combined system, and which philosophy would people associate it with? Was +it a manifestation of the free software philosophy first articulated by +Stallman in the /{GNU Manifesto}/? Or was it simply an amalgamation of nifty +software tools that any user, similarly motivated, could assemble on his own +home system? +={ GNU Manifesto } + +By late 1993, a growing number of GNU/Linux users had begun to lean toward the +latter definition and began brewing private variations on the theme. They began +to develop various "distributions" of GNU/Linux and distribute them, sometimes +gratis, sometimes for a price. The results were spotty at best. + +"This was back before Red Hat and the other commercial distributions," +remembers Ian Murdock, then a computer science student at Purdue University. +"You'd flip through Unix magazines and find all these business card-sized ads +proclaiming 'Linux.' Most of the companies were fly-by-night operations that +saw nothing wrong with slipping a little of their own [proprietary] source code +into the mix." +={ Murdock, Ian +38 ; + Red Hat Inc. ; + Purdue University +} + +Murdock, a Unix programmer, remembers being "swept away" by GNU/Linux when he +first downloaded and installed it on his home PC system. "It was just a lot of +fun," he says. "It made me want to get involved." The explosion of poorly built +distributions began to dampen his early enthusiasm, however. Deciding that the +best way to get involved was to build a version free of additives, Murdock set +about putting a list of the best free software tools available with the +intention of folding them into his own distribution. "I wanted something that +would live up to the Linux name," Murdock says. + +In a bid to "stir up some interest," Murdock posted his intentions on the +Internet, including Usenet's comp.os.linux newsgroup. One of the first +responding email messages was from rms@ai.mit.edu. As a hacker, Murdock +instantly recognized the address. It was Richard M. Stallman, founder of the +GNU Project and a man Murdock knew even back then as "the hacker of hackers." +Seeing the address in his mail queue, Murdock was puzzled. Why on Earth would +Stallman, a person leading his own operating-system project, care about +Murdock's gripes over "Linux" distributions? + +Murdock opened the message. + +"He said the Free Software Foundation was starting to look closely at Linux and +that the FSF was interested in possibly doing a Linux [sic] system, too. +Basically, it looked to Stallman like our goals were in line with their +philosophy." +={ Free Software Foundation (FSF) : + Linux and +3 +} + +Not to over dramatize, the message represented a change in strategy on +Stallman's part. Until 1993, Stallman had been content to keep his nose out of +Linux affairs. After first hearing of the new kernel, Stallman asked a friend +to check its suitability. Recalls Stallman, "Here ported back that the software +was modeled after System V, which was the inferior version of Unix. He also +told me it wasn't portable." +={ System V } + +The friend's report was correct. Built to run on 386-based machines, Linux was +firmly rooted to its low-cost hardware platform. What the friend failed to +report, however, was the sizable advantage Linux enjoyed as the only free +kernel in the marketplace. In other words, while Stallman spent the next year +and a half listening to progress reports from the Hurd developer, reporting +rather slow progress, Torvalds was winning over the programmers who would later +uproot and replant Linux and GNU onto new platforms. + +By 1993, the GNU Project's failure to deliver a working kernel was leading to +problems both within the GNU Project and in the free software movement at +large. A March, 1993, /{Wired}/ magazine article by Simson Garfinkel described +the GNU Project as "bogged down" despite the success of the project's many +tools.~{ See Simson Garfinkel, "Is Stallman Stalled?" /{Wired}/ (March, 1993). +}~ Those within the project and its nonprofit adjunct, the Free Software +Foundation, remember the mood as being even worse than Garfinkel's article let +on. "It was very clear, at least to me at the time, that there was a window of +opportunity to introduce a new operating system," says Chassell. "And once that +window was closed, people would become less interested. Which is in fact +exactly what happened."~{ Chassell's concern about there being a 36-month +"window" for a new operating system is not unique to the GNU Project. During +the early 1990s, free software versions of the Berkeley Software Distribution +were held up by Unix System Laboratories' lawsuit restricting the release of +BSD-derived software. While many users consider BSD offshoots such as FreeBSD +and OpenBSD to be demonstrably superior to GNU/Linux both in terms of +performance and security, the number of FreeBSD and OpenBSD users remains a +fraction of the total GNU/Linux user population. To view a sample analysis of +the relative success of GNU/Linux in relation to other free software operating +systems, see the essay by New Zealand hacker, Liam Greenwood, "Why is Linux +Successful" (1999), \\ http://www.freebsddiary.org/linux.php. }~ +={ Garfinkel, Simson ; + GNU Project : + kernel ; + Wired magazine : + GNU Project and +} + +Much has been made about the GNU Project's struggles during the 1990-1993 +period. While some place the blame on Stallman for those struggles, Eric +Raymond, an old friend of Stallman's who supported the GNU Project lukewarmly, +says the problem was largely institutional. "The FSF got arrogant," Raymond +says. "They moved away from the goal of doing a production-ready operating +system to doing operating-system research." Even worse, "They thought nothing +outside the FSF could affect them." +={ HURD kernel +4 ; + Raymond, Eric +} + +Murdock adopts a more charitable view. "I think part of the problem is they +were a little too ambitious and they threw good money after bad," he says. +"Micro-kernels in the late 80s and early 90s were a hot topic. Unfortunately, +that was about the time that the GNU Project started to design their kernel. +They ended up with a lot of baggage and it would have taken a lot of +backpedaling to lose it." + +Stallman responds, "Although the emotions Raymond cites come from his +imagination, he's right about one cause of the Hurd's delay:the Hurd developer +several times redesigned and rewrote large parts of the code based on what he +had learned, rather than trying to make the Hurd run as soon as possible. It +was good design practice, but it wasn't the right practice for our goal: to get +something working ASAP." + +Stallman cites other issues that also caused delay. The Lotus and Apple +lawsuits claimed much of his attention; this, coupled with hand problems that +prevented him from typing for three years, mostly excluded Stallman from +programming. Stallman also cites poor communication between various portions of +the GNU Project. "We had to do a lot of work to get the debugging environment +to work," he recalls." And the people maintaining GDB at the time were not that +cooperative." They had given priority to supporting the existing platforms of +GDB's current users, rather than to the overall goal of a complete GNU system. + +Most fundamentally, however, Stallman says he and the Hurd developers +underestimated the difficulty of developing the Unix kernel facilities on top +of the Mach microkernel. "I figured, OK, the [Mach]part that has to talk to the +machine has already been debugged," Stallman says, recalling the Hurd team's +troubles in a 2000 speech. "With that head start, we should be able to get it +done faster. But instead, it turned out that debugging these asynchronous +multi-threaded programs was really hard. There were timing bugs that would +clobber the files, and that's no fun. The end result was that it took many, +many years to produce a test version."~{ See Maui High Performance Computing +Center Speech. In subsequent emails, I asked Stallman what exactly he meant by +the term "timing bugs." Stallman said "timing errors" was a better way to +summarize the problem and offered an elucidating technical information of how a +timing error can hamper an operating system's performance: \\ "Timing errors" +occur in an asynchronous system where jobs done in parallel can theoretically +occur in any order, and one particular order leads to problems. \\ Imagine that +program A does X, and program B does Y, where both X and Y are short routines +that examine and update the same data structure. Nearly always the computer +will do X before Y, or do Y before X, and then there will be no problem. On +rare occasions, by chance, the scheduler will let program A run until it is in +the middle of X, and then run B which will do Y. Thus, Y will be done while Xis +half-done. Since they are updating the same data structure, they will +interfere. For instance, perhaps X has already examined the data structure, and +it won't notice that there was a change. There will be an unreproducible +failure, unreproducible because it depends on chance factors (when the +scheduler decides to run which program and how long). \\ The way to prevent +such a failure is to use a lock to make sure X and Y can't run at the same +time. Programmers writing asynchronous systems know about the general need for +locks, but sometimes they overlook the need for a lock in a specific place or +on a specific data structure. Then the program has a timing error. }~ + +Over time, the growing success of GNU together with Linux made it clear that +the GNU Project should get on the train that was leaving and not wait for the +Hurd. Besides, there were weaknesses in the community surrounding GNU/Linux. +Sure, Linux had been licensed under the GPL, but as Murdock himself had noted, +the desire to treat GNU/Linux as a purely free software operating system was +far from unanimous. By late 1993, the total GNU/Linux user population had grown +from a dozen or so enthusiasts to somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000.~{ +GNU/Linux user-population numbers are sketchy at best, which is why I've +provided such a broad range. The 100,000 total comes from the Red Hat +"Milestones" site, \\ http://www.redhat.com/about/corporate/milestones.html. }~ +What had once been a hobby was now a marketplace ripe for exploitation, and +some developers had no objection to exploiting it with non-free software. Like +Winston Churchill watching Soviet troops sweep into Berlin, Stallman felt an +understandable set of mixed emotions when it came time to celebrate the +GNU/Linux "victory."~{ I wrote this Winston Churchill analogy before Stallman +himself sent me his own unsolicited comment on Churchill: \\ World War II and +the determination needed to win it was a very strong memory as I was growing +up. Statements such as Churchill's, "We will fight them in the landing zones, +we will fight them on the beaches... we will never surrender," have always +resonated for me. }~ + +Although late to the party, Stallman still had clout. As soon as the FSF +announced that it would lend its money and moral support to Murdock's software +project, other offers of support began rolling in. Murdock dubbed the new +project Debian - a compression of his and his wife, Deborah's, names - and +within a few weeks was rolling out the first distribution. "[Richard's support] +catapulted Debian almost overnight from this interesting little project to +something people within the community had to pay attention to," Murdock says. +={ Debian +19 } + +In January of 1994, Murdock issued the /{Debian Manifesto}/. Written in the +spirit of Stallman's /{GNU Manifesto}/ from a decade before, it explained the +importance of working closely with the Free Software Foundation. Murdock wrote: +={ Debian Manifesto +3 ; + Free Software Foundation (FSF) : + Debian Manifesto and ; + GNU Manifesto : + Debian Manifesto and +} + +_1 The Free Software Foundation plays an extremely important role in the future +of Debian. By the simple fact that they will be distributing it, a message is +sent to the world that Linux [sic] is not a commercial product and that it +never should be, but that this does not mean that Linux will never be able to +compete commercially. For those of you who disagree, I challenge you to +rationalize the success of GNU Emacs and GCC, which are not commercial software +but which have had quite an impact on the commercial market regardless of that +fact. + +_1 The time has come to concentrate on the future of Linux[sic] rather than on +the destructive goal of enriching one-self at the expense of the entire Linux +community and its future. The development and distribution of Debian may not be +the answer to the problems that I have outlined in the /{Manifesto}/, but I +hope that it will at least attract enough attention to these problems to allow +them to be solved.~{ See Ian Murdock, /{A Brief History of Debian}/, (January +6, 1994): Appendix A, "The Debian Manifesto," \\ +http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/project-history/ap-manifesto.en.html. }~ + +Shortly after the /{Manifesto's}/ release, the Free Software Foundation made +its first major request. Stallman wanted Murdock to call its distribution +"GNU/Linux." At first, Stallman proposed the term "Lignux" - combining the +names Linux and GNU - but the initial reaction was very negative, and this +convinced Stallman to go with the longer but less criticized GNU/Linux. +={ Lignux (Linux with GNU) } + +Some dismissed Stallman's attempt to add the "GNU" prefix as a belated quest +for credit, never mind whether it was due, but Murdock saw it differently. +Looking back, Murdock saw it as an attempt to counteract the growing tension +between the GNU Project's developers and those who adapted GNU programs to use +with the Linux kernel. "There was a split emerging," Murdock recalls. "Richard +was concerned." +={ C programming language : + glibc +3 ; + glibc (GNU C Library) +3 ; + GNU C Library (glibc) +3 +} + +By 1990, each GNU program had a designated maintainer-in-charge. Some GNU +programs could run on many different systems, and users often contributed +changes to port them to another system. Often these users knew only that one +system, and did not consider how to keep the code clean for other systems. To +add support for the new system while keeping the code comprehensible, so it +could be maintained reliably for all systems, then required rewriting much of +the changes. The maintainer-in-charge had the responsibility to critique the +changes and tell their user-authors how to redo parts of the port. Generally +they were eager to do this so that their changes would be integrated into the +standard version. Then the maintainer-in-charge would edit in there worked +changes, and take care of them in future maintenance. For some GNU programs, +this had happened dozens of times for dozens of different systems. + +The programmers who adapted various GNU programs to work with the kernel Linux +followed this common path: they considered only their own platform. But when +the maintainers-in-charge asked them to help clean up their changes for future +maintenance, several of them were not interested. They did not care about doing +the correct thing, or about facilitating future maintenance of the GNU packages +they had adapted. They cared only about their own versions and were inclined to +maintain them as forks. + +In the hacker world, forks are an interesting issue. Although the hacker ethic +permits a programmer to do anything he wants with a given program's source +code, it is considered correct behavior to offer to work with the original +developer to maintain a joint version. Hackers usually find it useful, as well +as proper, to pour their improvements into the program's principal version. A +free software license gives every hacker the right to fork a program, and +sometimes it is necessary, but doing so without need or cause is considered +somewhat rude. +={ forks (code) +3 ; + tree (source code) +} + +As leader of the GNU Project, Stallman had already experienced the negative +effects of a software fork in 1991. Says Stallman, "Lucid hired several people +to write improvements to GNU Emacs, meant to be contributions to it; but the +developers did not inform me about the project. Instead they designed several +new features on their own. As you might expect, I agreed with some of their +decisions and disagreed with others. They asked me to incorporate all their +code, but when I said I wanted to use about half of it, they declined to help +me adapt that half to work on its own. I had to do it on my own." The fork had +given birth to a parallel version, Lucid Emacs, and hard feelings all around.~{ +Jamie Zawinski, a former Lucid programmer who would go on to head the Mozilla +development team, has a web site that documents the Lucid/GNU Emacs fork, +titled, "The Lemacs/FSFmacs Schism.", at \\ http://www.jwz.org/doc/lemacs.html. +Stallman's response to those accusations is in \\ +http://stallman.org/articles/xemacs.origin. }~ +={ Emacs text editor : + Lucid software company and ; + GNU Emacs : + Lucid software company and ; + Lucid software company +} + +Now programmers had forked several of the principal GNU packages at once. At +first, Stallman says he considered the forks to be a product of impatience. In +contrast to the fast and informal dynamics of the Linux team, GNU source-code +maintainers tended to be slower and more circumspect in making changes that +might affect a program's long-term viability. They also were unafraid of +harshly critiquing other people's code. Over time, however, Stallman began to +sense that there was an underlying lack of awareness of the GNU Project and its +objectives when reading Linux developers' emails. + +"We discovered that the people who considered themselves 'Linux users' didn't +care about the GNU Project," Stallman says. "They said, 'Why should I bother +doing these things? I don't care about the GNU Project. It [the program]'s +working for me. It's working for us Linux users, and nothing else matters to +us.' And that was quite surprising, given that people were essentially using a +variant of the GNU system, and they cared so little. They cared less than +anybody else about GNU." Fooled by their own practice of calling the +combination "Linux," they did not realize that their system was more GNU than +Linux. + +For the sake of unity, Stallman asked the maintainers-in-charge to do the work +which normally the change authors should have done. In most cases this was +feasible, but not in glibc. Short for GNU C Library, glibc is the package that +all programs use to make "system calls" directed at the kernel, in this case +Linux. User programs on a Unix-like system communicate with the kernel only +through the C library. + +The changes to make glibc work as a communication channel between Linux and all +the other programs in the system were major and ad-hoc, written without +attention to their effect on other platforms. For the glibc +maintainer-in-charge, the task of cleaning them up was daunting. Instead the +Free Software Foundation paid him to spend most of a year reimplementing these +changes from scratch, to make glibc version 6 work "straight out of the box" in +GNU/Linux. + +Murdock says this was the precipitating cause that motivated Stallman to insist +on adding the GNU prefix when Debian rolled out its software distribution. "The +fork has since converged. Still, at the time, there was a concern that if the +Linux community saw itself as a different thing as the GNU community, it might +be a force for disunity." + +While some viewed it as politically grasping to describe the combination of GNU +and Linux as a "variant" of GNU, Murdock, already sympathetic to the free +software cause, saw Stallman's request to call Debian's version GNU/Linux as +reasonable. "It was more for unity than for credit," he says. + +Requests of a more technical nature quickly followed. Although Murdock had been +accommodating on political issues, he struck a firmer pose when it came to the +design and development model of the actual software. What had begun as a show +of solidarity soon became a running disagreement. + +"I can tell you that I've had my share of disagreements with him," says Murdock +with a laugh. "In all honesty Richard can be a fairly difficult person to work +with." The principal disagreement was over debugging. Stallman wanted to +include debugging information in all executable programs, to enable users to +immediately investigate any bugs they might encounter. Murdock thought this +would make the system files too big and interfere with distribution. Neither +was willing to change his mind. + +In 1996, Murdock, following his graduation from Purdue, decided to hand over +the reins of the growing Debian project. He had already been ceding management +duties to Bruce Perens, the hacker best known for his work on Electric Fence, a +Unix utility released under the GPL. Perens, like Murdock, was a Unix +programmer who had become enamored of GNU/Linux as soon as the operating +system's Unix-like abilities became manifest. Like Murdock, Perens sympathized +with the political agenda of Stallman and the Free Software Foundation, albeit +from afar. +={ Electric Fence Unix utility ; + Perens, Bruce +3 +} + +"I remember after Stallman had already come out with the /{GNU Manifesto}/, GNU +Emacs, and GCC, I read an article that said he was working as a consultant for +Intel," says Perens, recalling his first brush with Stallman in the late 1980s. +"I wrote him asking how he could be advocating free software on the one hand +and working for Intel on the other. He wrote back saying, 'I work as a +consultant to produce free-software.' He was perfectly polite about it, and I +thought his answer made perfect sense." + +As a prominent Debian developer, however, Perens regarded Murdock's design +battles with Stallman with dismay. Upon assuming leadership of the development +team, Perens says he made the command decision to distance Debian from the Free +Software Foundation. "I decided we did not want Richard's style of +micro-management," he says. + +According to Perens, Stallman was taken aback by the decision but had the +wisdom to roll with it. "He gave it some time to cool off and sent a message +that we really needed a relationship. He requested that we call it GNU/Linux +and left it at that. I decided that was fine. I made the decision unilaterally. +Everybody breathed a sigh of relief." + +Over time, Debian would develop a reputation as the hacker's version of +GNU/Linux, alongside Slackware, another popular distribution founded during the +same 1993-1994 period. However, Slackware contained some non-free programs, and +Debian after its separation from GNU began distributing non-free programs +too.~{ Debian Buzz in June 1996 contained non-free Netscape 3.01 in its Contrib +section. }~ Despite labeling them as "non-free" and saying that they were "not +officially part of Debian," proposing these programs to the user implied a kind +of endorsement for them. As the GNU Project became aware of these policies, it +came to recognize that neither Slackware nor Debian was a GNU/Linux distro it +could recommend to the public. +={ Gilmore, John ; + Young, Robert +2 ; + Red Hat Inc. ; + Teimann, Michael ; + Slackware +} + +Outside the realm of hacker-oriented systems, however, GNU/Linux was picking up +steam in the commercial Unix marketplace. In North Carolina, a Unix company +billing itself as Red Hat was revamping its business to focus on GNU/Linux. The +chief executive officer was Robert Young, the former /{Linux Journal}/ editor +who in 1994 had put the question to Linus Torvalds, asking whether he had any +regrets about putting the kernel under the GPL. To Young, Torvalds' response +had a "profound" impact on his own view toward GNU/Linux. Instead of looking +for a way to corner the GNU/Linux market via traditional software tactics, +Young began to consider what might happen if a company adopted the same +approach as Debian - i.e., building an operating system completely out of free +software parts. Cygnus Solutions, the company founded by Michael Tiemann and +John Gilmore in 1990, was already demonstrating the ability to sell free +software based on quality and customizability. What if Red Hat took the same +approach with GNU/Linux? + +"In the western scientific tradition we stand on the shoulders of giants," says +Young, echoing both Torvalds and Sir Isaac Newton before him. "In business, +this translates to not having to reinvent wheels as we go along. The beauty of +[the GPL] model is you put your code into the public domain.~{ Young uses the +term "public domain" loosely here. Strictly speaking, it means "not +copyrighted." Code released under the GNU GPL cannot be in the public domain, +since it must be copyrighted in order for the GNU GPL to apply. }~ If you're an +independent software vendor and you're trying to build some application and you +need a modem-dialer, well, why reinvent modem dialers? You can just steal PPP +off of Red Hat [GNU/]Linux and use that as the core of your modem-dialing tool. +If you need a graphic tool set, you don't have to write your own graphic +library. Just download GTK. Suddenly you have the ability to reuse the best of +what went before. And suddenly your focus as an application vendor is less on +software management and more on writing the applications specific to your +customer's needs." However, Young was no free software activist, and readily +included non-free programs in Red Hat's GNU/Linux system. + +Young wasn't the only software executive intrigued by the business efficiencies +of free software. By late 1996, most Unix companies were starting to wake up +and smell the brewing source code. The GNU/Linux sector was still a good year +or two away from full commercial breakout mode, but those close enough to the +hacker community could feel it: something big was happening. The Intel 386 +chip, the Internet, and the World Wide Web had hit the marketplace like a set +of monster waves; free software seemed like the largest wave yet. + +For Ian Murdock, the wave seemed both a fitting tribute and a fitting +punishment for the man who had spent so much time giving the free software +movement an identity. Like many Linux aficionados, Murdock had seen the +original postings. He'd seen Torvalds' original admonition that Linux was "just +a hobby." He'd also seen Torvalds' admission to Minix creator Andrew Tanenbaum: +"If the GNU kernel had been ready last spring, I'd not have bothered to even +start my project."~{ This quote is taken from the much publicized +Torvalds-Tanenbaum "flame war" following the initial release of Linux. In the +process of defending his choice of a non-portable monolithic kernel design, +Torvalds says he started working on Linux as a way to learn more about his new +386 PC. "If the GNU kernel had been ready last spring, I'd not have bothered to +even start my project." See Chris DiBona et al., /{Open Sources}/ (O'Reilly & +Associates, Inc., 1999): 224. }~ Like many, Murdock knew that some +opportunities had been missed. He also knew the excitement of watching new +opportunities come seeping out of the very fabric of the Internet. +={ Tanenbaum, Andrew } + +"Being involved with Linux in those early days was fun," recalls Murdock. "At +the same time, it was something to do, something to pass the time. If you go +back and read those old [comp.os.minix]exchanges, you'll see the sentiment: +this is something we can play with until the Hurd is ready. People were +anxious. It's funny, but in a lot of ways, I suspect that Linux would never +have happened if the Hurd had come along more quickly." + +By the end of 1996, however, such "what if" questions were already moot, +because Torvalds' kernel had gained a critical mass of users. The 36-month +window had closed, meaning that even if the GNU Project had rolled out its Hurd +kernel, chances were slim anybody outside the hard-core hacker community would +have noticed. Linux, by filling the GNU system's last gap, had achieved the GNU +Project's goal of producing a Unix-like free software operating system. +However, most of the users did not recognize what had happened: they thought +the whole system was Linux, and that Torvalds had done it all. Most of them +installed distributions that came with non-free software; with Torvalds as +their ethical guide, they saw no principled reason to reject it. Still, a +precarious freedom was available for those that appreciated it. +={ HURD kernel } + +1~ Chapter 11 - Open Source +={ GNU Project : + open source movement and +59 ; + open source +59 ; + Stallman, Richard M. : + open source and +59 +} + +[RMS: In this chapter only, I have deleted some quotations. The material +deleted was about open source and didn't relate to my life or my work.] + +In November, 1995, Peter Salus, a member of the Free Software Foundation and +author of the 1994 book, /{A Quarter Century of Unix}/, issued a call for +papers to members of the GNU Project's "system-discuss" mailing list. Salus, +the conference's scheduled chairman, wanted to tip off fellow hackers about the +upcoming Conference on Freely Redistributable Software in Cambridge, +Massachusetts. Slated for February, 1996, and sponsored by the Free Software +Foundation, the event promised to be the first engineering conference solely +dedicated to free software and, in a show of unity with other free software +programmers, welcomed papers on "any aspect of GNU, Linux, NetBSD, 386BSD, +FreeBSD, Perl, Tcl/tk, and other tools for which the code is accessible and +redistributable." Salus wrote: +={ Free Software Foundation (FSF) ; + FSF (Free Software Foundation) ; + FreeBSD ; + Conference on Freely Redistributable Software +1 ; + Linux ; + NetBSD ; + Perl programming language ; + 386BSD ; + Salus, Peter +4 +} + +_1 Over the past 15 years, free and low-cost software has become ubiquitous. +This conference will bring together implementers of several different types of +freely redistributable software and publishers of such software (on various +media). There will be tutorials and refereed papers, as well as keynotes by +Linus Torvalds and Richard Stallman.~{ See Peter Salus, "FYI-Conference on +Freely Redistributable Software, 2/2, Cambridge" (1995) (archived by Terry +Winograd), \\ +http://bat8.inria.fr/~lang/hotlist/free/licence/fsf96/call-for-papers.html. }~ + +Among the recipients of Salus' email was conference committee member Eric S. +Raymond. Although not the leader of a project or company like the various other +members of the list, Raymond had built a tidy reputation within the hacker +community for some software projects and as editor of /{The New Hacker's +Dictionary}/, a greatly enlarged version of /{The Hacker's Dictionary}/ +published a decade earlier by Guy Steele. +={ New Hacker Dictionary, The ; + Raymond, Eric : + open source and +56 +} + +For Raymond, the 1996 conference was a welcome event. Although he did not +thoroughly support the free software movement's ideas, he had contributed to +some GNU programs, in particular to GNU Emacs. Those contributions stopped in +1992, when Raymond demanded authority to make changes in the official GNU +version of GNU Emacs without discussing them with Stallman, who was directly in +charge of Emacs development. Stallman rejected the demand, and Raymond accused +Stallman of "micro-management." "Richard kicked up a fuss about my making +unauthorized modifications when I was cleaning up the Emacs LISP libraries," +Raymond recalls. "It frustrated me so much that I decided I didn't want to work +with him anymore." + +Despite the falling out, Raymond remained active in the free software +community. So much so that when Salus suggested a conference pairing Stallman +and Torvalds as keynote speakers, Raymond eagerly seconded the idea. With +Stallman representing the older, wiser contingent of ITS/Unix hackers and +Torvalds representing the younger, more energetic crop of Linux hackers, the +pairing indicated a symbolic show of unity that could only be beneficial, +especially to ambitious younger (i.e., below 40) hackers such as Raymond. "I +sort of had afoot in both camps," Raymond says. + +By the time of the conference, the tension between those two camps had become +palpable. Both groups had one thing in common, though:the conference was their +first chance to meet the Finnish /{wunderkind}/ in the flesh. Surprisingly, +Torvalds proved himself to be a charming, affable speaker. Possessing only a +slight Swedish accent, Torvalds surprised audience members with his quick, +self-effacing wit.~{ Although Linus Torvalds is Finnish, his mother tongue is +Swedish. "The Rampantly Unofficial Linus FAQ" at \\ +http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/linus/ offers a brief explanation:Finland has a +significant (about 6%) Swedish-speaking minority population. They call +themselves finlands svensk or finlands svenskar and consider themselves Finns; +many of their families have lived in Finland for centuries. Swedish is one of +Finland's two official languages. }~ + +Even more surprising, says Raymond, was Torvalds' equal willingness to take +potshots at other prominent hackers, including the most prominent hacker of +all, Richard Stallman. By the end of the conference, Torvalds' half-hacker, +half-slacker manner was winning over older and younger conference-goers alike. + +"It was a pivotal moment," recalls Raymond. "Before 1996, Richard was the only +credible claimant to being the ideological leader of the entire culture. People +who dissented didn't do so in public. The person who broke that taboo was +Torvalds." + +The ultimate breach of taboo would come near the end of the show. During a +discussion on the growing market dominance of Microsoft Windows or some similar +topic, Torvalds admitted to being a fan of Microsoft's PowerPoint slideshow +software program. From the perspective of old-line software purists, it was +like bragging about one's slaves at an abolitionist conference. From the +perspective of Torvalds and his growing band of followers, it was simply common +sense. Why shun convenient proprietary software programs just to make a point? +They didn't agree with the point anyway. When freedom requires a sacrifice, +those who don't care about freedom see the sacrifice as self-denial, rather +than as a way to obtain something important. Being a hacker wasn't about +self-denial, it was about getting the job done, and "the job," for them, was +defined in practical terms. +={ Windows (Microsoft) ; + Microsoft Corporation +3 ; + PowerPoint (Microsoft) +3 ; + proprietary software : + Torvalds, Linus and ; + Torvalds, Linus : + PowerPoint and +3 +} + +"That was a pretty shocking thing to say," Raymond remembers. "Then again, he +was able to do that, because by 1995 and 1996, he was rapidly acquiring clout." + +Stallman, for his part, doesn't remember any tension at the 1996conference; he +probably wasn't present when Torvalds made that statement. But he does remember +later feeling the sting of Torvalds' celebrated "cheekiness." "There was a +thing in the Linux documentation which says print out the GNU coding standards +and then tear them up," says Stallman, recalling one example. "When you look +closely, what he disagreed with was the least important part of it, the +recommendation for how to indent C code." + +"OK, so he disagrees with some of our conventions. That's fine, bu the picked a +singularly nasty way of saying so. He could have just said,'Here's the way I +think you should indent your code.' Fine. There should be no hostility there." + +For Raymond, the warm reception other hackers gave to Torvalds' comments +confirmed a suspicion: the dividing line separating Linux developers from GNU +developers was largely generational. Many Linux hackers, like Torvalds, had +grown up in a world of proprietary software. They had begun contributing to +free software without perceiving any injustice in non-free software. For most +of them, nothing was at stake beyond convenience. Unless a program was +technically inferior, they saw little reason to reject it on licensing issues +alone. Some day hackers might develop a free software alternative to +PowerPoint. Until then, why criticize PowerPoint or Microsoft; why not use it? + +This was an example of the growing dispute, within the free software community, +between those who valued freedom as such, and those who mainly valued powerful, +reliable software. Stallman referred to the two camps as political parties +within the community, calling the former the "freedom party." The supporters of +the other camp did not try to name it, so Stallman disparagingly called it the +"bandwagon party" or the "success party," because many of them presented "more +users" as the primary goal. + +In the decade since launching the GNU Project, Stallman had built up a fearsome +reputation as a programmer. He had also built up a reputation for intransigence +both in terms of software design and people management. This was partly true, +but the reputation provided a convenient excuse that anyone could cite if +Stallman did not do as he wished. The reputation has been augmented by mistaken +guesses. + +For example, shortly before the 1996 conference, the Free Software Foundation +experienced a full-scale staff defection. Brian Youmans, a current FSF staffer +hired by Salus in the wake of the resignations, recalls the scene: "At one +point, Peter [Salus] was the only staff member working in the office." The +previous staff were unhappy with the executive director; as Bryt Bradley told +her friends in December, 1995: + +_1 [name omitted] (the Executive Director of the FSF) decided to come back from +Medical/Political Leave last week. The office staff (Gena Bean, Mike Drain, and +myself) decided we could not work with her as our supervisor because of the +many mistakes she had made in her job tasks prior to her taking a leave. Also, +there had been numerous instances where individuals were threatened with +inappropriate firing and there were many instances of what we felt were verbal +abuse from her to ALL members of the office staff. We requested (many times) +that she not come back as our supervisor, but stated that we were willing to +work with her as a co-worker. Our requests were ignored. We quit. + +The executive director in question then gave Stallman an ultimatum: give her +total autonomy in the office or she would quit. Stallman, as president of the +FSF, declined to give her total control over its activities, so she resigned, +and he recruited in Peter Salus to replace her. + +When Raymond, an outsider, learned that these people had left the FSF, he +presumed Stallman was at fault. This provided confirmation for his theory that +Stallman's personality was the cause of any and all problems in the GNU +Project. + +Raymond had another theory: recent delays such as the Hurd and recent troubles +such as the Lucid-Emacs schism reflected problems normally associated with +software project management, not software code development. + +Shortly after the Freely Redistributable Software Conference, Raymond began +working on his own pet software project, a mail utility called "fetchmail." +Taking a cue from Torvalds, Raymond issued his program with a tacked-on promise +to update the source code as early and as often as possible. When users began +sending in bug reports and feature suggestions, Raymond, at first anticipating +a tangled mess, found the resulting software surprisingly sturdy. Analyzing the +success of the Torvalds approach, Raymond issued a quick analysis: using the +Internet as his "petri dish" and the harsh scrutiny of the hacker community as +a form of natural selection, Torvalds had created an evolutionary model free of +central planning. +={ fetchmail ; + FreeBSD ; + Conference on Freely Redistributable Software ; + Internet +} + +What's more, Raymond decided, Torvalds had found a way around Brooks' Law. +First articulated by Fred P. Brooks, manager of IBM's OS/360 project and author +of the 1975 book, /{The Mythical Man-Month}/, Brooks' Law held that adding +developers to a project only resulted in further project delays. Believing as +most hackers that software, like soup, benefits from a limited number of cooks, +Raymond sensed something revolutionary at work. In inviting more and more cooks +into the kitchen, Torvalds had actually found a way to make the resulting +software /{better}/.~{ Brooks' Law is the shorthand summary of the following +quote taken from Brooks' book:Since software construction is inherently a +systems effort - an exercise in complex interrelationships - communication +effort is great, and it quickly dominates the decrease in individual task time +brought about by partitioning. Adding more men then lengthens, not shortens, +the schedule. See Fred P. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month (Addison Wesley +Publishing, 1995). }~ +={ Brooks, Fred P. ; + Mythical Man-Month, The (Brooks) +} + +Raymond put his observations on paper. He crafted them into a speech, which he +promptly delivered before a group of friends and neighbors in Chester County, +Pennsylvania. Dubbed "The Cathedral and the Bazaar," the speech contrasted the +"Bazaar" style originated by Torvalds with the "Cathedral" style generally used +by everyone else. +={ Cathedral and the Bazaar, The (Raymond) +10 ; + Linux Kongress +6 +} + +Raymond says the response was enthusiastic, but not nearly as enthusiastic as +the one he received during the 1997 Linux Kongress, a gathering of GNU/Linux +users in Germany the next spring. + +"At the Kongress, they gave me a standing ovation at the end of the speech," +Raymond recalls. "I took that as significant for two reasons. For one thing, it +meant they were excited by what they were hearing. For another thing, it meant +they were excited even after hearing the speech delivered through a language +barrier." + +Eventually, Raymond would convert the speech into a paper, also titled "The +Cathedral and the Bazaar." The paper drew its name from Raymond's central +analogy. Previously, programs were "cathedrals," impressive, centrally planned +monuments built to stand the test of time. Linux, on the other hand, was more +like "a great babbling bazaar," a software program developed through the loose +decentralizing dynamics of the Internet. + +Raymond's paper associated the Cathedral style, which he and Stallman and many +others had used, specifically with the GNU Project and Stallman, thus casting +the contrast between development models as a comparison between Stallman and +Torvalds. Where Stallman was his chosen example of the classic cathedral +architect - i.e., a programming "wizard" who could disappear for 18 months and +return with something like the GNU C Compiler - Torvalds was more like a genial +dinner-party host. In letting others lead the Linux design discussion and +stepping in only when the entire table needed a referee, Torvalds had created a +development model very much reflective of his own laid-back personality. From +Torvalds' perspective, the most important managerial task was not imposing +control but keeping the ideas flowing. + +Summarized Raymond, "I think Linus's cleverest and most consequential hack was +not the construction of the Linux kernel itself, but rather his invention of +the Linux development model."~{ See Eric Raymond, "The Cathedral and the +Bazaar" (1997). }~ + +If the paper's description of these two styles of development was perceptive, +its association of the Cathedral model specifically with Stallman (rather than +all the others who had used it, including Raymond himself) was sheer calumny. +In fact, the developers of some GNU packages including the GNU Hurd had read +about and adopted Torvalds' methods before Raymond tried them, though without +analyzing them further and publicly championing them as Raymond's paper did. +Thousands of hackers, reading Raymond's article, must have been led to a +negative attitude towards GNU by this smear. + +In summarizing the secrets of Torvalds' managerial success, Raymond attracted +the attention of other members of the free software community for whom freedom +was not a priority. They sought to interest business in the use and development +of free software, and to do so, decided to cast the issue in terms of the +values that appeal to business: powerful, reliable, cheap, advanced. Raymond +became the best-known proponent of these ideas, and they reached the management +of Netscape, whose proprietary browser was losing market share to Microsoft's +equally proprietary Internet Explorer. Intrigued by a speech by Raymond, +Netscape executives took the message back to corporate headquarters. A few +months later, in January, 1998, the company announced its plan to publish the +source code of its flagship Navigator web browser in the hopes of enlisting +hacker support in future development. +={ Netscape +8 ; + source code : + Netscape +4 +} + +% ={Monterey (California);O'Reilly, Tim;O'Reilly & Associates} +% ={Apache web server;BIND (Berkely Internet Naming Daemon);Berkely Internet Naming Daemon (BIND);Wall, Larry;Perl programming language;Python programming language;sendmail Unix mail program} +% ={Mountain View (California);Netscape+8} + +When Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale cited Raymond's "Cathedral and the Bazaar" +essay as a major influence upon the company's decision, the company instantly +elevated Raymond to the level of hacker celebrity. He invited a few people +including Larry Augustin, founder of VA Research which sold workstations with +the GNU/Linux operating system pre-installed; Tim O'Reilly, founder of the +publisher O'Reilly& Associates; and Christine Peterson, president of the +Foresight Institute, a Silicon Valley think tank specializing in nano +technology, to talk. "The meeting's agenda boiled down to one item: how to take +advantage of Netscape's decision so that other companies might follow suit?" +={ Augustin, Larry ; + Foresight Institute ; + VA Research ; + Peterson, Christine +4 ; + Barksdale, Jim +} + +Raymond doesn't recall the conversation that took place, but he does remember +the first complaint addressed. Despite the best efforts of Stallman and other +hackers to remind people that the word "free" in free software stood for +freedom and not price, the message still wasn't getting through. Most business +executives, upon hearing the term for the first time, interpreted the word as +synonymous with "zero cost," tuning out any follow-up messages in short order. +Until hackers found a way to get past this misunderstanding, the free software +movement faced an uphill climb, even after Netscape. + +Peterson, whose organization had taken an active interest in advancing the free +software cause, offered an alternative: "open source." + +Looking back, Peterson says she came up with the "open source" term while +discussing Netscape's decision with a friend in the public relations industry. +She doesn't remember where she came upon the term or if she borrowed it from +another field, but she does remember her friend disliking the term.~{ See +Malcolm Maclachlan, "Profit Motive Splits Open Source Movement," Tech-Web News +(August 26, 1998), \\ +http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle?articleID=29102344. }~ + +At the meeting, Peterson says, the response was dramatically different. "I was +hesitant about suggesting it," Peterson recalls. "I had no standing with the +group, so started using it casually, not highlighting it as a new term." To +Peterson's surprise, the term caught on. By the end of the meeting, most of the +attendees, including Raymond, seemed pleased by it. + +Raymond says he didn't publicly use the term "open source" as a substitute for +"free software" until a day or two after the Mozilla launch party, when +O'Reilly had scheduled a meeting to talk about free-software. Calling his +meeting "the Freeware Summit," O'Reilly says he wanted to direct media and +community attention to the other deserving projects that had also encouraged +Netscape to release Mozilla. "All these guys had so much in common, and I was +surprised they didn't all know each other," says O'Reilly. "I also wanted to +let the world know just how great an impact the free software culture had +already made. People were missing out on a large part of the free-software +tradition." +={ Freeware Summit ; + O'Reilly, Tim : + open source and +8 +} + +In putting together the invite list, however, O'Reilly made a decision that +would have long-term political consequences. He decided to limit the list to +west-coast developers such as Wall, Eric Allman, creator of send mail, and Paul +Vixie, creator of BIND. There were exceptions, of course: Pennsylvania-resident +Raymond, who was already in town thanks to the Mozilla launch, earned an quick +invite. So did Virginia-resident Guido van Rossum, creator of Python. "Frank +Willison, my editor in chief and champion of Python within the company, invited +him without first checking in with me," O'Reilly recalls. "I was happy to have +him there, but when I started, it really was just a local gathering." +={ van Rossum, Guido ; + Python programming language ; + BIND (Berkely Internet Naming Daemon) ; + Berkely Internet Naming Daemon (BIND) ; + Wall, Larry ; + Perl programming language ; + Python programming language ; + sendmail Unix mail program +} + +For some observers, the unwillingness to include Stallman's name on the list +qualified as a snub. "I decided not to go to the event because of it," says +Perens, remembering the summit. Raymond, who did go, says he argued for +Stallman's inclusion to no avail. The snub rumor gained additional strength +from the fact that O'Reilly, the event's host, had feuded publicly with +Stallman over the issue of software-manual copyrights. Prior to the meeting, +Stallman had argued that free software manuals should be as freely copyable and +modifiable as free software programs. O'Reilly, meanwhile, argued that a +value-added market for non-free books increased the utility of free software by +making it more accessible to a wider community. The two had also disputed the +title of the event, with Stallman insisting on "Free Software" rather than +"Freeware." The latter term most often refers to programs which are available +gratis, but which are not free software because their source code is not +released. + +Looking back, O'Reilly doesn't see the decision to leave Stallman's name off +the invite list as a snub. "At that time, I had never met Richard in person, +but in our email interactions, he'd been inflexible and unwilling to engage in +dialogue. I wanted to make sure the GNU tradition was represented at the +meeting, so I invited John Gilmore and Michael Tiemann, whom I knew personally, +and whom I knew were passionate about the value of the GPL but seemed more +willing to engage in a frank back-and-forth about the strengths and weaknesses +of the various free software projects and traditions. Given all the later +brouhaha, I do wish I'd invited Richard as well, but I certainly don't think +that my failure to do so should be interpreted as a lack of respect for the GNU +Project or for Richard personally." +={ Gilmore, John ; + Tiemann, Michael +7 +} + +Snub or no snub, both O'Reilly and Raymond say the term "open-source" won over +just enough summit-goers to qualify as a success. The attendees shared ideas +and experiences and brainstormed on how to improve free software's image. Of +key concern was how to point out the successes of free software, particularly +in the realm of Internet infrastructure, as opposed to playing up the GNU/Linux +challenge to Microsoft Windows. But like the earlier meeting at VA, the +discussion soon turned to the problems associated with the term "free +software." O'Reilly, the summit host, remembers a comment from Torvalds, a +summit attendee. + +"Linus had just moved to Silicon Valley at that point, and he explained how +only recently that he had learned that the word 'free' had two meanings - free +as in 'libre' and free as in 'gratis' - in English." + +Michael Tiemann, founder of Cygnus, proposed an alternative to the troublesome +"free software" term: sourceware. "Nobody got too excited about it," O'Reilly +recalls. "That's when Eric threw out the term 'open source.'" + +Although the term appealed to some, support for a change in offcial terminology +was far from unanimous. At the end of the one-day conference, attendees put the +three terms - free software, open source, or sourceware - to a vote. According +to O'Reilly, 9 out of the 15 attendees voted for "open source." Although some +still quibbled with the term, all attendees agreed to use it in future +discussions with the press. "We wanted to go out with a solidarity message," +O'Reilly says. + +The term didn't take long to enter the national lexicon. Shortly after the +summit, O'Reilly shepherded summit attendees to a press conference attended by +reporters from the /{New York Times}/, the /{Wall Street Journal}/, and other +prominent publications. Within a few months, Torvalds' face was appearing on +the cover of /{Forbes}/ magazine, with the faces of Stallman, Perl creator +Larry Wall, and Apache team leader Brian Behlendorf featured in the interior +spread. Open source was open for business. +={ Wall, Larry } + +For summit attendees such as Tiemann, the solidarity message was the most +important thing. Although his company had achieved a fair amount of success +selling free software tools and services, he sensed the difficulty other +programmers and entrepreneurs faced. + +"There's no question that the use of the word free was confusing in a lot of +situations," Tiemann says. "Open source positioned itself as being business +friendly and business sensible. Free software positioned itself as morally +righteous. For better or worse we figured it was more advantageous to align +with the open source crowd. + +Raymond called Stallman after the meeting to tell him about the new term "open +source" and ask if he would use it. Raymond says Stallman briefly considered +adopting the term, only to discard it. "I know because I had direct personal +conversations about it," Raymond says. + +Stallman's immediate response was, "I'll have to think about it." The following +day he had concluded that the values of Raymond and O'Reilly would surely +dominate the future discourse of "open source," and that the best way to keep +the ideas of the free software movement in public view was to stick to its +traditional term. + +Later in 1998, Stallman announced his position: "open source," while helpful in +communicating the technical advantages of free software also encouraged +speakers to soft-pedal the issue of software freedom. It avoided the unintended +meaning of "gratis software" and the intended meaning of "freedom-respecting +software" equally. As a means for conveying the latter meaning, it was +therefore no use. In effect, Raymond and O'Reilly had given a name to the +non-idealistic political party in the community, the one Stallman did not agree +with. + +In addition, Stallman thought that the ideas of "open source" led people to put +too much emphasis on winning the support of business. While such support in +itself wasn't necessarily bad in itself, he expected that being too desperate +for it would lead to harmful compromises. "Negotiation 101 would teach you that +if you are desperate to get someone's agreement, you are asking for a bad +deal," he says. "You need to be prepared to say no." Summing up his position at +the 1999 LinuxWorld Convention and Expo, an event billed by Torvalds himself as +a "coming out party" for the "Linux" community, Stallman implored his fellow +hackers to resist the lure of easy compromise. +={ LinuxWorld Conventions +2 } + +"Because we've shown how much we can do, we don't have to be desperate to work +with companies or compromise our goals," Stallman said during a panel +discussion. "Let them offer and we'll accept. We don't have to change what +we're doing to get them to help us. You can take a single step towards a goal, +then another and then more and more and you'll actually reach your goal. Or, +you can take a half measure that means you don't ever take another step, and +you'll never get there." + +Even before the LinuxWorld show, however, Stallman was showing an increased +willingness to alienate open source supporters. A few months after the Freeware +Summit, O'Reilly hosted its second annual Perl Conference. This time around, +Stallman was in attendance. During a panel discussion lauding IBM's decision to +employ the free software Apache web server in its commercial offerings, +Stallman, taking advantage of an audience microphone, made a sharp denunciation +of panelist John Ousterhout, creator of the Tcl scripting language. Stallman +branded Ousterhout a "parasite" on the free software community for marketing a +proprietary version of Tcl via Ousterhout's startup company, Scriptics. +Ousterhout had stated that Scriptics would contribute only the barest minimum +of its improvements to the free version of Tcl, meaning it would in effect use +that small contribution to win community approval for much a larger amount of +non-free software development. Stallman rejected this position and denounced +Scriptics' plans. "I don't think Scriptics is necessary for the continued +existenceof Tcl," Stallman said to hisses from the fellow audience members.~{ +Ibid. }~ +={ Apache web server ; + IBM : + Apache web server and ; + Ousterhout, John ; + Tcl scripting language +1 ; + Scriptics +} + +"It was a pretty ugly scene," recalls Prime Time Freeware's Rich Morin. "John's +done some pretty respectable things: Tcl, Tk, Sprite. He's a real contributor." +Despite his sympathies for Stallman and Stallman's position, Morin felt empathy +for those troubled by Stallman's discordant words. +={ Morin, Rich +1 ; + Prime Time Freeware ; + Sprite +} + +Stallman will not apologize. "Criticizing proprietary software isn't ugly - +proprietary software is ugly. Ousterhout had indeed made real contributions in +the past, but the point is that Scriptics was going to be nearly 100% a +proprietary software company. In that conference, standing up for freedom meant +disagreeing with nearly everyone. Speaking from the audience, I could only say +a few sentences. The only way to raise the issue so it would not be immediately +forgotten was to put it in strong terms." + +"If people rebuke me for 'making a scene' when I state a serious criticism of +someone's conduct, while calling Torvalds 'cheeky' for saying nastier things +about trivial matters, that seems like a double standard to me." + +Stallman's controversial criticism of Ousterhout momentarily alienated a +potential sympathizer, Bruce Perens. In 1998, Eric Raymond proposed launching +the Open Source Initiative, or OSI, an organization that would police the use +of the term "open source" and provide a definition for companies interested in +making their own programs. Raymond recruited Perens to draft the definition.~{ +See Bruce Perens et al., "The Open Source Definition," The Open Source +Initiative (1998), \\ http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.html. }~ +={ OSI (Open Source Initiative) ; + Open Source Initiative (OSI) ; + Perens, Bruce +1 +} + +Perens would later resign from the OSI, expressing regret that the organization +had set itself up in opposition to Stallman and the FSF. Still, looking back on +the need for a free software definition outside the Free Software Foundation's +auspices, Perens understands why other hackers might still feel the need for +distance. "I really like and admire Richard," says Perens. "I do think Richard +would do his job better if Richard had more balance. That includes going away +from free-software for a couple of months." + +Stallman's energies would do little to counteract the public-relations momentum +of open source proponents. In August of 1998, when chip-maker Intel purchased a +stake in GNU/Linux vendor Red Hat, an accompanying /{New York Times}/ article +described the company as the product of a movement "known alternatively as free +software and opensource."~{ See Amy Harmon, "For Sale: Free Operating System," +New York Times (September 28, 1998), \\ +http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/biztech/articles/28linux.html. }~ Six +months later, a John Markoff article on Apple Computerwas proclaiming the +company's adoption of the "open source" Apache server in the article +headline.~{ See John Markoff, "Apple Adopts 'Open Source' for its Server +Computers," New York Times (March 17, 1999), \\ +http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/biztech/articles/17apple.html. }~ +={ Apache web server ; + Apple Computers : + open source software and ; + Intel ; + Markoff, John ; + Red Hat Inc. : + success of +1 +} + +Such momentum would coincide with the growing momentum of companies that +actively embraced the "open source" term. By August of 1999, Red Hat, a company +that now eagerly billed itself as "opensource," was selling shares on Nasdaq. +In December, VA Linux -formerly VA Research - was floating its own IPO to +historic effect. Opening at $30 per share, the company's stock price exploded +past the $300 mark in initial trading only to settle back down to the $239 +level. Shareholders lucky enough to get in at the bottom and stay until the end +experienced a 698% increase in paper wealth, a Nasdaq record. Eric Raymond, as +a board member, owned shares worth $36 million. However, these high prices were +temporary; they tumbled when the dot-com boom ended. +={ VA Linux +1 ; + VA Research +} + +The open source proponents' message was simple: all you need, to sell the free +software concept, is to make it business-friendly. They saw Stallman and the +free software movement as fighting the market;they sought instead to leverage +it. Instead of playing the role of high-school outcasts, they had played the +game of celebrity, magnifying their power in the process. + +These methods won great success for open source, but not for the ideals of free +software. What they had done to "spread the message" was to omit the most +important part of it: the idea of freedom as an ethical issue. The effects of +this omission are visible today: as of 2009, nearly all GNU/Linux distributions +include proprietary programs, Torvalds' version of Linux contains proprietary +firmware programs, and the company formerly called VA Linux bases its business +on proprietary software. Over half of all the world's web servers run some +version of Apache, and the usual version of Apache is free software, but many +of those sites run a proprietary modified version distributed by IBM. + +"On his worst days Richard believes that Linus Torvalds and I conspired to +hijack his revolution," Raymond says. "Richard's rejection of the term open +source and his deliberate creation of an ideological fissure in my view comes +from an odd mix of idealism and territoriality. There are people out there who +think it's all Richard's personal ego. I don't believe that. It's more that he +so personally associates himself with the free software idea that he sees any +threat to that as a threat to himself." + +Stallman responds, "Raymond misrepresents my views: I don't think Torvalds +'conspired' with anyone, since being sneaky is not his way. However, Raymond's +nasty conduct is visible in those statements themselves. Rather than respond to +my views (even as he claims they are) on their merits, he proposes +psychological interpretations for them. He attributes the harshest +interpretation to unnamed others, then 'defends' me by proposing a slightly +less derogatory one. He has often 'defended' me this way." + +Ironically, the success of open source and open source advocates such as +Raymond would not diminish Stallman's role as a leader - but it would lead many +to misunderstand what he is a leader of. Since the free software movement lacks +the corporate and media recognition of open source, most users of GNU/Linux do +not hear that it exists, let alone what its views are. They have heard the +ideas and values of opensource, and they never imagine that Stallman might have +different ones. Thus he receives messages thanking him for his advocacy of +"open source," and explains in response that he has never been a supporter of +that, using the occasion to inform the sender about free-software. + +Some writers recognize the term "free software" by using the term "FLOSS," +which stands for "Free/Libre and Open Source Software." However, they often say +there is a single "FLOSS" movement, which is like saying that the U.S. has a +"Liberal/Conservative" movement, and the views they usually associate with this +supposed single movement are the open source views they have heard. + +Despite all these obstacles, the free software movement does make its ideas +heard sometimes, and continues to grow in absolute terms. By sticking to its +guns, and presenting its ideas in contrast to those of open source, it gains +ground. "One of Stallman's primary character traits is the fact he doesn't +budge," says Ian Murdock. "He'll wait up to a decade for people to come around +to his point of view if that's what it takes." + +Murdock, for one, finds that un-budgeable nature both refreshing and valuable. +Stallman may no longer be the solitary leader of the free software movement, +but he is still the polestar of the free software community. "You always know +that he's going to be consistent in his views," Murdock says. "Most people +aren't like that. Whether you agree with him or not, you really have to respect +that." + +1~ Chapter 12 - A Brief Journey through Hacker Hell + +[RMS: In this chapter my only change is to add a few notes labeled like this +one.] + +Richard Stallman stares, unblinking, through the windshield of a rental car, +waiting for the light to change as we make our way through downtown Kihei. +={ Kihei (Hawaii) +15 } + +The two of us are headed to the nearby town of Pa'ia, where we are scheduled to +meet up with some software programmers and their wives for dinner in about an +hour or so. +={ Pa'ia (Hawaii) +2 } + +It's about two hours after Stallman's speech at the Maui High Performance +Center, and Kihei, a town that seemed so inviting before the speech, now seems +profoundly uncooperative. Like most beach cities, Kihei is a one-dimensional +exercise in suburban sprawl. Driving down its main drag, with its endless +succession of burger stands, realty agencies, and bikini shops, it's hard not +to feel like a steel-coated morsel passing through the alimentary canal of a +giant commercial tapeworm. The feeling is exacerbated by the lack of side +roads. With nowhere to go but forward, traffic moves in spring-like lurches. +200 yards ahead, a light turns green. By the time we are moving, the light is +yellow again. + +For Stallman, a lifetime resident of the east coast, the prospect of spending +the better part of a sunny Hawaiian afternoon trapped in slow traffic is enough +to trigger an embolism. [RMS: Since I was driving, I was also losing time to +answer my email, and that's a real pain since I can barely keep up anyway.] +Even worse is the knowledge that, with just a few quick right turns a quarter +mile back, this whole situation easily could have been avoided. Unfortunately, +we are at the mercy of the driver ahead of us, a programmer from the lab who +knows the way and who has decided to take us to Pa'ia via the scenic route +instead of via the nearby Pilani Highway. + +"This is terrible," says Stallman between frustrated sighs. "Why didn't we take +the other route?" + +Again, the light a quarter mile ahead of us turns green. Again, we creep +forward a few more car lengths. This process continues for another 10 minutes, +until we finally reach a major crossroad promising access to the adjacent +highway. + +The driver ahead of us ignores it and continues through the intersection. + +"Why isn't he turning?" moans Stallman, throwing up his hands in frustration. +"Can you believe this?" + +I decide not to answer either. I find the fact that I am sitting in a car with +Stallman in the driver seat, in Maui no less, unbelievable enough. Until two +hours ago, I didn't even know Stallman knew how to drive. Now, listening to +Yo-Yo Ma's cello playing the mournful bass notes of "Appalachian Journey" on +the car stereo and watching the sunset pass by on our left, I do my best to +fade into the upholstery. + +When the next opportunity to turn finally comes up, Stallman hits his right +turn signal in an attempt to cue the driver ahead of us. No such luck. Once +again, we creep slowly through the intersection, coming to a stop a good 200 +yards before the next light. By now, Stallman is livid. + +"It's like he's deliberately ignoring us," he says, gesturing and pantomiming +like an air craft carrier landing-signals officer in a futile attempt to catch +our guide's eye. The guide appears unfazed, and for the next five minutes all +we see is a small portion of his head in the rear-view mirror. + +I look out Stallman's window. Nearby Kahoolawe and Lanai Islands provide an +ideal frame for the setting sun. It's a breathtaking view, the kind that makes +moments like this a bit more bearable if you're a Hawaiian native, I suppose. I +try to direct Stallman's attention to it, but Stallman, by now obsessed by the +inattentiveness of the driver ahead of us, blows me off. +={ Lanai Islands (Hawaii) } + +When the driver passes through another green light, completely ignoring a +"Pilani Highway Next Right," I grit my teeth. I remember an early warning +relayed to me by BSD programmer Keith Bostic. "Stallman does not suffer fools +gladly," Bostic warned me. "If somebody says or does something stupid, he'll +look them in the eye and say, 'That's stupid.'" +={ Bostic, Keith } + +Looking at the oblivious driver ahead of us, I realize that it's the stupidity, +not the inconvenience, that's killing Stallman right now. + +"It's as if he picked this route with absolutely no thought on how to get there +efficiently," Stallman says. + +The word "efficiently" hangs in the air like a bad odor. Few things irritate +the hacker mind more than inefficiency. It was the inefficiency of checking the +Xerox laser printer two or three times a day that triggered Stallman's initial +inquiry into the printer source code. It was the inefficiency of rewriting +software tools hijacked by commercial software vendors that led Stallman to +battle Symbolics and to launch the GNU Project. If, as Jean Paul Sartre once +opined, hell is other people, hacker hell is duplicating other people's stupid +mistakes, and it's no exaggeration to say that Stallman's entire life has been +an attempt to save mankind from these fiery depths. +={ Sartre, Jean Paul } + +This hell metaphor becomes all the more apparent as we take in the slowly +passing scenery. With its multitude of shops, parking lots, and poorly timed +street lights, Kihei seems less like a city and more like a poorly designed +software program writ large. Instead of rerouting traffic and distributing +vehicles through side streets and expressways, city planners have elected to +run everything through a single main drag. From a hacker perspective, sitting +in a car amidst all this mess is like listening to a CD rendition of nails on a +chalkboard at full volume. + +"Imperfect systems infuriate hackers," observes Steven Levy, another warning I +should have listened to before climbing into the car with Stallman. "This is +one reason why hackers generally hate driving cars - the system of randomly +programmed red lights and oddly laid out one-way streets causes delays which +are so goddamn /{unnecessary}/ [Levy's emphasis] that the impulse is to +rearrange signs, open up traffic-light control boxes . . . re-design the entire +system."~{ See Steven Levy, /{Hackers}/ (Penguin USA [paperback], 1984): 40. }~ + +More frustrating, however, is the duplicity of our trusted guide. Instead of +searching out a clever shortcut - as any true hacker would do on instinct - the +driver ahead of us has instead chosen to play along with the city planners' +game. Like Virgil in Dante's /{Inferno}/, our guide is determined to give us +the full guided tour of this hacker hell whether we want it or not. + +Before I can make this observation to Stallman, the driver finally hits his +right turn signal. Stallman's hunched shoulders relax slightly, and for a +moment the air of tension within the car dissipates. The tension comes back, +however, as the driver in front of us slows down. "Construction Ahead" signs +line both sides of the street, and even though the Pilani Highway lies less +than a quarter mile off in the distance, the two-lane road between us and the +highway is blocked by a dormant bulldozer and two large mounds of dirt. + +It takes Stallman a few seconds to register what's going on as our guide begins +executing a clumsy five-point U-turn in front of us. When he catches a glimpse +of the bulldozer and the "No Through Access" signs just beyond, Stallman +finally boils over. + +"Why, why, why?" he whines, throwing his head back. "You should have known the +road was blocked. You should have known this way wouldn't work. You did this +deliberately." [RMS: I meant that he chose the slow road deliberately. As +explained below, I think these quotes are not exact.] + +The driver finishes the turn and passes us on the way back toward the main +drag. As he does so, he shakes his head and gives us an apologetic shrug. +Coupled with a toothy grin, the driver's gesture reveals a touch of mainlander +frustration but is tempered with a protective dose of islander fatalism. Coming +through the sealed windows of our rental car, it spells out a succinct message: +"Hey, it's Maui; what are you gonna do?" + +Stallman can take it no longer. + +"Don't you fucking smile!" he shouts, fogging up the glass as he does so. "It's +your fucking fault. This all could have been so much easier if we had just done +it my way." [RMS: These quotes appear to be inaccurate, because I don't use +"fucking" as an adverb. This was not an interview, so Williams would not have +had a tape recorder running. I'm sure things happened overall as described, but +these quotations probably reflect his understanding rather than my words.] + +Stallman accents the words "my way" by gripping the steering wheel and pulling +himself towards it twice. The image of Stallman's lurching frame is like that +of a child throwing a temper tantrum in a car seat, an image further underlined +by the tone of Stallman's voice. Halfway between anger and anguish, Stallman +seems to be on the verge of tears. + +Fortunately, the tears do not arrive. Like a summer cloudburst, the tantrum +ends almost as soon as it begins. After a few whiny gasps, Stallman shifts the +car into reverse and begins executing his own U-turn. By the time we are back +on the main drag, his face is as impassive as it was when we left the hotel 30 +minutes earlier. + +It takes less than five minutes to reach the next cross-street. This one offers +easy highway access, and within seconds, we are soon speeding off toward Pa'ia +at a relaxing rate of speed. The sun that once loomed bright and yellow over +Stallman's left shoulder is now burning a cool orange-red in our rear-view +mirror. It lends its color to the gauntlet wili wili trees flying past us on +both sides of the highway. +={ Pa'ia (Hawaii) } + +For the next 20 minutes, the only sound in our vehicle, aside from the ambient +hum of the car's engine and tires, is the sound of a cello and a violin trio +playing the mournful strains of an Appalachian folktune. + +1~ Chapter 13 - Continuing the Fight + +For Richard Stallman, time may not heal all wounds, but it does provide a +convenient ally. + +Four years after "The Cathedral and the Bazaar," Stallman still chafes over the +Raymond critique. He also grumbles over Linus Torvalds' elevation to the role +of world's most famous hacker. He recalls a popular T-shirt that began showing +at Linux tradeshows around 1999. Designed to mimic the original promotional +poster for Star Wars, the shirt depicted Torvalds brandishing a light-saber +like Luke Skywalker, while Stallman's face rides atop R2D2. The shirt still +grates on Stallman's nerves not only because it depicts him as Torvalds' +sidekick, but also because it elevates Torvalds to the leadership role in the +free-software community, a role even Torvalds himself is loath to accept. "It's +ironic," says Stallman mournfully. "Picking up that sword is exactly what Linus +refuses to do. He gets everybody focusing on him as the symbol of the movement, +and then he won't fight. What good is it?" +={ Cathedral and the Bazaar, The (Raymond) ; + Luke Skywalker ; + R2D2 ; + Torvalds, Linus +1 ; + Star Wars +} + +Then again, it is that same unwillingness to "pick up the sword," on Torvalds' +part, that has left the door open for Stallman to bolster his reputation as the +hacker community's ethical arbiter. Despite his grievances, Stallman has to +admit that the last few years have been quite good, both to himself and to his +organization. Relegated to the periphery by the ironic success of the GNU/Linux +system because users thought of it as "Linux," Stallman has nonetheless +successfully recaptured the initiative. His speaking schedule between January +2000and December 2001 included stops on six continents and visits to countries +where the notion of software freedom carries heavy overtones -China and India, +for example. + +Outside the bully pulpit, Stallman has taken advantage of the leverage of the +GNU General Public License (GPL), of which he remains the steward. During the +summer of 2000, while the air was rapidly leaking out of the 1999 Linux IPO +bubble, Stallman and the Free Software Foundation scored two major victories. +In July, 2000, Troll tech, a Norwegian software company and developer of Qt, a +graphical interface library that ran on the GNU/Linux operating system, +announced it was licensing its software under the GPL. A few weeks later, Sun +Microsystems, a company that, until then, had been warily trying to ride the +open source bandwagon without actually contributing its code, finally relented +and announced that it, too, was dual licensing its new OpenOffice~{ Sun was +compelled by a trademark complaint to use the clumsy name "OpenOffice.org." }~ +application suite under the Lesser GNU Public License(LGPL) and the Sun +Industry Standards Source License (SISSL). +={ Free Software Foundation (FSF) : + QT graphic tools and ; + GNU General Public License : + QT graphics tools and ; + Lesser GNU Public License (LGPL) ; + OpenOffice application suite +4 ; + Qt +1 ; + Troll Tech +1 ; + SISSL (Sun Industry Standards Source Licence) ; + Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL) ; + Sun Microsystems : + OpenOffice application suite +} + +In the case of Trolltech, this victory was the result of a protracted effort by +the GNU Project. The non-freeness of Qt was a serious problem for the free +software community because KDE, a free graphical desktop environment that was +becoming popular, depended on it. Qt was non-free software but Trolltech had +invited free software projects(such as KDE) to use it gratis. Although KDE +itself was free software, users that insisted on freedom couldn't run it, since +they had to reject Qt. Stallman recognized that many users would want a +graphical desktop on GNU/Linux, and most would not value freedom enough to +reject the temptation of KDE, with Qt hiding within. The danger was that +GNU/Linux would become a motor for the installation of KDE, and therefore also +of non-free Qt. This would undermine the freedom which was the purpose of GNU. + +To deal with this danger, Stallman recruited people to launch two parallel +counter projects. One was GNOME, the GNU free graphical desktop environment. +The other was Harmony, a compatible free replacement for Qt. If GNOME +succeeded, KDE would not be necessary; if Harmony succeeded, KDE would not need +Qt. Either way, users would be able to have a graphical desktop on GNU/Linux +without non-free Qt. + +In 1999, these two efforts were making good progress, and the management of +Trolltech were starting to feel the pressure. So Trolltech released Qt under +its own free software license, the QPL. The QPL qualified as a free license, +but Stallman pointed out the drawback of incompatibility with the GPL: in +general, combining GPL-covered code with Qt in one program was impossible +without violating one license or the other. Eventually the Trolltech management +recognized that the GPL would serve their purposes equally well, and released +Qt with dual licensing: the same Qt code, in parallel, was available under the +GNU GPL and under the QPL. After three years, this was victory. + +Once Qt was free, the motive for developing Harmony (which wasn't complete +enough for actual use) had disappeared, and the developers abandoned it. GNOME +had acquired substantial momentum, so its development continued, and it remains +the main GNU graphical desktop. + +Sun desired to play according to the Free Software Foundation's conditions. At +the 1999 O'Reilly Open Source Conference, Sun Microsystems co-founder and chief +scientist Bill Joy defended his company's "community source" license, +essentially a watered-down compromise letting users copy and modify Sun-owned +software but not sell copies of said software without negotiating a royalty +agreement with Sun. (With this restriction, the license did not qualify as +free, nor for that matter as open source.) A year after Joy's speech, Sun +Microsystems vice president Marco Boerries was appearing on the same stage +spelling out the company's new licensing compromise in the case of OpenOffice, +an office-application suite designed specifically for the GNU/Linux operating +system. +={ Boerries, Marco +2 ; + community source, license of Sun Microsystems ; + Joy, Bill ; + O'Reilly & Associates : + Open Source Conferences +} + +"I can spell it out in three letters," said Boerries. "GPL." + +At the time, Boerries said his company's decision had little to do with +Stallman and more to do with the momentum of GPL-protected programs. "What +basically happened was the recognition that different products attracted +different communities, and the license you use depends on what type of +community you want to attract," said Boerries. "With [OpenOffice], it was clear +we had the highest correlation with the GPL community."~{ Marco Boerries, +interview with author (July, 2000). }~ Alas, this victory was incomplete, since +OpenOffice recommends the use of non-free plug-ins. + +Such comments point out the under-recognized strength of the GPL and, +indirectly, the political genius of the man who played the largest role in +creating it. "There isn't a lawyer on earth who would have drafted the GPL the +way it is," says Eben Moglen, Columbia University law professor and Free +Software Foundation general counsel. "But it works. And it works because of +Richard's philosophy of design." +={ Columbia University ; + Moglen, Eben +35 +} + +A former professional programmer, Moglen traces his pro bono work with Stallman +back to 1990 when Stallman requested Moglen's legal assistance on a private +affair. Moglen, then working with encryption expert Phillip Zimmerman during +Zimmerman's legal battles with the federal government, says he was honored by +the request.~{ For more information on Zimmerman's legal travails, read Steven +Levy's /{Crypto}/, p. 287-288. In the original book version of /{Free as in +Freedom}/, I reported that Moglen helped defend Zimmerman against the National +Security Agency. According to Levy's account, Zimmerman was investigated by the +U.S. Attorney's office and U.S. Customs, not the NSA. }~ +={ Zimmerman, Phillip ; + National Security Administration +} + +"I told him I used Emacs every day of my life, and it would take an awful lot +of lawyering on my part to pay off the debt." + +Since then, Moglen, perhaps more than any other individual, has had the best +chance to observe the crossover of Stallman's hacker philosophies into the +legal realm. Moglen says Stallman's approach to legal code and his approach to +software code are largely the same. "I have to say, as a lawyer, the idea that +what you should do with a legal document is to take out all the bugs doesn't +make much sense," Moglen says. "There is uncertainty in every legal process, +and what most lawyers want to do is to capture the benefits of uncertainty for +their client. Richard's goal is the complete opposite. His goal is to remove +uncertainty, which is inherently impossible. It is inherently impossible to +draft one license to control all circumstances in all legal systems all over +the world. But if you were to go at it, you would have to go at it his way. And +the resulting elegance, the resulting simplicity in design almost achieves what +it has to achieve. And from there a little lawyering will carry you quite far." + +As the person charged with pushing the Stallman agenda, Moglen understands the +frustration of would-be allies. "Richard is a man who does not want to +compromise over matters that he thinks of as fundamental," Moglen says, "and he +does not take easily the twisting of words or even just the seeking of artful +ambiguity, which human society often requires from a lot of people." + +In addition to helping the Free Software Foundation, Moglen has provided legal +aid to other copyright defendants, such as Dmitry Sklyarov, and distributors of +the DVD decryption program deCSS. +={ Sklyarov, Dmitri +1 } + +Sklyarov had written and released a program to break digital copy-protection on +Adobe e-Books, in Russia where there was no law against it, as an employee of a +Russian company. He was then arrested while visiting the US to give a +scientific paper about his work. Stallman eagerly participated in protests +condemning Adobe for having Sklyarov arrested, and the Free Software Foundation +denounced the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as "censorship of software," but +it could not intervene in favor of Sklyarov's program because that was +non-free. Thus, Moglen worked for Sklyarov's defense through the Electronic +Frontier Foundation. The FSF avoided involvement in the distribution of deCSS, +since that was illegal, but Stallman condemned the U.S. government for +prohibiting deCSS, and Moglen worked as direct counsel for the defendants. +={ Electronic Frontier Foundation } + +Following the FSF's decision not to involve itself in those cases, Moglen has +learned to appreciate the value of Stallman's stubbornness. "There have been +times over the years where I've gone to Richard and said, 'We have to do this. +We have to do that. Here's the strategic situation. Here's the next move. +Here's what he have to do.' And Richard's response has always been, 'We don't +have to do anything.'Just wait. What needs doing will get done." + +"And you know what?" Moglen adds. "Generally, he's been right." + +Such comments disavow Stallman's own self-assessment: "I'm not good at playing +games," Stallman says, addressing the many unseen critics who see him as a +shrewd strategist. "I'm not good at looking ahead and anticipating what +somebody else might do. My approach has always been to focus on the foundation +[of ideas], to say 'Let's make the foundation as strong as we can make it.'" + +The GPL's expanding popularity and continuing gravitational strength are the +best tributes to the foundation laid by Stallman and his GNU colleagues. While +Stallman was never the sole person in the world releasing free software, he +nevertheless can take sole credit for building the free software movement's +ethical framework. Whether or not other modern programmers feel comfortable +working inside that framework is immaterial. The fact that they even have a +choice at all is Stallman's greatest legacy. + +Discussing Stallman's legacy at this point seems a bit premature. Stallman, 48 +at the time of this writing, still has a few years left to add to or subtract +from that legacy. Still, the momentum of the free software movement makes it +tempting to examine Stallman's life outside the day-to-day battles of the +software industry and within a more august, historical setting. + +To his credit, Stallman refuses all opportunities to speculate about this. +"I've never been able to work out detailed plans of what the future was going +to be like," says Stallman, offering his own premature epitaph. "I just said +'I'm going to fight. Who knows where I'll get?'" + +There's no question that in picking his fights, Stallman has alienated the very +people who might otherwise have been his greatest champions, had he been +willing to fight for their views instead of his own. It is also a testament to +his forthright, ethical nature that many of Stallman's erstwhile political +opponents still manage to put in a few good words for him when pressed. The +tension between Stallman the ideologue and Stallman the hacker genius, however, +leads a biographer to wonder: how will people view Stallman when Stallman's own +personality is no longer there to get in the way? + +In early drafts of this book, I dubbed this question the "100 year" question. +Hoping to stimulate an objective view of Stallman and his work, I asked various +software-industry luminaries to take themselves out of the current time-frame +and put themselves in a position of a historian looking back on the free +software movement 100 years in the future. From the current vantage point, it +is easy to see similarities between Stallman and past Americans who, while +somewhat marginal during their lifetime, have attained heightened historical +importance in relation to their age. Easy comparisons include Henry David +Thoreau, transcendentalist philosopher and author of /{Civil Disobedience}/, +and John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club and progenitor of the modern +environmental movement. It is also easy to see similarities in men like William +Jennings Bryan, a.k.a. "The Great Commoner," leader of the populist movement, +enemy of monopolies, and a man who, though powerful, seems to have faded into +historical insignificance. +={ Bryan, Willliam Jennings ; + Muir, John ; + On Civil Disobedience (Thoreau) ; + Thoreau, Henry David ; + Sierra Club +} + +Although not the first person to view software as public property, Stallman is +guaranteed a footnote in future history books thanks to the GPL. Given that +fact, it seems worthwhile to step back and examine Richard Stallman's legacy +outside the current time frame. Will the GPL still be something software +programmers use in the year 2102, or will it have long since fallen by the +wayside? Will the term "free-software" seem as politically quaint as "free +silver" does today, or will it seem eerily prescient in light of later +political events? + +Predicting the future is risky sport. Stallman refuses, saying that asking what +people will think in 100 years presumes we have no influence over it. The +question he prefers is, "What should we do to make a better future?" But most +people, when presented with the predictive question, seemed eager to bite. + +"One hundred years from now, Richard and a couple of other people are going to +deserve more than a footnote," says Moglen. "They're going to be viewed as the +main line of the story." + +The "couple of other people" Moglen nominates for future textbook chapters +include John Gilmore, who beyond contributing in various ways to free software +has founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Theodor Holm Nelson, a.k.a. +Ted Nelson, author of the 1982book, /{Literary Machines}/. Moglen says +Stallman, Nelson, and Gilmore each stand out in historically significant, +non-overlapping ways. He credits Nelson, commonly considered to have coined the +term "hypertext," for identifying the predicament of information ownership in +the digital age. Gilmore and Stallman, meanwhile, earn notable credit for +identifying the negative political effects of information control and building +organizations - the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the case of Gilmore and +the Free Software Foundation in the case of Stallman - to counteract those +effects. Of the two, however, Moglen sees Stallman's activities as more +personal and less political in nature. +={ Electronic Frontier Foundation ; + Gilmore, John ; + Nelson, Theodor Holm +2 ; + Nelson, Ted +2 +} + +"Richard was unique in that the ethical implications of un-free software were +particularly clear to him at an early moment," says Moglen. "This has a lot to +do with Richard's personality, which lots of people will, when writing about +him, try to depict as epiphenomenal or even a drawback in Richard Stallman's +own life work." + +Gilmore, who describes his inclusion between the erratic Nelson and the +irascible Stallman as something of a "mixed honor," nevertheless seconds the +Moglen argument. Writes Gilmore: + +_1 My guess is that Stallman's writings will stand up as well as Thomas +Jefferson's have; he's a pretty clear writer and also clear on his +principles... Whether Richard will be as influential as Jefferson will depend +on whether the abstractions we call "civil rights" end up more important a +hundred years from now than the abstractions that we call "software" or +"technically imposed restrictions." +={ Jefferson, Thomas } + +Another element of the Stallman legacy not to be overlooked, Gilmore writes, is +the collaborative software-development model pioneered by the GNU Project. +Although flawed at times, the model has nevertheless evolved into a standard +within the software-development industry. All told, Gilmore says, this +collaborative software-development model may end up being even more influential +than the GNU Project, the GPL License, or any particular software program +developed by Stallman: + +_1 Before the Internet, it was quite hard to collaborate over distance on +software, even among teams that know and trust each other. Richard pioneered +collaborative development of software, particularly by disorganized volunteers +who seldom meet each other. Richard didn't build any of the basic tools for +doing this (the TCP protocol, email lists, diff and patch, tar files, RCS or +CVS or remote-CVS), but he used the ones that were available to form social +groups of programmers who could effectively collaborate. + +Stallman thinks that evaluation, though positive, misses the point. "It +emphasizes development methods over freedom, which reflects the values of open +source rather than free software. If that is how future users look back on the +GNU Project, I fear it will lead to a world in which developers maintain users +in bondage, and let them aid development occasionally as a reward, but never +take the chains off them." + +Lawrence Lessig, Stanford law professor and author of the 2001 book, /{The +Future of Ideas}/, is similarly bullish. Like many legal scholars, Lessig sees +the GPL as a major bulwark of the current so-called "digital commons," the vast +agglomeration of community-owned software programs, network and +telecommunication standards that have triggered the Internet's exponential +growth over the last three decades. Rather than connect Stallman with other +Internet pioneers, men such as Vannevar Bush, Vinton Cerf, and J. C. R. +Licklider who convinced others to see computer technology on a wider scale, +Lessig sees Stallman's impact as more personal, introspective, and, ultimately, +unique: +={ Future of Ideas, The (Lessig) } + +_1 [Stallman] changed the debate from "is" to "ought." He made people see how +much was at stake, and he built a device to carry these ideals forward... That +said, I don't quite know how to place him in the context of Cerf or Licklider. +The innovation is different. It is not just about a certain kind of code, or +enabling the Internet. [It's] much more about getting people to see the value +in a certain kind of Internet. I don't think there is anyone else in that +class, before or after. + +Not everybody sees the Stallman legacy as set in stone, of course. Eric +Raymond, the open source proponent who feels that Stallman's leadership role +has diminished significantly since 1996, sees mixed signals when looking into +the 2102 crystal ball: + +_1 I think Stallman's artifacts (GPL, Emacs, GCC) will be seen as revolutionary +works, as foundation-stones of the information world. I think history will be +less kind to some of the theories from which RMS operated, and not kind at all +to his personal tendency towards territorial, cult-leader behavior. + +As for Stallman himself, he, too, sees mixed signals: + +_1 What history says about the GNU Project, twenty years from now, will depend +on who wins the battle of freedom to use public knowledge. If we lose, we will +be just a footnote. If we win, it is uncertain whether people will know the +role of the GNU operating system - if they think the system is "Linux," they +will build a false picture of what happened and why. + +_1 But even if we win, what history people learn a hundred years from now is +likely to depend on who dominates politically. + +Searching for his own 19th-century historical analogy, Stallman summons the +figure of John Brown, the militant abolitionist regarded as a hero on one side +of the Mason Dixon line and a madman on the other. + +John Brown's slave revolt never got going, but during his subsequent trial he +effectively roused national demand for abolition. During the Civil War, John +Brown was a hero; 100 years after, and for much of the 1900s, history textbooks +taught that he was crazy. During the era of legal segregation, while bigotry +was shameless, the U.S. partly accepted the story that the South wanted to tell +about itself, and history textbooks said many untrue things about the Civil War +and related events. + +Such comparisons document both the self-perceived peripheral nature of +Stallman's current work and the binary nature of his current reputation. It's +hard to see Stallman's reputation falling to the same level of infamy as +Brown's did during the post-Reconstruction period. Stallman, despite his +occasional war-like analogies, has done little to inspire violence. Still, it +is easy to envision a future in which Stallman's ideas wind up on the +ash-heap.~{ RMS: Sam Williams' further words here, "In fashioning the free +software cause not not as a mass movement but as a collection of private +battles against the forces of proprietary temptation," do not fit the facts. +Ever since the first announcement of the GNU Project, I have asked the public +to support the cause. The free software movement aims to be a mass movement, +and the only question is whether it has enough supporters to qualify as "mass." +As of 2009, the Free Software Foundation has some 3000 members that pay the +hefty dues, and over 20,000 subscribers to its monthly e-mail newsletter. }~ + +Then again, it is that very will that may someday prove to be Stallman's +greatest lasting legacy. Moglen, a close observer over the last decade, warns +those who mistake the Stallman personality as counter-productive or +epiphenomenal to the "artifacts" of Stallman's life. Without that personality, +Moglen says, there would be precious few artifacts to discuss. Says Moglen, a +former Supreme Court clerk: + +_1 Look, the greatest man I ever worked for was Thurgood Marshall. I knew what +made him a great man. I knew why he had been able to change the world in his +possible way. I would be going out on a limb a little bit if I were to make a +comparison, because they could not be more different: Thurgood Marshall was a +man in society, representing an outcast society to the society that enclosed +it, but still a man in society. His skill was social skills. But he was all of +a piece, too. Different as they were in every other respect, the person I now +most compare him to in that sense - of a piece, compact, made of the substance +that makes stars, all the way through - is Stallman. +={ Marshall, Thurgood } + +In an effort to drive that image home, Moglen reflects on a shared moment in +the spring of 2000. The success of the VA Linux IPO was still resonating in the +business media, and a half dozen issues related to free software were swimming +through the news. Surrounded by a swirling hurricane of issues and stories each +begging for comment, Moglen recalls sitting down for lunch with Stallman and +feeling like a castaway dropped into the eye of the storm. For the next hour, +he says, the conversation calmly revolved around a single topic: strengthening +the GPL. +={ VA Linux } + +"We were sitting there talking about what we were going to do about some +problems in Eastern Europe and what we were going to do when the problem of the +ownership of content began to threaten free software," Moglen recalls. "As we +were talking, I briefly thought about how we must have looked to people passing +by. Here we are, these two little bearded anarchists, plotting and planning the +next steps. And, of course, Richard is plucking the knots from his hair and +dropping them in the soup and behaving in his usual way. Anybody listening in +on our conversation would have thought we were crazy, but I knew: I knew the +revolution's right here at this table. This is what's making it happen. And +this man is the person making it happen." + +Moglen says that moment, more than any other, drove home the elemental +simplicity of the Stallman style. + +"It was funny," recalls Moglen. "I said to him, 'Richard, you know, you and I +are the two guys who didn't make any money out of this revolution.' And then I +paid for the lunch, because I knew he didn't have the money to pay for it."~{ +RMS: I never refuse to let people treat me to a meal, since my pride is not +based on picking up the check. But I surely did have the money to pay for +lunch. My income, which comes from around half the speeches I give, is much +less than a law professor's salary, but I'm not poor. }~ + +1~ Epilogue from Sam Williams: Crushing Loneliness + +[RMS: Because this chapter is so personally from Sam Williams, I have indicated +all changes to the text with square brackets or ellipses, and I have made such +changes only to clear up technical or legal points,and to remove passages that +I found to be hostile and devoid of information. I have also added notes +labeled 'RMS:' to respond to certain points. Williams has also changed the text +of this chapter; changes made by Williams are not explicitly indicated.] + +Writing the biography of a living person is a bit like producing a play. The +drama in front of the curtain often pales in comparison to the drama backstage. + +In /{The Autobiography of Malcolm X}/, Alex Haley gives readers a rare glimpse +of that backstage drama. Stepping out of the ghostwriter role, Haley delivers +the book's epilogue in his own voice. The epilogue explains how a freelance +reporter originally dismissed as a "tool" and"spy" by the Nation of Islam +spokesperson managed to work through personal and political barriers to get +Malcolm X's life story on paper. +={ Autobiography of Malcolm X, The (Haley) +1 ; + Haley, Alex +} + +While I hesitate to compare this book with /{The Autobiography of Malcolm X}/, +I do owe a debt of gratitude to Haley for his candid epilogue. Over the last 12 +months, it has served as a sort of instruction manual on how to deal with a +biographical subject who has built an entire career on being disagreeable. +[RMS: I have built my career on saying no to things others accept without much +question, but if I sometimes seem or am disagreeable, it is not through +specific intention.] From the outset, I envisioned closing this biography with +a similar epilogue, both as an homage to Haley and as a way to let readers know +how this book came to be. + +The story behind this story starts in an Oakland apartment, winding its way +through the various locales mentioned in the book - Silicon Valley, Maui, +Boston, and Cambridge. Ultimately, however, it is a tale of two cities: New +York, New York, the book-publishing capital of the world, and Sebastopol, +California, the book-publishing capital of Sonoma County. + +The story starts in April, 2000. At the time, I was writing stories for the +ill-fated web site BeOpen.com. One of my first assignments was a phone +interview with Richard M. Stallman. The interview went well, so well that +Slashdot (http://www.slashdot.org), the popular "news for nerds" site owned by +VA Software, Inc. (formerly VA LinuxSystems and before that, VA Research), gave +it a link in its daily list of feature stories. Within hours, the web servers +at BeOpen were heating up as readers clicked over to the site. +={ BeOpen.com +3 ; + VA Linux ; + VA Research ; + VA Software, Inc. ; + Slashdot +} + +For all intents and purposes, the story should have ended there. Three months +after the interview, while attending the O'Reilly Open Source Conference in +Monterey, California, I received the following email message from Tracy +Pattison, foreign-rights manager at a large New York publishing house: +={ Monterey (California) ; + O'Reilly & Associates : + Open Source Conferences ; + Pattison, Tracy +} + +% poem or group what follows ? + +poem{ + +To: sam@BeOpen.com + +Subject: RMS Interview Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 15:56:37 - 0400 + +Dear Mr. Williams, + +I read your interview with Richard Stallman on BeOpen +with great interest. I've been intrigued by RMS and his +work for some time now and was delighted to find your +piece which I really think you did a great job of capturing +some of the spirit of what Stallman is trying to do with +GNU-Linux and the Free Software Foundation. + +What I'd love to do, however, is read more - and I don't +think I'm alone. Do you think there is more information +and/or sources out there to expand and update your +interview and adapt it into more of a profile of Stallman? +Perhaps including some more anecdotal information about +his personality and background that might really interest +and enlighten readers outside the more hardcore +programming scene? + +}poem + +Tracy ended the email with a request that I give her a call to discuss the idea +further. I did just that. Tracy told me her company was launching a new +electronic book line, and it wanted stories that appealed to an early-adopter +audience. The e-book format was 30,000words, about 100 pages, and she had +pitched her bosses on the idea of profiling a major figure in the hacker +community. Her bosses liked the idea, and in the process of searching for +interesting people to profile,she had come across my BeOpen interview with +Stallman. Hence her email to me. + +That's when Tracy asked me: would I be willing to expand the interview into a +full-length feature profile? + +My answer was instant: yes. Before accepting it, Tracy suggested I put together +a story proposal she could show her superiors. Two days later, I sent her a +polished proposal. A week later, Tracy sent me a follow up email. Her bosses +had given it the green light. + +I have to admit, getting Stallman to participate in an e-book project was an +afterthought on my part. As a reporter who covered the open source beat, I knew +Stallman was a stickler. I'd already received a half dozen emails at that point +upbraiding me for the use of "Linux" instead of "GNU/Linux." + +Then again, I also knew Stallman was looking for ways to get his message out to +the general public. Perhaps if I presented the project to him that way, he +would be more receptive. If not, I could always rely upon the copious amounts +of documents, interviews, and recorded online conversations Stallman had left +lying around the Internet and do an unauthorized biography. + +During my research, I came across an essay titled "Freedom - Or Copyright?" +Written by Stallman and published in the June, 2000,edition of the MIT +/{Technology Review}/, the essay blasted e-books for an assortment of software +sins. Not only did readers have to use proprietary software programs to read +them, Stallman lamented, but the methods used to prevent unauthorized copying +were overly harsh. Instead of downloading a transferable HTML or PDF file, +readers downloaded an encrypted file. In essence, purchasing an e-book meant +purchasing a nontransferable key to unscramble the encrypted content. Any +attempt to open a book's content without an authorized key constituted a +criminal violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the 1998 law +designed to bolster copyright enforcement on the Internet. Similar penalties +held for readers who converted a book's content into an open file format, even +if their only intention was to read the book on a different computer in their +home. Unlike a normal book, the reader no longer held the right to lend, copy, +or resell an e-book. They only had the right to read it on an authorized +machine, warned Stallman: +={ Digital Millennium Copyright Act } + +_1 We still have the same old freedoms in using paper books.But if e-books +replace printed books, that exception will do little good. With "electronic +ink," which makes it possible to download new text onto an apparently printed +piece of paper, even newspapers could become ephemeral. Imagine:no more used +book stores; no more lending a book to your friend; no more borrowing one from +the public library - no more "leaks" that might give someone a chance to read +without paying. (And judging from the ads for Microsoft Reader, no more +anonymous purchasing of books either.)This is the world publishers have in mind +for us.~{ See "Freedom - Or Copyright?" (May, 2000), \\ +http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/stallman0500.asp. }~ + +Needless to say, the essay caused some concern. Neither Tracy nor I had +discussed the software her company would use nor had we discussed the type of +copyright [license] that would govern the e-book's usage. I mentioned the +/{Technology Review}/ article and asked if she could give me information on her +company's e-book policies. Tracy promised to get back to me. + +Eager to get started, I decided to call Stallman anyway and mention the book +idea to him. When I did, he expressed immediate interest and immediate concern. +"Did you read my essay on e-books?" he asked. + +When I told him, yes, I had read the essay and was waiting to hear back from +the publisher, Stallman laid out two conditions: he didn't want to lend support +to an e-book licensing mechanism he fundamentally opposed, and he didn't want +to come off as lending support. "I don't want to participate in anything that +makes me look like a hypocrite," he said. + +For Stallman, the software issue was secondary to the copyright issue. He said +he was willing to ignore whatever software the publisher or its third-party +vendors employed just so long as the company specified within the copyright +that readers were free to make and distribute verbatim copies of the e-book's +content. Stallman pointed to Stephen King's /{The Plant}/ as a possible model. +In June, 2000, King announced on his official web site that he was +self-publishing /{The Plant}/ in serial form. According to the announcement, +the book's total cost would be $13, spread out over a series of $1 +installments. As long as at least 75% of the readers paid for each chapter, +King promised to continue releasing new installments. By August, the plan +seemed to be working, as King had published the first two chapters with a third +on the way. +={ King, Stephen ; + open source +4 ; + Plant, The (King) +} + +"I'd be willing to accept something like that," Stallman said. "As long as it +also permitted verbatim copying." [RMS: As I recall, I also raised the issue of +encryption; the text two paragraphs further down confirms this. I would not +have agreed to publish the book in a way that /{required}/ a non-free program +to read it.] + +I forwarded the information to Tracy. Feeling confident that she and I might be +able to work out an equitable arrangement, I called up Stallman and set up the +first interview for the book. Stallman agreed to the interview without making a +second inquiry into the status issue. Shortly after the first interview, I +raced to set up a second interview (this one in Kihei), squeezing it in before +Stallman headed off on a 14-day vacation to Tahiti. [RMS: That was not a pure +vacation; I gave a speech there too.] +={ Kihei (Hawaii) } + +It was during Stallman's vacation that the bad news came from Tracy. Her +company's legal department didn't want to adjust its [license] notice on the +e-books. Readers who wanted to make their books transferable would [first have +to crack the encryption code, to be able to convert the book to a free, public +format such as HTML. This would be illegal and they might face criminal +penalties.] + +With two fresh interviews under my belt, I didn't see any way to write the book +without resorting to the new material. I quickly set up a trip to New York to +meet with my agent and with Tracy to see if there was a compromise solution. + +When I flew to New York, I met my agent, Henning Guttman. It was our first +face-to-face meeting, and Henning seemed pessimistic about our chances of +forcing a compromise, at least on the publisher's end. The large, established +publishing houses already viewed the e-book format with enough suspicion and +weren't in the mood to experiment with copyright language that made it easier +for readers to avoid payment. As an agent who specialized in technology books, +however,Henning was intrigued by the novel nature of my predicament. I told him +about the two interviews I'd already gathered and the promise not to publish +the book in a way that made Stallman "look like a hypocrite." Agreeing that I +was in an ethical bind, Henning suggested we make that our negotiating point. +={ Guttman, Henning } + +Barring that, Henning said, we could always take the carrot-and-stick approach. +The carrot would be the publicity that came with publishing an e-book that +honored the hacker community's internal ethics. The stick would be the risks +associated with publishing an e-book that didn't. Nine months before Dmitry +Sklyarov became an Internet /{cause célèbre}/, we knew it was only a matter of +time before an enterprising programmer revealed how to hack e-books. We also +knew that a major publishing house releasing an [encrypted] e-book on Richard +M. Stallman was the software equivalent of putting "Steal This E-Book" on the +cover. +={ Sklyarov, Dmitri } + +After my meeting with Henning, I called Stallman. Hoping to make the carrot +more enticing, I discussed a number of potential compromises. What if the +publisher released the book's content under a[dual] license, something similar +to what Sun Microsystems had done with Open Office, the free software desktop +applications suite? The publisher could then release DRM-restricted~{ RMS: +Williams wrote "commercial" here, but that is a misnomer, since it means +"connected with business." All these versions would be commercial if a company +published them. }~ versions of the e-book under [its usual] format, taking +advantage of all the bells and whistles that went with the e-book software, +while releasing the copyable version under a less aesthetically pleasing HTML +format. + +Stallman told me he didn't mind the [dual-license] idea, but he did dislike the +idea of making the freely copyable version inferior to the restricted version. +Besides, he said [on second thought, this case was different precisely because +he had] a way to control the outcome. He could refuse to cooperate. + +[RMS: The question was whether it would be wrong for me to agree to the +restricted version. I can endorse the free version of Sun's Open Office, +because it is free software and much better than nothing,while at the same time +I reject the non-free version. There is no self- contradiction here, because +Sun didn't need or ask my approval for the non-free version; I was not +responsible for its existence. In this case, if I had said yes to the +non-freely-copyable version, the onus would fall on me.] + +I made a few more suggestions with little effect. About the only thing I could +get out of Stallman was a concession [RMS: i.e., a further compromise] that the +e-book's [license] restrict all forms of file sharing to "noncommercial +redistribution." + +Before I signed off, Stallman suggested I tell the publisher that I'd promised +Stallman that the work would be [freely sharable]. I told Stallman I couldn't +agree to that statement [RMS: though it was true,since he had accepted my +conditions at the outset] but that I did view the book as unfinishable without +his cooperation. Seemingly satisfied,Stallman hung up with his usual sign-off +line: "Happy hacking." + +Henning and I met with Tracy the next day. Tracy said her company was willing +to publish copyable excerpts in a unencrypted format but would limit the +excerpts to 500 words. Henning informed her that this wouldn't be enough for me +to get around my ethical obligation to Stallman. Tracy mentioned her own +company's contractual obligation to online vendors such as Amazon.com. Even if +the company decided to open up its e-book content this one time, it faced the +risk of its partners calling it a breach of contract. Barring a change of heart +in the executive suite or on the part of Stallman, the decision was up tome. I +could use the interviews and go against my earlier agreement with Stallman, or +I could plead journalistic ethics and back out of the verbal agreement to do +the book. +={ Amazon.com } + +Following the meeting, my agent and I relocated to a pub on Third Ave. I used +his cell phone to call Stallman, leaving a message when nobody answered. +Henning left for a moment, giving me time to collect my thoughts. When he +returned, he was holding up the cell phone. + +"It's Stallman," Henning said. + +The conversation got off badly from the start. I relayed Tracy's comment about +the publisher's contractual obligations. + +"So," Stallman said bluntly. "Why should I give a damn about their contractual +obligations?" + +Because asking a major publishing house to risk a legal battle with its vendors +over a 30,000-word e-book is a tall order, I suggested. [RMS: His unstated +premise was that I couldn't possibly refuse this deal for mere principle.] + +"Don't you see?" Stallman said. "That's exactly why I'm doing this. I want a +signal victory. I want them to make a choice between freedom and business as +usual." + +As the words "signal victory" echoed in my head, I felt my attention wander +momentarily to the passing foot traffic on the sidewalk. Coming into the bar, I +had been pleased to notice that the location was less than half a block away +from the street corner memorialized in the 1976 Ramones song, "53rd and 3rd," a +song I always enjoyed playing in my days as a musician. Like the perpetually +frustrated street hustler depicted in that song, I could feel things falling +apart as quickly as they had come together. The irony was palpable. After weeks +of gleefully recording other people's laments, I found myself in the position +of trying to pull off the rarest of feats: a Richard Stallman compromise. When +I continued hemming and hawing, pleading the publisher's position and revealing +my growing sympathy for it,Stallman, like an animal smelling blood, attacked. + +"So that's it? You're just going to screw me? You're just going to bend to +their will?" + +[RMS: The quotations show that Williams' interpretation of this conversation +was totally wrong. He compares me to a predator, but I was only saying no to +the deal he was badgering me to accept.I had already made several compromises, +some described above; I just refused to compromise my principles entirely away. +I often do this; people who aren't satisfied say I "refused to compromise at +all, "but that is an exaggeration; \\ see +http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html. Then I feared he was going to +disregard the conditions he had previously agreed to, and publish the book with +DRM despite my refusal. What I smelled was not his "blood" but possible +betrayal.] + +I brought up the issue of a dual-copyright again. + +"You mean license," Stallman said curtly. + +"Yeah, license. Copyright. Whatever," I said, feeling suddenly like a wounded +tuna trailing a rich plume of plasma in the water. + +"Aw, why didn't you just fucking do what I told you to do!" he shouted. [RMS: I +think this quotation was garbled, both because using "fucking" as an adverb was +never part of my speech pattern, and because the words do not fit the +circumstances. The words he quotes are a rebuke to a disobedient subordinate. I +felt he had an ethical obligation, but he was not my subordinate, and I would +not have spoken to him as one. Using notes rather than a recorder, he could not +reliably retain the exact words.] + +I must have been arguing on behalf of the publisher to the very end, because in +my notes I managed to save a final Stallman chestnut: "I don't care. What +they're doing is evil. I can't support evil. Goodbye." [RMS: It sounds like I +had concluded that he would never take no for an answer, and the only way to +end the conversation without accepting his proposition was to hang up on him.] + +As soon as I put the phone down, my agent slid a freshly poured Guinness to me. +"I figured you might need this," he said with a laugh. "I could see you shaking +there towards the end." + +I was indeed shaking. The shaking wouldn't stop until the Guinness was more +than halfway gone. It felt weird, hearing myself characterized as an emissary +of "evil." [RMS: My words as quoted criticize the publisher, not Williams +personally. If he took it personally, perhaps that indicates he was starting to +take ethical responsibility for the deal he had pressed me to accept.] It felt +weirder still, knowing that three months before, I was sitting in an Oakland +apartment trying to come up with my next story idea. Now, I was sitting in a +part of the world I'd only known through rock songs, taking meetings with +publishing executives and drinking beer with an agent I'd never even laid eyes +on until the day before. It was all too surreal, like watching my life +reflected back as a movie montage. + +About that time, my internal absurdity meter kicked in. The initial shaking +gave way to convulsions of laughter. To my agent, I must have looked like a +another fragile author undergoing an untimely emotional breakdown. To me, I was +just starting to appreciate the cynical beauty of my situation. Deal or no +deal, I already had the makings of a pretty good story. It was only a matter of +finding a place to tell it. When my laughing convulsions finally subsided, I +held up my drink in a toast. + +"Welcome to the front lines, my friend," I said, clinking pints with my agent. +"Might as well enjoy it." + +If this story really were a play, here's where it would take a momentary, +romantic interlude. Disheartened by the tense nature of our meeting, Tracy +invited Henning and me to go out for drinks with her and some of her coworkers. +We left the bar on Third Ave., headed down to the East Village, and caught up +with Tracy and her friends. + +Once there, I spoke with Tracy, careful to avoid shop talk. Our conversation +was pleasant, relaxed. Before parting, we agreed to meet the next night. Once +again, the conversation was pleasant, so pleasant that the Stallman e-book +became almost a distant memory. + +When I got back to Oakland, I called around to various journalist friends and +acquaintances. I recounted my predicament. Most upbraided me for giving up too +much ground to Stallman in the pre-interview negotiation. [RMS: Those who have +read the whole book know that I would never have dropped the conditions.] A +former j-school professor suggested I ignore Stallman's "hypocrite" comment and +just write the story. Reporters who knew of Stallman's media-savviness +ex-pressed sympathy but uniformly offered the same response: it's your call. + +I decided to put the book on the back burner. Even with the interviews, I +wasn't making much progress. Besides, it gave me a chance to speak with Tracy +without running things past Henning first.By Christmas we had traded visits: +she flying out to the west coast once, me flying out to New York a second time. +The day before New Year's Eve, I proposed. Deciding which coast to live on, I +picked New York. By February, I packed up my laptop computer and all my +research notes related to the Stallman biography, and we winged our way to JFK +Airport. Tracy and I were married on May 11. So much for failed book deals. + +During the summer, I began to contemplate turning my interview notes into a +magazine article. Ethically, I felt in the clear doing so,since the original +interview terms said nothing about traditional print media. To be honest, I +also felt a bit more comfortable writing about Stallman after eight months of +radio silence. Since our telephone conversation in September, I'd only received +two emails from Stallman.Both chastised me for using "Linux" instead of +"GNU/Linux" in a pair of articles for the web magazine /{Upside Today}/. Aside +from that, I had enjoyed the silence. In June, about a week after the New York +University speech, I took a crack at writing a 5,000-word magazine-length story +about Stallman. This time, the words flowed. The distance had helped restore my +lost sense of emotional perspective, I suppose. +={ Upside Today web magazine } + +In July, a full year after the original email from Tracy, I got a call from +Henning. He told me that O'Reilly & Associates, a publishing house out of +Sebastopol, California, was interested in the running the Stallman story as a +biography. [RMS: I have a vague memory that I suggested contacting O'Reilly, +but I can't be sure after all these years.] The news pleased me. Of all the +publishing houses in the world, O'Reilly, the same company that had published +Eric Raymond's /{The Cathedral and the Bazaar}/, seemed the most sensitive to +the issues that had killed the earlier e-book. As a reporter, I had relied +heavily on the O'Reilly book /{Open Sources}/ as a historical reference. I also +knew that various chapters of the book, including a chapter written by +Stallman, had been published with [license] notices that permitted +redistribution. Such knowledge would come in handy if the issue of electronic +publication ever came up again. +={ Cathedral and the Bazaar, The (Raymond) ; + O'Reilly & Associates ; + Open Sources (DiBona, et al) +2 ; + Raymond, Eric +} + +Sure enough, the issue did come up. I learned through Henning that O'Reilly +intended to publish the biography both as a book and as part of its new Safari +Tech Books Online subscription service. The Safari user license would involve +special restrictions,~{ See "Safari Tech Books Online; Subscriber Agreement: +Terms of Service" \\ http://my.safaribooksonline.com/termsofservice. As of +December, 2009, the see-books require non-free reader software, so people +should refuse to use them. }~ Henning warned, but O'Reilly was willing to allow +for a copyright that permitted users to copy and share the book's text +regardless of medium. Basically, as author, I had the choice between two +licenses: the Open Publication License or the GNU Free Documentation License. +={ Open Publication License (OPL) +8 ; + OPL (Open Publication License) +8 ; + Safari Tech Books Online subscription service +} + +I checked out the contents and background of each license. The Open Publication +License (OPL)~{ See "The Open Publication License: Draft v1.0" (June 8, 1999), +\\ http://opencontent.org/openpub/. }~ gives readers the right to reproduce and +distribute a work, in whole or in part, in any medium "physical or electronic," +provided the copied work retains the Open Publication License. It also permits +modification of a work, provided certain conditions are met. Finally, the Open +Publication License includes a number of options, which, if selected by the +author, can limit the creation of "substantively modified" versions or +book-form derivatives without prior author approval. + +The GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), meanwhile, permits the copying and +distribution of a document in any medium, provided the resulting work carries +the same license.~{ See "The GNU Free Documentation License: Version 1.3" +(November, 2008), \\ http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html. }~ +={ GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License) +1 ; + GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) +1 +} + +It also permits the modification of a document provided certain conditions. +Unlike the OPL, however, it does not give authors the option to restrict +certain modifications. It also does not give authors the right to reject +modifications that might result in a competitive book product. It does require +certain forms of front - and back-cover information if a party other than the +copyright holder wishes to publish more than 100 copies of a protected work, +however. + +In the course of researching the licenses, I also made sure to visit the GNU +Project web page titled "Various Licenses and Comments About Them."~{ See +http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/license-list.html. }~ + +On that page, I found a Stallman critique of the Open Publication License. +Stallman's critique related to the creation of modified works and the ability +of an author to select either one of the OPL's options to restrict +modification. If an author didn't want to select either option, it was better +to use the GFDL instead, Stallman noted, since it minimized the risk of the +non-selected options popping up in modified versions of a document. + +The importance of modification in both licenses was a reflection of their +original purpose - namely, to give software-manual owners a chance to improve +their manuals and publicize those improvements to the rest of the community. +Since my book wasn't a manual, I had little concern about the modification +clause in either license. My only concern was giving users the freedom to +exchange copies of the book or make copies of the content, the same freedom +they would have enjoyed if they purchased a hardcover book. Deeming either +license suitable for this purpose, I signed the O'Reilly contract when it came +to me. + +Still, the notion of unrestricted modification intrigued me. In my early +negotiations with Tracy, I had pitched the merits of a GPL-style license for +the e-book's content. At worst, I said, the license would guarantee a lot of +positive publicity for the e-book. At best, it would encourage readers to +participate in the book-writing process. As an author, I was willing to let +other people amend my work just so long as my name always got top billing. +Besides, it might even be interesting to watch the book evolve. I pictured +later editions looking much like online versions of the /{Talmud}/, my original +text in a central column surrounded by illuminating, third-party commentary in +the margins. + +My idea drew inspiration from Project Xanadu (http://www.xanadu.com), the +legendary software concept originally conceived by Ted Nelson in 1960. During +the O'Reilly Open Source Conference in 1999, I had seen the first demonstration +of the project's [free] offshoot Udanax and had been wowed by the result. In +one demonstration sequence, Udanax displayed a parent document and a derivative +work in a similar two-column, plain-text format. With a click of the button, +the program introduced lines linking each sentence in the parent to its +conceptual offshoot in the derivative. An e-book biography of Richard M. +Stallman didn't have to be Udanax-enabled, but given such technological +possibilities, why not give users a chance to play around?~{ Anybody willing to +"port" this book over to Udanax, the free software version of Xanadu, will +receive enthusiastic support from me. To find out more about this intriguing +technology, \\ visit http://www.udanax.com. }~ +={ Nelson, Ted ; + O'Reilly & Associates : + Open Source Conferences ; + Project Xanadu ; + Udanax +} + +When Laurie Petrycki, my editor at O'Reilly, gave me a choice be-tween the OPL +or the GFDL, I indulged the fantasy once again. By September of 2001, the month +I signed the contract, e-books had become almost a dead topic. Many publishing +houses, Tracy's included,were shutting down their e-book imprints for lack of +interest. I had to wonder. If these companies had treated e-books not as a form +of publication but as a form of community building, would those imprints have +survived? +={ GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License) +1 ; + GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) +1 ; + Petrycki, Laurie +} + +After I signed the contract, I notified Stallman that the book project was back +on. I mentioned the choice O'Reilly was giving me between the Open Publication +License and the GNU Free Documentation License. I told him I was leaning toward +the OPL, if only for the fact I saw no reason to give O'Reilly's competitors a +chance to print the same book under a different cover. Stallman wrote back, +arguing in favor of the GFDL, noting that O'Reilly had already used it several +times in the past. Despite the events of the past year, I suggested a deal. I +would choose the GFDL if it gave me the possibility to do more interviews and +if Stallman agreed to help O'Reilly publicize the book. Stallman agreed to +participate in more interviews but said that his participation in +publicity-related events would depend on the content of the book. Viewing this +as only fair, I set up an interview for December 17, 2001 in Cambridge. + +I set up the interview to coincide with a business trip my wife Tracy was +taking to Boston. Two days before leaving, Tracy suggested I invite Stallman +out to dinner. + +"After all," she said, "he is the one who brought us together."I sent an email +to Stallman, who promptly sent a return email accepting the offer. When I drove +up to Boston the next day, I met Tracy at her hotel and hopped the T to head +over to MIT. When we got to Tech Square, I found Stallman in the middle of a +conversation just as we knocked on the door. + +"I hope you don't mind," he said, pulling the door open far enough so that +Tracy and I could just barely hear Stallman's conversational counterpart. It +was a youngish woman, mid-20s I'd say, named Sarah. + +"I took the liberty of inviting somebody else to have dinner with us," Stallman +said, matter-of-factly, giving me the same catlike smile he gave me back in +that Palo Alto restaurant. + +To be honest, I wasn't too surprised. The news that Stallman had a new female +friend had reached me a few weeks before, courtesy of Stallman's mother. "In +fact, they both went to Japan last month when Richard went over to accept the +Takeda Award," Lippman told me at the time.~{ Alas, I didn't find out about the +Takeda Foundation's decision to award Stallman, along with Linus Torvalds and +Ken Sakamura, with its first-ever award for"Techno-Entrepreneurial Achievement +for Social/Economic Well-Being" until after Stallman had made the trip to Japan +to accept the award. For more information about the award and its accompanying +$1 million prize, visit the Takeda site, \\ http://www.takeda-foundation.jp. }~ +={ Takeda Awards } + +On the way over to the restaurant, I learned the circumstances of Sarah and +Richard's first meeting. Interestingly, the circumstances were very familiar. +Working on her own fictional book, Sarah said she heard about Stallman and what +an interesting character he was. She promptly decided to create a character in +her book on Stallman and,in the interests of researching the character, set up +an interview with Stallman. Things quickly went from there. The two had been +dating since the beginning of 2001, she said. + +"I really admired the way Richard built up an entire political movement to +address an issue of profound personal concern," Sarah said,explaining her +attraction to Stallman. + +My wife immediately threw back the question: "What was the issue?" "Crushing +loneliness." During dinner, I let the women do the talking and spent most of +the time trying to detect clues as to whether the last 12 months had softened +Stallman in any significant way. I didn't see anything to suggest they had. +Although more flirtatious than I remembered,Stallman retained the same general +level of prickliness. At one point,my wife uttered an emphatic "God forbid" +only to receive a typical Stallman rebuke. + +"I hate to break it to you, but there is no God," Stallman said.[RMS: I must +have been too deadpan. He could justly accuse me of being a wise guy, but not +of rebuking.] + +Afterwards, when the dinner was complete and Sarah had departed, Stallman +seemed to let his guard down a little. As we walked to a nearby bookstore, he +admitted that the last 12 months had dramatically changed his outlook on life. +"I thought I was going to be alone forever," he said. "I'm glad I was wrong." + +Before parting, Stallman handed me his "pleasure card," a business card listing +Stallman's address, phone number, and favorite pastimes("sharing good books, +good food and exotic music and dance") so that I might set up a final +interview. + +The next day, over another meal of dim sum, Stallman seemed even more +lovestruck than the night before. Recalling his debates with Currier House dorm +maters over the benefits and drawbacks of an immortality serum, Stallman +expressed hope that scientists might some day come up with the key to +immortality. "Now that I'm finally starting to have happiness in my life, I +want to have [a longer life]," he said. + +When I mentioned Sarah's "crushing loneliness" comment, Stallman failed to see +a connection between loneliness on a physical or spiritual level and loneliness +on a hacker level. "The impulse to share code is about friendship but +friendship at a much lower level," he said. Later, however, when the subject +came up again, Stallman did admit that loneliness, or the fear of perpetual +loneliness [RMS: at the hacker-to-hacker, community level, that is], had played +a major role in fueling his determination during the earliest days of the GNU +Project. + +"My fascination with computers was not a consequence of anything else," he +said. "I wouldn't have been less fascinated with computers if I had been +popular and all the women flocked to me. However, it's certainly true the +experience of feeling I didn't have a home, finding one and losing it, finding +another and having it destroyed, affected me deeply. The one I lost was the +dorm. The one that was destroyed was the AI Lab. The precariousness of not +having any kind of home or community was very powerful. It made me want to +fight to get it back." + +After the interview, I couldn't help but feel a certain sense of emotional +symmetry. Hearing Sarah describe what attracted her to Stallman and hearing +Stallman himself describe the emotions that prompted him to take up the free +software cause, I was reminded of my own reasons for writing this book. Since +July, 2000, I have learned to appreciate both the seductive and the repellent +sides of the Richard Stallman persona. Like Eben Moglen before me, I feel that +dismissing that persona as epiphenomenal or distracting in relation to the +overall free software movement would be a grievous mistake. In many ways the +two are so mutually defining as to be indistinguishable. + +[RMS: Williams objectifies his reactions, both positive and negative, as parts +of me, but they are functions also of his own attitudes about appearance, +conformity, and business success.] + +While I'm sure not every reader feels the same level of affinity for +Stallman...I'm sure most will agree [that] few individuals offer as singular a +human portrait as Richard M. Stallman. It is my sincere hope that, with this +initial portrait complete and with the help of the GFDL, others will feel a +similar urge to add their own perspective to that portrait. + +Endnotes + +1~ Appendix A - Hack, Hackers and Hacking +={ hackers +18 } + +To understand the full meaning of the word "hacker," it helps to examine the +word's etymology over the years. + +/{The New Hacker Dictionary}/, an online compendium of software-programmer +jargon, officially lists nine different connotations of the word "hack" and a +similar number for "hacker." Then again, the same publication also includes an +accompanying essay that quotes Phil Agre, an MIT hacker who warns readers not +to be fooled by the word's perceived flexibility. "Hack has only one meaning," +argues Agre. "An extremely subtle and profound one which defies articulation." +Richard Stallman tries to articulate it with the phrase, "Playful cleverness." +={ Agre, Phil ; + New Hacker Dictionary, The +} + +Regardless of the width or narrowness of the definition, most modern hackers +trace the word back to MIT, where the term bubbled upas popular item of student +jargon in the early 1950s. In 1990 the MIT Museum put together a journal +documenting the hacking phenomenon.According to the journal, students who +attended the institute during the fifties used the word "hack" the way a modern +student might use the word "goof." Hanging a jalopy out a dormitory window was +a "hack," but anything harsh or malicious - e.g., egging a rival dorm's windows +or defacing a campus statue - fell outside the bounds. Implicit within the +definition of "hack" was a spirit of harmless, creative fun. +={ MIT Museum } + +This spirit would inspire the word's gerund form: "hacking." A 1950s student +who spent the better part of the afternoon talking on the phone or dismantling +a radio might describe the activity as "hacking." Again, a modern speaker would +substitute the verb form of "goof" -"goofing" or "goofing off" - to describe +the same activity. + +As the 1950s progressed, the word "hack" acquired a sharper, more rebellious +edge. The MIT of the 1950s was overly competitive, and hacking emerged as both +a reaction to and extension of that competitive culture. Goofs and pranks +suddenly became a way to blow off steam, thumb one's nose at campus +administration, and indulge creative thinking and behavior stifled by the +Institute's rigorous undergraduate curriculum. With its myriad hallways and +underground steam tunnels, the Institute offered plenty of exploration +opportunities for the student undaunted by locked doors and "No +Trespassing"signs. Students began to refer to their off-limits explorations as +"tunnel hacking." Above ground, the campus phone system offered similar +opportunities. Through casual experimentation and due diligence, students +learned how to perform humorous tricks. Drawing inspiration from the more +traditional pursuit of tunnel hacking, students quickly dubbed this new +activity "phone hacking." + +The combined emphasis on creative play and restriction-free exploration would +serve as the basis for the future mutations of the hacking term. The first +self-described computer hackers of the 1960s MIT campus originated from a late +1950s student group called the Tech Model Railroad Club. A tight clique within +the club was the Signals and Power (S&P) Committee - the group behind the +railroad club's electrical circuitry system. The system was a sophisticated +assortment of relays and switches similar to the kind that controlled the local +cam-pus phone system. To control it, a member of the group simply dialed in +commands via a connected phone and watched the trains do his bidding. +={ Tech Model Railroad Club ; + S&P (Signals and Power) Committee +2 ; + Signals and Power (S&P) Committee +2 +} + +The nascent electrical engineers responsible for building and maintaining this +system saw their activity as similar in spirit to phone hacking. Adopting the +hacking term, they began refining it even further. From the S&P hacker point of +view, using one less relay to operate a particular stretch of track meant +having one more relay for future play. Hacking subtly shifted from a synonym +for idle play to a synonym for idle play that improved the overall performance +or efficiency of the club's railroad system at the same time. Soon S&P +committee members proudly referred to the entire activity of improving and +reshaping the track's underlying circuitry as "hacking" and to the people who +did it as "hackers." + +Given their affinity for sophisticated electronics - not to mention the +traditional MIT-student disregard for closed doors and "No Trespassing" signs - +it didn't take long before the hackers caught wind of a new machine on campus. +Dubbed the TX-0, the machine was one of the first commercially marketed +computers. By the end of the 1950s, the entire S&P clique had migrated en masse +over to the TX-0 control room, bringing the spirit of creative play with +them.The wide-open realm of computer programming would encourage yet another +mutation in etymology. "To hack" no longer meant soldering unusual looking +circuits, but cobbling together software programs with little regard to +"official" methods or software-writing procedures. It also meant improving the +efficiency and speed of already-existing pro-grams that tended to hog up +machine resources. True to the word's roots, it also meant writing programs +that served no other purpose than to amuse or entertain. +={ TX-0 computer } + +A classic example of this expanded hacking definition is the game Spacewar, the +first computer-based video game. Developed by MIT hackers in the early 1960s, +Spacewar had all the traditional hacking definitions: it was goofy and random, +serving little useful purpose other than providing a nightly distraction for +the dozen or so hackers who delighted in playing it. From a software +perspective, however,it was a monumental testament to innovation of programming +skill.It was also completely free. Because hackers had built it for fun,they +saw no reason to guard their creation, sharing it extensively with other +programmers. By the end of the 1960s, Spacewar had become a diversion for +programmers around the world, if they had the (then rather rare) graphical +displays. + +This notion of collective innovation and communal software ownership distanced +the act of computer hacking in the 1960s from the tunnel hacking and phone +hacking of the 1950s. The latter pursuits tended to be solo or small-group +activities. Tunnel and phone hackers relied heavily on campus lore, but the +off-limits nature of their activity discouraged the open circulation of new +discoveries. Computer hackers, on the other hand, did their work amid a +scientific field biased toward collaboration and the rewarding of innovation. +Hackers and "official" computer scientists weren't always the best of allies, +but in the rapid evolution of the field, the two species of computer programmer +evolved a cooperative - some might say symbiotic - relationship. + +Hackers had little respect for bureaucrats' rules. They regarded computer +security systems that obstructed access to the machine as just another bug, to +be worked around or fixed if possible. Thus,breaking security (but not for +malicious purposes) was a recognized aspect of hacking in 1970, useful for +practical jokes (the victim might say, "I think someone's hacking me") as well +as for gaining access to the computer. But it was not central to the idea of +hacking. Where there was a security obstacle, hackers were proud to display +their wits in surmounting it; however, given the choice, as at the MIT AI +Lab,they chose to have no obstacle and do other kinds of hacking. Where there +is no security, nobody needs to break it. + +It is a testament to the original computer hackers' prodigious skill that later +programmers, including Richard M. Stallman, aspired to wear the same hacker +mantle. By the mid to late 1970s, the term"hacker" had acquired elite +connotations. In a general sense, a computer hacker was any person who wrote +software code for the sake of writing software code. In the particular sense, +however, it was a testament to programming skill. Like the term "artist," the +meaning carried tribal overtones. To describe a fellow programmer as a hacker +was a sign of respect. To describe oneself as a hacker was a sign of immense +personal confidence. Either way, the original looseness of the computer-hacker +appellation diminished as computers became more common. + +As the definition tightened, "computer" hacking acquired additional semantic +overtones. The hackers at the MIT AI Lab shared many other characteristics, +including love of Chinese food, disgust for tobacco smoke, and avoidance of +alcohol, tobacco and other addictive drugs. These characteristics became part +of some people's under-standing of what it meant to be a hacker, and the +community exerted an influence on newcomers even though it did not demand +conformity. However, these cultural associations disappeared with the AI Lab +hacker community. Today, most hackers resemble the surrounding society on these +points. + +As the hackers at elite institutions such as MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon +conversed about hacks they admired, they also considered the ethics of their +activity, and began to speak openly of a "hacker ethic": the yet-unwritten +rules that governed a hacker's day-to-day behavior. In the 1984 book +/{Hackers}/, author Steven Levy, after much research and consultation, codified +the hacker ethic as five core hacker tenets. +={ Hackers (Levy) +1 } + +In the 1980s, computer use expanded greatly, and so did security breaking. +Mostly it was done by insiders with criminal intent, who were generally not +hackers at all. However, occasionally the police and administrators, who +defined disobedience as evil, traced a computer "intrusion" back to a hacker +whose idea of ethics was "Don't hurt people." Journalists published articles in +which "hacking" meant breaking security, and usually endorsed the +administrators' view of the matter. Although books like /{Hackers}/ did much to +document the original spirit of exploration that gave rise to the hacking +culture, for most newspaper reporters and readers the term "computer +hacker"became a synonym for "electronic burglar." + +By the late 1980s, many U.S. teenagers had access to computers.Some were +alienated from society; inspired by journalists' distorted picture of +"hacking," they expressed their resentment by breaking computer security much +as other alienated teens might have done it by breaking windows. They began to +call themselves "hackers," but they never learned the MIT hackers' principle +against malicious behavior.As younger programmers began employing their +computer skills to harmful ends - creating and disseminating computer viruses, +breaking into computer systems for mischief, deliberately causing computers to +crash - the term "hacker" acquired a punk, nihilistic edge which attracted more +people with similar attitudes. + +Hackers have railed against this perceived mis-usage of their self-designator +for nearly two decades. Stallman, not one to take things lying down, coined the +term "cracking" for "security breaking" so that people could more easily avoid +calling it "hacking." But the distinction between hacking and cracking is often +misunderstood. These two descriptive terms are not meant to be exclusive. It's +not that "Hacking is here, and cracking is there, and never the twain shall +meet." Hacking and cracking are different attributes of activities, just as +"young"and "tall" are different attributes of persons. + +Most hacking does not involve security, so it is not cracking. Most cracking is +done for profit or malice and not in a playful spirit, so it is not hacking. +Once in a while a single act may qualify as cracking and as hacking, but that +is not the usual case. The hacker spirit includes irreverence for rules, but +most hacks do not break rules. Cracking is by definition disobedience, but it +is not necessarily malicious or harmful. The computer security field +distinguishes between "black hat"and "white hat" crackers - i.e., crackers who +turn toward destructive,malicious ends versus those who probe security in order +to fix it. + +The hacker's central principle not to be malicious remains the primary cultural +link between the notion of hacking in the early 21st century and hacking in the +1950s. It is important to note that, as the idea of computer hacking has +evolved over the last four decades,the original notion of hacking - i.e., +performing pranks or exploring underground tunnels - remains intact. In the +fall of 2000, the MIT Museum paid tribute to the Institute's age-old hacking +tradition with a dedicated exhibit, the Hall of Hacks. The exhibit includes a +number of photographs dating back to the 1920s, including one involving amock +police cruiser. In 1993, students paid homage to the original MIT notion of +hacking by placing the same police cruiser, lights flashing, atop the +Institute's main dome. The cruiser's vanity license plate read IHTFP, a popular +MIT acronym with many meanings. The most noteworthy version, itself dating back +to the pressure-filled world of MIT student life in the 1950s, is "I hate this +fucking place." In 1990,however, the Museum used the acronym as a basis for a +journal on the history of hacks. Titled /{The Journal of the Institute for +Hacks,Tomfoolery, and Pranks}/, it offers an adept summary of the hacking. +={ Hall of Hacks } + +"In the culture of hacking, an elegant, simple creation is as highly valued as +it is in pure science," writes /{Boston Globe}/ reporter Randolph Ryan in a +1993 article attached to the police car exhibit. "A Hack differs from the +ordinary college prank in that the event usually requires careful planning, +engineering and finesse, and has an under-lying wit and inventiveness," Ryan +writes. "The unwritten rule holds that a hack should be good-natured, +non-destructive and safe. In fact,hackers sometimes assist in dismantling their +own handiwork." +={ Boston Globe ; + Ryan, Randolph +} + +The urge to confine the culture of computer hacking within the same ethical +boundaries is well-meaning but impossible. Although most software hacks aspire +to the same spirit of elegance and simplicity,the software medium offers less +chance for reversibility. Dismantling a police cruiser is easy compared with +dismantling an idea, especially an idea whose time has come. + +Once a vague item of obscure student jargon, the word "hacker" has become a +linguistic billiard ball, subject to political spin and ethical nuances. +Perhaps this is why so many hackers and journalists enjoy using it. We cannot +predict how people will use the word in the future.We can, however, decide how +we will use it ourselves. Using the term "cracking" rather than "hacking," when +you mean "security breaking,"shows respect for Stallman and all the hackers +mentioned in this book,and helps preserve something which all computer users +have benefited from: the hacker spirit. +={ crackers } + +1~ Appendix B - GNU Free Documentation License +={ GFDL (GNU Free Documentation License) +64 ; + GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) +64 +} + +Version 1.3, 3 November 2008 + +Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation + +http://fsf.org/ + +Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license +document, but changing it is not allowed. + +2~ Preamble + +The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional +and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom:to assure everyone the +effective freedom to copy and redistribute it,with or without modifying it, +either commercially or non-commercially.Secondarily, this License preserves for +the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being +considered responsible for modifications made by others. + +This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the +document must themselves be free in the same sense.It complements the GNU +General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software. + +We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, +because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with +manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is +not limited to software manuals;it can be used for any textual work, regardless +of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend +this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference. + +2~ 1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS + +This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium,that contains a +notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the +terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, +unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The +"!{Document}!", below,refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the +public is a licensee, and is addressed as "!{you}!". 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If you use the latter option, you must take +reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in +quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at +the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute +an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition +to the public. + +It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document +well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to +provide you with an updated version of the Document. + +2~ 4. MODIFICATIONS + +You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the +conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified +Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the +role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the +Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. 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Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving +the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this +License, in the form shown in the Addendum below. + +G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and +required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice. + +H. Include an unaltered copy of this License. + +I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it +an item stating at least the title, year, new authors,and publisher of the +Modified Version as given on the Title Page.If there is no section Entitled +"History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and +publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item +describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence. + +J. 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These titles must be distinct from any other section +titles. + +You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but +endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties-for example, +statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization +as the authoritative definition of a standard. + +You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage +of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts +in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of +Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one +entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, +previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are +acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, +on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one. + +The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give +permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply +endorsement of any Modified Version. + +2~ 5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS + +You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, +under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that +you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the +original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your +combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty +Disclaimers. + +The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple +identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are +multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the +title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, +the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else +a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of +Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work. + +In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the +various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise +combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled +"Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements". + +2~ 6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS + +You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents +released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License +in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, +provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each +of the documents in all other respects. + +You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it +individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License +into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects +regarding verbatim copying of that document. + +2~ 7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS + +A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and +independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution +medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the +compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users +beyond what the individual works permit.When the Document is included in an +aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate +which are not themselves derivative works of the Document. + +If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the +Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, +the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document +within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is +in electronic form.Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket +the whole aggregate. + +2~ 8. TRANSLATION + +Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute +translations of the Document under the terms of section 4.Replacing Invariant +Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright +holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in +addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include +a translation of this License,and all the license notices in the Document, and +any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English +version of this License and the original versions of those notices and +disclaimers.In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original +version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will +prevail. + +If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements","Dedications", or +"History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will +typically require changing the actual title. + +2~ 9. TERMINATION + +You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as +expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, +sublicense, or distribute it is void, and will automatically terminate your +rights under this License. + +However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your license from a +particular copyright holder is reinstated (a) provisionally, unless and until +the copyright holder explicitly and finally terminates your license, and (b) +permanently, if the copyright holder fails to notify you of the violation by +some reasonable means prior to 60 days after the cessation. + +Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated +permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the violation by some +reasonable means, this is the first time you have received notice of violation +of this License (for any work) from that copyright holder, and you cure the +violation prior to 30 days after your receipt of the notice. + +Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the licenses +of parties who have received copies or rights from you under this License. If +your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated, receipt of a +copy of some or all of the same material does not give you any rights to use +it. + +2~ 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE + +The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free +Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in +spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems +or concerns. \\ See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/. + +Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the +Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any +later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and +conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has +been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. 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Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or +modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, +Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; +with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A +copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation +License". + +If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace +the "with ... Texts." line with this: + +_1 with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES,with the Front-Cover +Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST. + +If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination +of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation. + +If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code,we recommend +releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software +license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free +software. + +1~ Colophon + +The front and back covers of this book were designed and produced by Rob Myers +using Inkscape, the free software vector graphics program. Jeanne Rasata also +contributed to the cover design. + +The typsetting was done by John Sullivan at the Free Software Foundation using +LATEX, GNU Emacs, Evince, and the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). The +primary font is 10-point Computer Modern. + +Digital versions of the book, including the LATEX source code, are available at +http://www.fsf.org/faif. Improvements are welcome,and can be sent to +sales@gnu.org. |