Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software (Hardcover)

by Sam Williams (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
In 1984, Richard Stallman launched the GNU Project for the purpose of developing a complete UNIX-like operating system that would allow for free software use. What he developed was the GNU operating system. (GNU is a recursive acronym for "GNU's Not UNIX,'' and it is pronounced guh-NEW. Linux is a variant of the GNU operating system.) This biography traces the evolution of Stallman's eccentric genius from gifted child to teen outcast to passionate crusader for free software. To Stallman, free software is morally vital, and for the past two decades he has devoted his life to eradicating proprietary source codes from the world. Savvy programmers revere Stallman; Bill Gates reviles him. Much of the fascination with Stallman lies in his messianic zeal, which Williams, a freelance writer specializing in high-tech culture, has attempted to capture here, drawing on a number of interviews with the unconventional Stallman, his associates, fans, and critics. The result is an esoteric and uneven work whose audience will likely be limited to the army of programmers drawn to Stallman's worthy cause. Buy accordingly. Joe Accardi, Harper Coll. Lib., Palatine, IL
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Free as in Freedom interweaves biographical snapshots of GNU project founder Richard Stallman with the political, social and economic history of the free software movement. Starting with how it all began--a desire for software code from Xerox to make the printing more efficient--to the continuing quest for free software that exists today. It is a movement that Stallman has at turns defined, directed and manipulated. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder in a community that bills itself as anarchic and immune to central authority. Free as in Freedom looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have done little to throw Stallman off his pedestal. Discover how the Richard's childhood and teenage experiences made him the man he is today. If anything, they have made Stallman's logic-based rhetoric and immovable personality more persuasive. In a rapidly changing world people need a fixed reference point, and Stallman has become that reference point for many in the software world.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596002874
• ISBN-13: 978-0596002879
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #796,566 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book to those who have actually read it..., March 27, 2002

By A Customer

The reviewer who admittedly has not read the book also has no idea what context the author and Stallman use the word "free" in. This is "free" as in "freedom", as the title says. Not "free" as in "free beer", as they say.

Stallman's views are basically for free information. The base price of free software can be one dollar or 1000 dollars. The source code for it must be available, though, and it must be made distributable for those who want it. The idea is that interested programmers can add, improve, and change around the program for the benefit of everyone.

If we extend this purpose to include his book, as the reviewer implied, then it would still be completely valid. Source code (the English syntax) is available, so people can modify the book, and they can distribute it so that others can do the same. The base price can easily be [money]. The pricing is irrelevent if the other two conditions are met.

I suppose that the reviewer would know these things if he was qualified to review the book (that is, if he had read it, which he admittedly has not).

On the topic of the book itself, I enjoyed it immensely. It was definitely not too short, and most certainly not too long. It was just right for the type of story it was telling. The book focuses mostly on Stallman's life and his decisions and discoveries that he made that led him to start the Free Software Foundation.

Throughout the book, it becomes clear that Stallman is a very gifted man (he learned Calculus when he was seven), but it wasn't until his college years that he really found his niche. When he did, his gifts became apparent, and his true potentials came out.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in free or open-source software to read this book for the background on the man who started it all. His rationale is very thought-provoking, and makes you wonder about some of the other things in life that should be questioned, but now are simply taken for granted.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overrated Book, Underrated Genius, January 10, 2003

By	James Collins "juc3rd" (Sierra Madre, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Short story: this book deserves 2.5 stars at best. For the longer version, read on.

First the good news. Williams takes some pains to understand and accurately portray RMS, which, from all indications, is no easy task. FAIF, in taking this measured look, does supply some perspective to this at times under-appreciated contributor to the "new" computer revolution.

I also appreciated the eclectic trajectories of the author. First, Williams publishes FAIF under the Gnu Free Document License (GFDL), thereby making it a "free book". Although a completely natural step considering the subject matter, publishing the book as such is an important extension of the general principle that certain ideas should be freely accessible and modifiable. Second, he borrows from a range of excellent sources, even going so far as to reference "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" in the Epilogue!

Furthermore, the abridged history of the roots of hackerdom is particularly well done, if somewhat thickly worded. Attention was also clearly paid to chapter length, making that aspect of the book "readable" and pleasant.

Now for the not-so-good news. The writing style is far from fluid: I didn't feel as though I was lead through the events in the book so much as I was thrown into them. To make matters worse, some events were irrelevant (I still can't figure out why the treatment of RMS's mother's politics were given so much attention), others over-quoted (I can read Levy's "Hackers" myself), while still others were just plain inaccurate.

The last of these transgressions is certainly the most serious, and merits some detail. As one example, on page 143 Williams describes the Linux kernel as "a bored-out, super-charged version of Minix." He continues, "Rather than building their operating system from scratch, Torvalds and his rapidly expanding Linux development team had followed the old Picasso adage, 'good artists borrow, great artists steal'", alluding to his apparent belief that Linux is some sort of clever rehash of something that came before it.

These inaccuracies are not merely an excusable smudging of the facts. In "Just For Fun" (a source to which Williams points frequently enough), Torvalds dedicates *an entire chapter* (Chapter X) to debunking the mythical connections between Minix and Linux (no boring-out, no super-charging). Torvalds also evinces on pp. 77-8 in JFF (paperback edition), the processes involved in writing the operating system. "My terminal emulator grew legs", he says; later "I wrote a disk driver", and finally "I made my filesystem compatible with the Minix system". None of these actions so much as hints at borrowing, not to mention stealing, anything. In fact, at this point *all* of the work appears to be that of Torvalds, and *is* from scratch. (Of course, code reuse isn't a sin anyway, but rather should be-and frequently is-a blessing, as I'm sure RMS himself would readily admit. Regardless, the pejorative tone and inaccurate reporting is no less obnoxious for being subtle.)

Other examples of spin doctoring and untruths can also be found in uncomfortable abundance. Much of the combative posturing vis-à-vis the GNU/Linux and Open Source communities-particularly in relation to the personages of Torvalds and ESR, I found wholly unproductive. These egregious gestures on the part of Williams show a blatant bias to RMS, as either shunned hero or undeserved victim. Elements of both of these are likely true, but not likely to the degree expressed by Williams (or felt by RMS??). In any event, the lack of perspective by the author for his subject is journalistically weak.

And finally, Williams manages to hit a couple of lesser pet peeves of mine. Neither proofreading nor fact checking is my idea of pleasantly interacting with a book. Not only could FAIF have stood another reading before going to press, a spellchecker could have caught a number of obvious spelling errors. To those who would suggest that the GFDL is employed precisely to improve the book, I would suggest that the license should not be used as a shield to ward off criticism of sloppy work.

Anyway, if you want something concise, this will do. Fwiw, I'd advise checking out the site of the book online first, paying attention to the sources that sound interesting, and *reading those first*. Then go to gnu.org or slashdot.org and read items of interest about RMS there. If you still aren't satisfied, you can always go back to faifzilla and read FAIF online (it's more up to date anyway). If after that you STILL want the pen-and-ink version, you know where it's available.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling profile of an very controversial maverick, March 29, 2002

By A Customer

It's hard to be neutral about Richard Stallman. Some people love him--others hate him. But he's been the key player in the free software movement. This nicely written book helps us to understand what makes him tick, and why he is what he is. It goes back to his youth and even includes interviews with his mother. The book is by no means a defense of Stallman. Instead, it probes beneath the surface and chronicles the events that have made him such a prominent and sometimes enigmatic figure among free software and open source developers.

While Stallman cooperated with the author, he has no financial connections with the book (to address the concerns of one reviewer here).