Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software 1st Edition

by Sam Williams (Author)

20 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0596002879

ISBN-10: 0596002874

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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. It examines Stallman's unique personality and how that personality has been at turns a driving force and a drawback in terms of the movement's overall success.Free as in Freedom examines one man's 20-year attempt to codify and communicate the ethics of 1970s era "hacking" culture in such a way that later generations might easily share and build upon the knowledge of their computing forebears. The book documents Stallman's personal evolution from teenage misfit to prescient adult hacker to political leader and examines how that evolution has shaped the free software movement. Like Alan Greenspan in the financial sector, Richard Stallman has assumed the role of tribal elder within the hacking community, a community that bills itself as anarchic and averse to central leadership or authority. How did this paradox come about? Free as in Freedom provides an answer. It also looks at how the latest twists and turns in the software marketplace have diminished Stallman's leadership role in some areas while augmenting it in others.Finally, Free as in Freedom examines both Stallman and the free software movement from historical viewpoint. Will future generations see Stallman as a genius or crackpot? The answer to that question depends partly on which side of the free software debate the reader currently stands and partly upon the reader's own outlook for the future. 100 years from now, when terms such as "computer," "operating system" and perhaps even "software" itself seem hopelessly quaint, will Richard Stallman's particular vision of freedom still resonate, or will it have taken its place alongside other utopian concepts on the 'ash-heap of history?'

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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.

From the Author

I am the author of this book, and I welcome all feedback. You can reach me at my email address: sam@inow.com. O'Reilly is also offering a corrections page. If you see a portion [or portions] of the book that needs to be corrected or improved in any way, let me know.

The people at O'Reilly have also been gracious enough to publish this book under the GNU Free Documentation License. This means that readers have the freedom not only to copy and lend physical copies of the book but to copy and lend electronic copies as well. They also have the freedom to modify the book and make derivative versions with or without my permission.

Although O'Reilly has yet to publish and electronic version of the book, I have taken advantage of the liberties provided in the GFDL to create my own HTML-version of the book. This version is free [as in free beer] to read and free [as in freedom] to copy, modify and republish. My intention is to begin making my own modifications to the book, incorporating feedback received from initial readers along with my own changes, later this spring.

The site's title should give a hint ast to my intentions. Like Mozilla, I see FAIFzilla as the evolving "source code" for later versions of _Free as in Freedom_. Just as AOL/Netscape periodically dips into Mozilla to generate upgrades of its web browser, I'm hoping that O'Reilly, or any other motivated publisher, will dip into FAIFzilla to come out with second version of _Free as in Freedom_ sometime late next year. It's an experimental idea, but judging by the success of past O'Reilly projects -- namely, _Open Sources_ [1999] and _Cathedral and the Bazaar_ [2000] -- I think it might lead to interesting results.

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Product details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (March 11, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0596002874
ISBN-13: 978-0596002879
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 20 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,684,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #448 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Information Theory
- #1038 in Books > Computers & Technology > Internet & Social Media > Hacking
- #1079 in Books > Computers & Technology > Operating Systems > Linux

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Bas Vodde

Biography of the last true MIT AI hacker.

March 7, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

"Free as in Freedom" is a biography of Richard Hackman, the founder of the GNU project written by a journalist called Sam Williams. It is written under the GNU free documentation license, so can find a free copy on internet at: [...]

The writing is somewhat awkward at times. It starts at the famous story about the Xerox printer which triggered Stallman to start the GNU project years later. But then it actually moves to the biographer talking to Richard in the "now." It then moves back from now to history, to now etc. This is somewhat confusing and also the biographer is perhaps too much there and too much giving his opinions instead of writing the story (especially the last chapter).

The history stories of the book are pretty good though. The classic story about the printer and how emacs was created and the MIT AI Lab culture. From there it moves into the creation on GNU and its initial non-success. Also if briefly covers the conflicts between Stallman and the Open Source community, Stallman and other GNU members and Stallman and the biographer. In other words, it describes pretty well how hard it is to work together with Richard.

I like the book for the stories and its historical perspectives. I like the book for trying to describe how it is to work with a person like Richard Stallman and trying to explain that based in his history. I didn't like the writing style very much and the opinion of the author. If you are interested in Free Software history, then this would probably be a good book for you to read. Otherwise, you'd probably need to leave it where it is or just browse the free (as in freedom) internet version. 4 stars still though.

As a sidenote. It doesn't seem Richard Stallman himself is promoting this book or has made any comments about this book.

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OTG w/chickens

Very good portrayal and informative

April 29, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I am a die hard GNU/Linux user for over 12 years. I have become extremely frustrated in Microsoft products that simply don't work and are a huge pain to maintain, while using Linux and watching it excel over Microsoft products again and again. I wrote my own article comparing Linux to Windows and finally decided it was time to get some more history of GNU/Linux and how it came to be. This book fit the bill. It goes into great detail on Stallman, who created the GNU General Public License and the GNU Operating System which started it all, and why he did so. It does a great job of following Stallman's life and the development of the GPL and other accomplishments of Stallman. It also does a great job of introducing Linus Torvalds and how he contributed the Linux kernel which was the missing piece to the GNU Operating System by Stallman, to form what we use today, GNU/Linux or more commonly called just Linux. A great overall book for learning the history of Linux.

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mic_pio

This book it's just pure inspiration. Even though there ...

February 16, 2017

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

This book it's just pure inspiration.
Even though there is free digital version you should have a copy in you library (for all GNU Linux geeks) :)

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Mohanad Mokhtar

I recommend it to anyone interested to know more about the ...

June 13, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Comprehensive view on one of the elite hackers and one who changed the history of computer software... I recommend it to anyone interested to know more about the free software movement and its effects and how Mr Stallman saw what we saffer today long time ago.

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A. Valentine

You don't have to like him but you must respect him

March 15, 2003

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I really didn't have high expectations for this book, I figured it would be nothing more than a historical account of the accomplishments of RMS, I was dead wrong. "Free as in Freedom" looks at RMS from a personal and technical level. From his beginnings as an awkward boy in NYC, all the way to rise of the free software movement. I figured this book would be written from extremely pro-gnu standpoint, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an objective account of Richard's issues with the open source movement.

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Isaac

For free software!

December 19, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

A most interesting biography of a most interesting man. Because of Stallman, the world can conveniently enjoy modern-day necessities such as the internet and Wikipedia for free. If you are against proprietary software, please purchase this book!

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Amazon Customer

He is classy

November 4, 2006

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

It's great to read the story of the master who began this Free Software revolution!

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