,copyright 7,c7 #bjjb by ,sam ,williams4 ,free ,as in ,freedom3 ,richard ,stallman's ,crusade for ,free ,software4 ,by ,sam ,williams ,available on the web at3 http3_/_/www4faifzilla4org_/ ,produced under the ,free ,documentation ,license ,table of ,contents ,chapter #a ,for ,want of a ,printer ,chapter #b #bjja3 ,a ,hacker's ,odyssey ,chapter #c ,a ,portrait of the ,hacker as a ,young ,man ,chapter #d ,impeach ,god ,chapter #e ,small ,puddle of ,freedom ,chapter #f ,the ,emacs ,commune ,chapter #g ,a ,stark ,moral ,choice ,chapter #h ,st4 ,ignucius ,chapter #i ,the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license ,chapter #aj ,,gnu_/,linux ,chapter #aa ,open ,source ,chapter #ab ,a ,brief ,journey ,through ,hacker ,hell ,chapter #ac ,continuing the ,fight ,chapter #ad ,epilogue3 ,chapter #ae ,appendix ,a 3 ,terminology ,chapter #af ,appendix ,b ,hack1 ,hackers1 and ,hacking ,chapter #ag ,appendix ,c ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license 7,,gfdl7 ,preface ,the work of ,richard ,m4 ,stallman literally speaks for itself4 ,from the documented source code to the published papers to the recorded speeches1 few people have expressed as much willingness to lay their thoughts and their work on the line4 ,such openness-if one can pardon a momentary un-,stallman adjective-is refreshing4 ,after all1 we live in a society that treats information1 especially personal information1 as a valuable commodity4 ,the question quickly arises4 ,why would anybody want to part with so much information and yet appear to demand nothing in return8 ,as we shall see in later chapters1 ,stallman does not part with his words or his work altruistically4 ,every program1 speech1 and on-the-record bon mot comes with a price1 albeit not the kind of price most people are used to paying4 ,i bring this up not as a warning1 but as an admission4 ,as a person who has spent the last year digging up facts on ,stallman's personal history1 it's more than a little intimidating going up against the ,stallman oeuvre4 ,never pick a fight with a man who buys his ink by the barrel1 goes the old ,mark ,twain adage4 ,in the case of ,stallman1 never attempt the definitive biography of a man who trusts his every thought to the public record4 ,for the readers who have decided to trust a few hours of their time to exploring this book1 ,i can confidently state that there are facts and quotes in here that one won't find in any ,slashdot story or ,google search4 ,gaining access to these facts involves paying a price1 however4 ,in the case of the book version1 you can pay for these facts the traditional manner1 i4e41 by purchasing the book4 ,in the case of the electronic versions1 you can pay for these facts in the free software manner4 ,thanks to the folks at ,o',reilly ,associates1 this book is being distributed under the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license1 meaning you can help to improve the work or create a personalized version and release that version under the same license4 ,if you are reading an electronic version and prefer to accept the latter payment option1 that is1 if you want to improve or expand this book for future readers1 ,i welcome your input4 ,starting in ,june1 #bjjb1 ,i will be publishing a bare bones ,,html version of the book on the web site1 http3_/_/www4faifzilla4org4 ,my aim is to update it regularly and expand the ,free as in ,freedom story as events warrant4 ,if you choose to take the latter course1 please review ,appendix ,c of this book4 ,it provides a copy of your rights under the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license4 ,for those who just plan to sit back and read1 online or elsewhere1 ,i consider your attention an equally valuable form of payment4 ,don't be surprised1 though1 if you1 too1 find yourself looking for other ways to reward the good will that made this work possible4 ,one final note3 this is a work of journalism1 but it is also a work of technical documentation4 ,in the process of writing and editing this book1 the editors and ,i have weighed the comments and factual input of various participants in the story1 including ,richard ,stallman himself4 ,we realize there are many technical details in this story that may benefit from additional or refined information4 ,as this book is released under the ,,gfdl1 we are accepting patches just like we would with any free software program4 ,accepted changes will be posted electronically and will eventually be incorporated into future printed versions of this work4 ,if you would like to contribute to the further improvement of this book1 you can reach me at saminow4com4 ,comments and ,questions ,please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher3 ,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc4 #ajje ,gravenstein ,highway ,north ,sebastopol1 ,,ca #iedgb 7#hjj7 #iih-iich 7in the ,united ,states or ,canada7 7#gjg7 #hbi-jeae 7international_/local7 7#gjg7 #hbi-jajd 7fax7 ,there is a web page for this book1 which lists errata1 examples1 or any additional information4 ,the site also includes a link to a forum where you can discuss the book with the author and other readers4 ,you can access this site at3 http3_/_/www4oreilly4com_/catalog_/freed om_/ ,to comment or ask technical questions about this book1 send email to3 bookquestionsoreilly4com ,for more information about books1 conferences1 ,resource ,centers1 and the ,o',reilly ,network1 see the ,o',reilly web site at3 http3_/_/www4oreilly4com ,acknowledgments ,special thanks to ,henning ,gutmann for sticking by this book4 ,special thanks to ,aaron ,oas for suggesting the idea to ,tracy in the first place4 ,thanks to ,laurie ,petrycki1 ,jeffrey ,holcomb1 and all the others at ,o',reilly ,associates4 ,thanks to ,tim ,o',reilly for backing this book4 ,thanks to all the first-draft reviewers3 ,bruce ,perens1 ,eric ,raymond1 ,eric ,allman1 ,jon ,orwant1 ,julie and ,gerald ,jay ,sussman1 ,hal ,abelson1 and ,guy ,steele4 ,i hope you enjoy this typo-free version4 ,thanks to ,alice ,lippman for the interviews1 cookies1 and photographs4 ,thanks to my family1 ,steve1 ,jane1 ,tish1 and ,dave4 ,and finally1 last but not least3 thanks to ,richard ,stallman for having the guts and endurance to show us the code4 ,sam ,williams ,for ,want of a ,printer ,i fear the ,greeks4 ,even when they bring gifts4 ---,virgil ,the ,aeneid ,the new printer was jammed1 again4 ,richard ,m4 ,stallman1 a staff software programmer at the ,massachusetts ,institute of ,technology's ,artificial ,intelligence ,laboratory 7,,ai ,lab71 discovered the malfunction the hard way4 ,an hour after sending off a #ej-page file to the office laser printer1 ,stallman1 #bg1 broke off a productive work session to retrieve his documents4 ,upon arrival1 he found only four pages in the printer's tray4 ,to make matters even more frustrating1 the four pages belonged to another user1 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 network4 ,waiting for machines is an occupational hazard when you're a software programmer1 so ,stallman took his frustration with a grain of salt4 ,still1 the difference between waiting for a machine and waiting on a machine is a sizable one4 ,it wasn't the first time he'd been forced to stand over the printer1 watching pages print out one by one4 ,as a person who spent the bulk of his days and nights improving the efficiency of machines and the software programs that controlled them1 ,stallman felt a natural urge to open up the machine1 look at the guts1 and seek out the root of the problem4 ,unfortunately1 ,stallman's skills as a computer programmer did not extend to the mechanical-engineering realm4 ,as freshly printed documents poured out of the machine1 ,stallman had a chance to reflect on other ways to circumvent the printing jam problem4 ,how long ago had it been that the staff members at the ,,ai ,lab had welcomed the new printer with open arms8 ,stallman wondered4 ,the machine had been a donation from the ,xerox ,corporation4 ,a cutting edge prototype1 it was a modified version of the popular ,xerox photocopier4 ,only instead of making copies1 it relied on software data piped in over a computer network to turn that data into professional-looking documents4 ,created by engineers at the world-famous ,xerox ,palo ,alto ,research ,facility1 it was1 quite simply1 an early taste of the desktop-printing revolution that would seize the rest of the computing industry by the end of the decade4 ,driven by an instinctual urge to play with the best new equipment1 programmers at the ,,ai ,lab promptly integrated the new machine into the lab's sophisticated computing infrastructure4 ,the results had been immediately pleasing4 ,unlike the lab's old laser printer1 the new ,xerox machine was fast4 ,pages came flying out at a rate of one per second1 turning a #bj-minute print job into a #b-minute print job4 ,the new machine was also more precise4 ,circles came out looking like circles1 not ovals4 ,straight lines came out looking like straight lines1 not low-amplitude sine waves4 ,it was1 for all intents and purposes1 a gift too good to refuse4 ,it wasn't until a few weeks after its arrival that the machine's flaws began to surface4 ,chief among the drawbacks was the machine's inherent susceptibility to paper jams4 ,engineering-minded programmers quickly understood the reason behind the flaw4 ,as a photocopier1 the machine generally required the direct oversight of a human operator4 ,figuring that these human operators would always be on hand to fix a paper jam1 if it occurred1 ,xerox engineers had devoted their time and energies to eliminating other pesky problems4 ,in engineering terms1 user diligence was built into the system4 ,in modifying the machine for printer use1 ,xerox engineers had changed the user-machine relationship in a subtle but profound way4 ,instead of making the machine subservient to an individual human operator1 they made it subservient to an entire networked population of human operators4 ,instead of standing directly over the machine1 a human user on one end of the network sent his print command through an extended bucket-brigade of machines1 expecting the desired content to arrive at the targeted destination and in proper form4 ,it wasn't until he finally went to check up on the final output that he realized how little of the desired content had made it through4 ,stallman himself had been of the first to identify the problem and the first to suggest a remedy4 ,years before1 when the lab was still using its old printer1 ,stallman had solved a similar problem by opening up the software program that regulated the printer on the lab's ,,pdp-#aa machine4 ,stallman couldn't eliminate paper jams1 but he could insert a software command that ordered the ,,pdp-#aa to check the printer periodically and report back to the ,,pdp-#aj1 the lab's central computer4 ,to ensure that one user's negligence didn't bog down an entire line of print jobs1 ,stallman also inserted a software command that instructed the ,,pdp-#aj to notify every user with a waiting print job that the printer was jammed4 ,the notice was simple1 something along the lines of ,the printer is jammed1 please fix it1 and because it went out to the people with the most pressing need to fix the problem1 chances were higher that the problem got fixed in due time4 ,as fixes go1 ,stallman's was oblique but elegant4 ,it didn't fix the mechanical side of the problem1 but it did the next best thing by closing the information loop between user and machine4 ,thanks to a few additional lines of software code1 ,,ai ,lab employees could eliminate the #aj or #ae minutes wasted each week in running back and forth to check on the printer4 ,in programming terms1 ,stallman's fix took advantage of the amplified intelligence of the overall network4 ,if you got that message1 you couldn't assume somebody else would fix it1 says ,stallman1 recalling the logic4 ,you had to go to the printer4 ,a minute or two after the printer got in trouble1 the two or three people who got messages arrive to fix the machine4 ,of those two or three people1 one of them1 at least1 would usually know how to fix the problem4 ,such clever fixes were a trademark of the ,,ai ,lab and its indigenous population of programmers4 ,indeed1 the best programmers at the ,,ai ,lab disdained the term programmer1 preferring the more slangy occupational title of hacker instead4 ,the job title covered a host of activities-everything from creative mirth making to the improvement of existing software and computer systems4 ,implicit within the title1 however1 was the old-fashioned notion of ,yankee ingenuity4 ,to be a hacker1 one had to accept the philosophy that writing a software program was only the beginning4 ,improving a program was the true test of a hacker's skills4,for more on the term hacker1 see ,appendix ,b4 ,such a philosophy was a major reason why companies like ,xerox made it a policy to donate their machines and software programs to places where hackers typically congregated4 ,if hackers improved the software1 companies could borrow back the improvements1 incorporating them into update versions for the commercial marketplace4 ,in corporate terms1 hackers were a leveragable community asset1 an auxiliary research-and-development division available at minimal cost4 ,it was because of this give-and-take philosophy that when ,stallman spotted the print-jam defect in the ,xerox laser printer1 he didn't panic4 ,he simply looked for a way to update the old fix or hack for the new system4 ,in the course of looking up the ,xerox laser-printer software1 however1 ,stallman made a troubling discovery4 ,the printer didn't have any software1 at least nothing ,stallman or a fellow programmer could read4 ,until then1 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 do4 ,xerox1 in this instance1 had provided software files in precompiled1 or binary1 form4 ,programmers were free to open the files up if they wanted to1 but unless they were an expert in deciphering an endless stream of ones and zeroes1 the resulting text was pure gibberish4 ,although ,stallman knew plenty about computers1 he was not an expert in translating binary files4 ,as a hacker1 however1 he had other resources at his disposal4 ,the notion of information sharing was so central to the hacker culture that ,stallman knew it was only a matter of time before some hacker in some university lab or corporate computer room proffered a version of the laser-printer source code with the desired source-code files4 ,after the first few printer jams1 ,stallman comforted himself with the memory of a similar situation years before4 ,the lab had needed a cross-network program to help the ,,pdp-#aa work more efficiently with the ,,pdp-#aj4 ,the lab's hackers were more than up to the task1 but ,stallman1 a ,harvard alumnus1 recalled a similar program written by programmers at the ,harvard computer-science department4 ,the ,harvard computer lab used the same model computer1 the ,,pdp-#aj1 albeit with a different operating system4 ,the ,harvard computer lab also had a policy requiring that all programs installed on the ,,pdp-#aj had to come with published source-code files4 ,taking advantage of his access to the ,harvard computer lab1 ,stallman dropped in1 made a copy of the cross-network source code1 and brought it back to the ,,ai ,lab4 ,he then rewrote the source code to make it more suitable for the ,,ai ,lab's operating system4 ,with no muss and little fuss1 the ,,ai ,lab shored up a major gap in its software infrastructure4 ,stallman even added a few features not found in the original ,harvard program1 making the program even more useful4 ,we wound up using it for several years1 ,stallman says4 ,from the perspective of a #aigjs-era programmer1 the transaction was the software equivalent of a neighbor stopping by to borrow a power tool or a cup of sugar from a neighbor4 ,the only difference was that in borrowing a copy of the software for the ,,ai ,lab1 ,stallman had done nothing to deprive ,harvard hackers the use of their original program4 ,if anything1 ,harvard hackers gained in the process1 because ,stallman had introduced his own additional features to the program1 features that hackers at ,harvard were perfectly free to borrow in return4 ,although nobody at ,harvard ever came over to borrow the program back1 ,stallman does recall a programmer at the private engineering firm1 ,bolt1 ,beranek ,newman1 borrowing the program and adding a few additional features1 which ,stallman eventually reintegrated into the ,,ai ,lab's own source-code archive4 ,a program would develop the way a city develops1 says ,stallman1 recalling the software infrastructure of the ,,ai ,lab4 ,parts would get replaced and rebuilt4 ,new things would get added on4 ,but you could always look at a certain part and say1 ,hmm1 by the style1 ,i see this part was written back in the early #fjs and this part was written in the mid-#aigjs4' ,through this simple system of intellectual accretion1 hackers at the ,,ai ,lab and other places built up robust creations4 ,on the west coast1 computer scientists at ,,uc ,berkeley1 working in cooperation with a few low-level engineers at ,,at,t1 had built up an entire operating system using this system4 ,dubbed ,unix1 a play on an older1 more academically respectable operating system called ,multics1 the software system was available to any programmer willing to pay for the cost of copying the program onto a new magnetic tape and shipping it4 ,not every programmer participating in this culture described himself as a hacker1 but most shared the sentiments of ,richard ,m4 ,stallman4 ,if a program or software fix was good enough to solve your problems1 it was good enough to solve somebody else's problems4 ,why not share it out of a simple desire for good karma8 ,the fact that ,xerox had been unwilling to share its source-code files seemed a minor annoyance at first4 ,in tracking down a copy of the source-code files1 ,stallman says he didn't even bother contacting ,xerox4 ,they had already given us the laser printer1 ,stallman says4 ,why should ,i bug them for more8 ,when the desired files failed to surface1 however1 ,stallman began to grow suspicious4 ,the year before1 ,stallman had experienced a blow up with a doctoral student at ,carnegie ,mellon ,university4 ,the student1 ,brian ,reid1 was the author of a useful text-formatting program dubbed ,scribe4 ,one of the first programs that gave a user the power to define fonts and type styles when sending a document over a computer network1 the program was an early harbinger of ,,html1 the lingua franca of the ,world ,wide ,web4 ,in #aigi1 ,reid made the decision to sell ,scribe to a ,pittsburgh-area software company called ,unilogic4 ,his graduate-student career ending1 ,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 domain4 ,to sweeten the deal1 ,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 #ij-;day expiration date4 ,to avoid deactivation1 users paid the software company1 which then issued a code that defused the internal time-bomb feature4 ,for ,reid1 the deal was a win-win4 ,scribe didn't fall into the public domain1 and ,unilogic recouped on its investment4 ,for ,stallman1 it was a betrayal of the programmer ethos1 pure and simple4 ,instead of honoring the notion of share-and-share alike1 ,reid had inserted a way for companies to compel programmers to pay for information access4 ,as the weeks passed and his attempts to track down ,xerox laser-printer source code hit a brick wall1 ,stallman began to sense a similar money-for-code scenario at work4 ,before ,stallman could do or say anything about it1 however1 good news finally trickled in via the programmer grapevine4 ,word had it that a scientist at the computer-science department at ,carnegie ,mellon ,university had just departed a job at the ,xerox ,palo ,alto ,research ,center4 ,not only had the scientist worked on the laser printer in question1 but according to rumor1 he was still working on it as part of his research duties at ,carnegie ,mellon4 ,casting aside his initial suspicion1 ,stallman made a firm resolution to seek out the person in question during his next visit to the ,carnegie ,mellon campus4 ,he didn't have to wait long4 ,carnegie ,mellon also had a lab specializing in artificial-intelligence research1 and within a few months1 ,stallman had a business-related reason to visit the ,carnegie ,mellon campus4 ,during that visit1 he made sure to stop by the computer-science department4 ,department employees directed him to the office of the faculty member leading the ,xerox project4 ,when ,stallman reached the office1 he found the professor working there4 ,in true engineer-to-engineer fashion1 the conversation was cordial but blunt4 ,after briefly introducing himself as a visitor from ,,mit1 ,stallman requested a copy of the laser-printer source code so that he could port it to the ,,pdp-#aa4 ,to his surprise1 the professor refused to grant his request4 ,he told me that he had promised not to give me a copy1 ,stallman says4 ,memory is a funny thing4 ,twenty years after the fact1 ,stallman's mental history tape is notoriously blank in places4 ,not only does he not remember the motivating reason for the trip or even the time of year during which he took it1 he also has no recollection of the professor or doctoral student on the other end of the conversation4 ,according to ,reid1 the person most likely to have fielded ,stallman's request is ,robert ,sproull1 a former ,xerox ,,parc researcher and current director of ,sun ,laboratories1 a research division of the computer-technology conglomerate ,sun ,microsystems4 ,during the #aigjs1 ,sproull had been the primary developer of the laser-printer software in question while at ,xerox ,,parc4 ,around #aihj1 ,sproull took a faculty research position at ,carnegie ,mellon where he continued his laser-printer work amid other projects4 ,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 ,mellon1 recalls ,reid4 ,i suspect that ,sproull had been at ,carnegie ,mellon less than a month before this request came in4 ,when asked directly about the request1 however1 ,sproull draws a blank4 ,i can't make a factual comment1 writes ,sproull via email4 ,i have absolutely no recollection of the incident4 ,with both participants in the brief conversation struggling to recall key details-including whether the conversation even took place-it's hard to gauge the bluntness of ,sproull's refusal1 at least as recalled by ,stallman4 ,in talking to audiences1 ,stallman has made repeated reference to the incident1 noting that ,sproull's unwillingness to hand over the source code stemmed from a nondisclosure agreement1 a contractual agreement between ,sproull and the ,xerox ,corporation giving ,sproull1 or any other signatory1 access the software source code in exchange for a promise of secrecy4 ,now a standard item of business in the software industry1 the nondisclosure agreement1 or ,,nda1 was a novel development at the time1 a reflection of both the commercial value of the laser printer to ,xerox and the information needed to run it4 ,xerox was at the time trying to make a commercial product out of the laser printer1 recalls ,reid4 ,they would have been insane to give away the source code4 ,for ,stallman1 however1 the ,,nda was something else entirely4 ,it was a refusal on the part of ,xerox and ,sproull1 or whomever the person was that turned down his source-code request that day1 to participate in a system that1 until then1 had encouraged software programmers to regard programs as communal resources4 ,like a peasant whose centuries-old irrigation ditch had grown suddenly dry1 ,stallman had followed the ditch to its source only to find a brand-spanking-new hydroelectric dam bearing the ,xerox logo4 ,for ,stallman1 the realization that ,xerox had compelled a fellow programmer to participate in this newfangled system of compelled secrecy took a while to sink in4 ,at first1 all he could focus on was the personal nature of the refusal4 ,as a person who felt awkward and out of sync in most face-to-face encounters1 ,stallman's attempt to drop in on a fellow programmer unannounced had been intended as a demonstration of neighborliness4 ,now that the request had been refused1 it felt like a major blunder4 ,i was so angry ,i couldn't think of a way to express it4 ,so ,i just turned away and walked out without another word1 ,stallman recalls4 ,i might have slammed the door4 ,who knows8 ,all ,i remember is wanting to get out of there4 ,twenty years after the fact1 the anger still lingers1 so much so that ,stallman has elevated the event into a major turning point4 ,within the next few months1 a series of events would befall both ,stallman and the ,,ai ,lab hacker community that would make #cj seconds worth of tension in a remote ,carnegie ,mellon office seem trivial by comparison4 ,nevertheless1 when it comes time to sort out the events that would transform ,stallman from a lone hacker1 instinctively suspicious of centralized authority1 to a crusading activist applying traditional notions of liberty1 equality1 and fraternity to the world of software development1 ,stallman singles out the ,carnegie ,mellon encounter for special attention4 ,it encouraged me to think about something that ,i'd already been thinking about1 says ,stallman4 ,i already had an idea that software should be shared1 but ,i wasn't sure how to think about that4 ,my thoughts weren't clear and organized to the point where ,i could express them in a concise fashion to the rest of the world4 ,although previous events had raised ,stallman's ire1 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 sacrosanct4 ,as an elite programmer at one of the world's elite institutions1 ,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 work4 ,until the arrival of the ,xerox laser printer1 ,stallman had been content to look down on the machines and programs other computer users grimly tolerated4 ,on the rare occasion that such a program breached the ,,ai ,lab's walls-when the lab replaced its venerable ,incompatible ,time ,sharing operating system with a commercial variant1 the ,,tops #bj1 for example-,stallman and his hacker colleagues had been free to rewrite1 reshape1 and rename the software according to personal taste4 ,now that the laser printer had insinuated itself within the ,,ai ,lab's network1 however1 something had changed4 ,the machine worked fine1 barring the occasional paper jam1 but the ability to modify according to personal taste had disappeared4 ,from the viewpoint of the entire software industry1 the printer was a wake-up call4 ,software had become such a valuable asset that companies no longer felt the need to publicize source code1 especially when publication meant giving potential competitors a chance to duplicate something cheaply4 ,from ,stallman's viewpoint1 the printer was a ,trojan ,horse4 ,after a decade of failure1 privately owned software-future hackers would use the term proprietary software-had gained a foothold inside the ,,ai ,lab through the sneakiest of methods4 ,it had come disguised as a gift4 ,that ,xerox had offered some programmers access to additional gifts in exchange for secrecy was also galling1 but ,stallman takes pains to note that1 if presented with such a quid pro quo bargain at a younger age1 he just might have taken the ,xerox ,corporation up on its offer4 ,the awkwardness of the ,carnegie ,mellon encounter1 however1 had a firming effect on ,stallman's own moral lassitude4 ,not only did it give him the necessary anger to view all future entreaties with suspicion1 it also forced him to ask the uncomfortable question3 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 code8 ,it was my first encounter with a nondisclosure agreement1 and it immediately taught me that nondisclosure agreements have victims1 says ,stallman1 firmly4 ,in this case ,i was the victim4 ,my lab and ,i were victims4 ,it was a lesson ,stallman would carry with him through the tumultuous years of the #aihjs1 a decade during which many of his ,,mit colleagues would depart the ,,ai ,lab and sign nondisclosure agreements of their own4 ,because most nondisclosure aggreements 7,n,d,as7 had expiration dates1 few hackers who did sign them saw little need for personal introspection4 ,sooner or later1 they reasoned1 the software would become public knowledge4 ,in the meantime1 promising to keep the software secret during its earliest development stages was all a part of the compromise deal that allowed hackers to work on the best projects4 ,for ,stallman1 however1 it was the first step down a slippery slope4 ,when somebody invited me to betray all my colleagues in that way1 ,i remembered how angry ,i was when somebody else had done that to me and my whole lab1 ,stallman says4 ,so ,i said1 ,thank you very much for offering me this nice software package1 but ,i can't accept it on the conditions that you're asking for1 so ,i'm going to do without it4' ,as ,stallman would quickly learn1 refusing such requests involved more than personal sacrifice4 ,it involved segregating himself from fellow hackers who1 though sharing a similar distaste for secrecy1 tended to express that distaste in a more morally flexible fashion4 ,it wasn't long before ,stallman1 increasingly an outcast even within the ,,ai ,lab1 began billing himself as the last true hacker1 isolating himself further and further from a marketplace dominated by proprietary software4 ,refusing another's request for source code1 ,stallman decided1 was not only a betrayal of the scientific mission that had nurtured software development since the end of ,world ,war ,,ii1 it was a violation of the ,golden ,rule1 the baseline moral dictate to do unto others as you would have them do unto you4 ,hence the importance of the laser printer and the encounter that resulted from it4 ,without it1 ,stallman says1 his life might have followed a more ordinary path1 one balancing the riches of a commercial programmer with the ultimate frustration of a life spent writing invisible software code4 ,there would have been no sense of clarity1 no urgency to address a problem others weren't addressing4 ,most importantly1 there would have been no righteous anger1 an emotion that1 as we soon shall see1 has propelled ,stallman's career as surely as any political ideology or ethical belief4 ,from that day forward1 ,i decided this was something ,i could never participate in1 says ,stallman1 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 place4 ,i decided never to make other people victims just like ,i had been a victim4 #bjja3 ,a ,hacker's ,odyssey ,the ,new ,york ,university computer-science department sits inside ,warren ,weaver ,hall1 a fortress-like building located two blocks east of ,washington ,square ,park4 ,industrial-strength air-conditioning vents create a surrounding moat of hot air1 discouraging loiterers and solicitors alike4 ,visitors who breach the moat encounter another formidable barrier1 a security check-in counter immediately inside the building's single entryway4 ,beyond the security checkpoint1 the atmosphere relaxes somewhat4 ,still1 numerous signs scattered throughout the first floor preach the dangers of unsecured doors and propped-open fire exits4 ,taken as a whole1 the signs offer a reminder3 even in the relatively tranquil confines of pre-,september #aa1 #bjja1 ,new ,york1 one can never be too careful or too suspicious4 ,the signs offer an interesting thematic counterpoint to the growing number of visitors gathering in the hall's interior atrium4 ,a few look like ,,nyu students4 ,most look like shaggy-aired concert-goers milling outside a music hall in anticipation of the main act4 ,for one brief morning1 the masses have taken over ,warren ,weaver ,hall1 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 speech4 ,once inside the auditorium1 a visitor finds the person who has forced this temporary shutdown of building security procedures4 ,the person is ,richard ,m4 ,stallman1 founder of the ,,gnu ,project1 original president of the ,free ,software ,foundation1 winner of the #aiij ,mac,arthur ,fellowship1 winner of the ,association of ,computing ,machinery's ,grace ,murray ,hopper ,award 7also in #aiij71 corecipient of the ,takeda ,foundation's #bjja ,takeda ,award1 and former ,,ai ,lab hacker4 ,as announced over a host of hacker-related web sites1 including the ,,gnu ,project's own http3_/_/www4gnu4org site1 ,stallman is in ,manhattan1 his former hometown1 to deliver a much anticipated speech in rebuttal to the ,microsoft ,corporation's recent campaign against the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license4 ,the subject of ,stallman's speech is the history and future of the free software movement4 ,the location is significant4 ,less than a month before1 ,microsoft senior vice president ,craig ,mundie appeared at the nearby ,,nyu ,stern ,school of ,business1 delivering a speech blasting the ,general ,public ,license1 or ,,gpl1 a legal device originally conceived by ,stallman #af years before4 ,built to counteract the growing wave of software secrecy overtaking the computer industry-a wave first noticed by ,stallman during his #aihj troubles with the ,xerox laser printer-the ,,gpl has evolved into a central tool of the free software community4 ,in simplest terms1 the ,,gpl locks software programs into a form of communal ownership-what today's legal scholars now call the digital commons-through the legal weight of copyright4 ,once locked1 programs remain unremovable4 ,derivative versions must carry the same copyright protection-even derivative versions that bear only a small snippet of the original source code4 ,for this reason1 some within the software industry have taken to calling the ,,gpl a viral license1 because it spreads itself to every software program it touches4 ,actually1 the ,,gpl's powers are not quite that potent4 ,according to section #aj of the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 ,version #b 7#aiia71 the viral nature of the license depends heavily on the ,free ,software ,foundation's willingness to view a program as a derivative work1 not to mention the existing license the ,,gpl would replace4 ,if you wish to incorporate parts of the ,program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different1 write to the author to ask for permission4 ,for software that is copyrighted by the ,free ,software ,foundation1 write to the ,free ,software ,foundation2 we sometimes make exceptions for this4 ,our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally4 ,to compare something to a virus is very harsh1 says ,stallman4 ,a spider plant is a more accurate comparison2 it goes to another place if you actively take a cutting4 ,for more information on the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 visit http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/copyleft_/gpl4html 4 ,in an information economy increasingly dependent on software and increasingly beholden to software standards1 the ,,gpl has become the proverbial big stick4 ,even companies that once laughed it off as software socialism have come around to recognize the benefits4 ,linux1 the ,unix-like kernel developed by ,finnish college student ,linus ,torvalds in #aiia1 is licensed under the ,,gpl1 as are many of the world's most popular programming tools3 ,,gnu ,emacs1 the ,,gnu ,debugger1 the ,,gnu ,c ,compiler1 etc4 ,together1 these tools form the components of a free software operating system developed1 nurtured1 and owned by the worldwide hacker community4 ,instead of viewing this community as a threat1 high-tech companies like ,,ibm1 ,hewlett ,packard1 and ,sun ,microsystems have come to rely upon it1 selling software applications and services built to ride atop the ever-growing free software infrastructure4 ,they've also come to rely upon it as a strategic weapon in the hacker community's perennial war against ,microsoft1 the ,redmond1 ,washington-based company that1 for better or worse1 has dominated the ,,pc-software marketplace since the late #aihjs4 ,as owner of the popular ,windows operating system1 ,microsoft stands to lose the most in an industry-wide shift to the ,,gpl license4 ,almost every line of source code in the ,windows colossus is protected by copyrights reaffirming the private nature of the underlying source code or1 at the very least1 reaffirming ,microsoft's legal ability to treat it as such4 ,from the ,microsoft viewpoint1 incorporating programs protected by the viral ,,gpl into the ,windows colossus would be the software equivalent of ,superman downing a bottle of ,kryptonite pills4 ,rival companies could suddenly copy1 modify1 and sell improved versions of ,windows1 rendering the company's indomitable position as the ,no4 #a provider of consumer-oriented software instantly vulnerable4 ,hence the company's growing concern over the ,,gpl's rate of adoption4 ,hence the recent ,mundie speech blasting the ,,gpl and the open source approach to software development and sales4 ,and hence ,stallman's decision to deliver a public rebuttal to that speech on the same campus here today4 #bj years is a long time in the software industry4 ,consider this3 in #aihj1 when ,richard ,stallman was cursing the ,,ai ,lab's ,xerox laser printer1 ,microsoft1 the company modern hackers view as the most powerful force in the worldwide software industry1 was still a privately held startup4 ,,ibm1 the company hackers used to regard as the most powerful force in the worldwide software industry1 had yet to to introduce its first personal computer1 thereby igniting the current low-cost ,,pc market4 ,many of the technologies we now take for granted-the ,world ,wide ,web1 satellite television1 #cb-;bit video-game consoles-didn't even exist4 ,the same goes for many of the companies that now fill the upper echelons of the corporate establishment1 companies like ,,aol1 ,sun ,microsystems1 ,amazon4com1 ,compaq1 and ,dell4 ,the list goes on and on4 ,the fact that the high-technology marketplace has come so far in such little time is fuel for both sides of the ,,gpl debate4 ,,gpl-proponents point to the short lifespan of most computer hardware platforms4 ,facing the risk of buying an obsolete product1 consumers tend to flock to companies with the best long-term survival4 ,as a result1 the software marketplace has become a winner-take-all arena4,see ,shubha ,ghosh1 ,revealing the ,microsoft ,windows ,source ,code1 ,gigalaw4com 7,january1 #bjjj74 http3_/_/www4gigalaw4com_/articles_/ghos h-#bjjj-ja-p#a4;html ,the current1 privately owned software environment1 ,,gpl-proponents say1 leads to monopoly abuse and stagnation4 ,strong companies suck all the oxygen out of the marketplace for rival competitors and innovative startups4 ,,gpl-opponents argue just the opposite4 ,selling software is just as risky1 if not more risky1 than buying software1 they say4 ,without the legal guarantees provided by private software licenses1 not to mention the economic prospects of a privately owned killer app 7i4e41 a breakthrough technology that launches an entirely new market71,killer apps don't have to be proprietary4 ,witness1 of course1 the legendary ,mosaic browser1 a program whose copyright permits noncommercial derivatives with certain restrictions4 ,still1 ,i think the reader gets the point3 the software marketplace is like the lottery4 ,the bigger the potential payoff1 the more people want to participate4 ,for a good summary of the killer-app phenomenon1 see ,philip ,ben-,david1 ,whatever ,happened to the ,killer ,app'8 e-,commerce ,news 7,december #g1 #bjjj74 companies lose the incentive to participate4 ,once again1 the market stagnates and innovation declines4 ,as ,mundie himself noted in his ,may #c address on the same campus1 the ,,gpl's viral nature poses a threat to any company that relies on the uniqueness of its software as a competitive asset4 ,added ,mundie3 ,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 ,mundie1 ,the ,commercial ,software ,model1 senior vice president1 ,microsoft ,corp4 ,excerpted from an online transcript of ,mundie's ,may #c1speech to the ,new ,york ,university ,stern ,school of ,business4 http3_/_/www4ecommercetimes4com_/perl_/s tory_/#ehic4;html #jja1 http3_/_/www4microsoft4com_/presspass_/e xec_/craig_/#je-jcsharedsource4asp ,the mutual success of ,,gnu_/ ,linux,the acronym ,,gnu stands for ,,gnu's not ,unix4 ,in another portion of the ,may #bi1 #bjja1 ,,nyu speech1 ,stallman summed up the acronym's origin3 ,we hackers always look for a funny or naughty name for a program1 because naming a program is half the fun of writing the program4 ,we also had a tradition of recursive acronyms1 to say that the program that you're writing is similar to some existing program 4 4 4 ,i looked for a recursive acronym for ,something ,is ,not ,,unix4 ,and ,i tried all #bf letters and discovered that none of them was a word4 ,i decided to make it a contraction4 ,that way ,i could have a three-letter acronym1 for ,something's ,not ,,unix4 ,and ,i tried letters1 and ,i came across the word ,,gnu4 ,that was it4 ,although a fan of puns1 ,stallman recommends that software users pronounce the g at the beginning of the acronym 7i4e41 gah-new74 ,not only does this avoid confusion with the word gnu1 the name of the ,african antelope1 ,connochaetes gnou 1 it also avoids confusion with the adjective new4 ,we've been working on it for #ag years now1 so it is not exactly new any more1 ,stallman says4 ,source3 author notes and online transcript of ,free ,software3 ,freedom and ,cooperation1 ,richard ,stallman's ,may #bi1 #bjja1 speech at ,new ,york ,university4 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/events_/rms-nyu-#b jja-transcript4txt 1 the amalgamated operating system built around the ,,gpl-protected ,linux kernel1 and ,windows over the last #aj years reveals the wisdom of both perspectives4 ,nevertheless1 the battle for momentum is an important one in the software industry4 ,even powerful vendors such as ,microsoft rely on the support of third-party software developers whose tools1 programs1 and computer games make an underlying software platform such as ,windows more attractive to the mainstream consumer4 ,citing the rapid evolution of the technology marketplace over the last #bj years1 not to mention his own company's admirable track record during that period1 ,mundie advised listeners to not get too carried away by the free software movement's recent momentum3 ,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 broadly4 ,such admonitions serve as the backdrop for ,stallman's speech today4 ,less than a month after their utterance1 ,stallman stands with his back to one of the chalk boards at the front of the room1 edgy to begin4 ,if the last two decades have brought dramatic changes to the software marketplace1 they have brought even more dramatic changes to ,stallman himself4 ,gone is the skinny1 clean-shaven hacker who once spent his entire days communing with his beloved ,,pdp-#aj4 ,in his place stands a heavy-set middle-aged man with long hair and rabbinical beard1 a man who now spends the bulk of his time writing and answering email1 haranguing fellow programmers1 and giving speeches like the one today4 ,dressed in an aqua-colored ,t-shirt and brown polyester pants1 ,stallman looks like a desert hermit who just stepped out of a ,salvation ,army dressing room4 ,the crowd is filled with visitors who share ,stallman's fashion and grooming tastes4 ,many come bearing laptop computers and cellular modems1 all the better to record and transmit ,stallman's words to a waiting ,internet audience4 ,the gender ratio is roughly #ae males to #a female1 and #a of the #g or #h females in the room comes in bearing a stuffed penguin1 the official ,linux mascot1 while another carries a stuffed teddy bear4 ,graphic file3_/home_/craigm_/books_/free#jbja4pn g ,richard ,stallman1 circa #bjjj4 ,i decided ,i would develop a free software operating system or die trying 4 4 of old age of course4 ,photo courtesy of http3_/_/www4stallman4org4 ,agitated1 ,stallman leaves his post at the front of the room and takes a seat in a front-row chair1 tapping a few commands into an already-opened laptop4 ,for the next #aj minutes ,stallman is oblivious to the growing number of students1 professors1 and fans circulating in front of him at the foot of the auditorium stage4 ,before the speech can begin1 the baroque rituals of academic formality must be observed4 ,stallman's appearance merits not one but two introductions4 ,mike ,uretsky1 codirector of the ,stern ,school's ,center for ,advanced ,technology1 provides the first4 ,the role of a university is to foster debate and to have interesting discussions1 ,uretsky says4 ,this particular presentation1 this seminar falls right into that mold4 ,i find the discussion of open source particularly interesting4 ,before ,uretsky can get another sentence out1 ,stallman is on his feet waving him down like a stranded motorist4 ,i do free software1 ,stallman says to rising laughter4 ,open source is a different movement4 ,the laughter gives way to applause4 ,the room is stocked with ,stallman partisans1 people who know of his reputation for verbal exactitude1 not to mention his much publicized #aiih falling out with the open source software proponents4 ,most have come to anticipate such outbursts the same way radio fans once waited for ,jack ,benny's trademark1 ,now cut that out6 phrase during each radio program4 ,uretsky hastily finishes his introduction and cedes the stage to ,edmond ,schonberg1 a professor in the ,,nyu computer-science department4 ,as a computer programmer and ,,gnu ,project contributor1 ,schonberg knows which linguistic land mines to avoid4 ,he deftly summarizes ,stallman's career from the perspective of a modern-day programmer4 ,richard is the perfect example of somebody who1 by acting locally1 started thinking globally about problems concerning the unavailability of source code1 says ,schonberg4 ,he has developed a coherent philosophy that has forced all of us to reexamine our ideas of how software is produced1 of what intellectual property means1 and of what the software community actually represents4 ,schonberg welcomes ,stallman to more applause4 ,stallman takes a moment to shut off his laptop1 rises out of his chair1 and takes the stage4 ,at first1 ,stallman's address seems more ,catskills comedy routine than political speech4 ,i'd like to thank ,microsoft for providing me the opportunity to be on this platform1 ,stallman wisecracks4 ,for the past few weeks1 ,i have felt like an author whose book was fortuitously banned somewhere4 ,for the uninitiated1 ,stallman dives into a quick free software warm-up analogy4 ,he likens a software program to a cooking recipe4 ,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 circumstances4 ,you don't have to follow a recipe exactly1 ,stallman notes4 ,you can leave out some ingredients4 ,add some mushrooms1 'cause you like mushrooms4 ,put in less salt because your doctor said you should cut down on salt-whatever4 ,most importantly1 ,stallman says1 software programs and recipes are both easy to share4 ,in giving a recipe to a dinner guest1 a cook loses little more than time and the cost of the paper the recipe was written on4 ,software programs require even less1 usually a few mouse-clicks and a modicum of electricity4 ,in both instances1 however1 the person giving the information gains two things3 increased friendship and the ability to borrow interesting recipes in return4 ,imagine what it would be like if recipes were packaged inside black boxes1 ,stallman says1 shifting gears4 ,you couldn't see what ingredients they're using1 let alone change them1 and imagine if you made a copy for a friend4 ,they would call you a pirate and try to put you in prison for years4 ,that world would create tremendous outrage from all the people who are used to sharing recipes4 ,but that is exactly what the world of proprietary software is like4 ,a world in which common decency towards other people is prohibited or prevented4 ,with this introductory analogy out of the way1 ,stallman launches into a retelling of the ,xerox laser-printer episode4 ,like the recipe analogy1 the laser-printer story is a useful rhetorical device4 ,with its parable-like structure1 it dramatizes just how quickly things can change in the software world4 ,drawing listeners back to an era before ,amazon4com one-click shopping1 ,microsoft ,windows1 and ,oracle databases1 it asks the listener to examine the notion of software ownership free of its current corporate logos4 ,stallman delivers the story with all the polish and practice of a local district attorney conducting a closing argument4 ,when he gets to the part about the ,carnegie ,mellon professor refusing to lend him a copy of the printer source code1 ,stallman pauses4 ,he had betrayed us1 ,stallman says4 ,but he didn't just do it to us4 ,chances are he did it to you4 ,on the word you1 ,stallman points his index finger accusingly at an unsuspecting member of the audience4 ,the targeted audience member's eyebrows flinch slightly1 but ,stallman's own eyes have moved on4 ,slowly and deliberately1 ,stallman picks out a second listener to nervous titters from the crowd4 ,and ,i think1 mostly likely1 he did it to you1 too1 he says1 pointing at an audience member three rows behind the first4 ,by the time ,stallman has a third audience member picked out1 the titters have given away to general laughter4 ,the gesture seems a bit staged1 because it is4 ,still1 when it comes time to wrap up the ,xerox laser-printer story1 ,stallman does so with a showman's flourish4 ,he probably did it to most of the people here in this room-except a few1 maybe1 who weren't born yet in #aihj1 ,stallman says1 drawing more laughs4 ,that's because he had promised to refuse to cooperate with just about the entire population of the planet ,earth4 ,stallman lets the comment sink in for a half-beat4 ,he had signed a nondisclosure agreement1 ,stallman adds4 ,richard ,matthew ,stallman's rise from frustrated academic to political leader over the last #bj years speaks to many things4 ,it speaks to ,stallman's stubborn nature and prodigious will4 ,it speaks to the clearly articulated vision and values of the free software movement ,stallman helped build4 ,it speaks to the high-quality software programs ,stallman has built1 programs that have cemented ,stallman's reputation as a programming legend4 ,it speaks to the growing momentum of the ,,gpl1 a legal innovation that many ,stallman observers see as his most momentous accomplishment4 ,most importantly1 it speaks to the changing nature of political power in a world increasingly beholden to computer technology and the software programs that power that technology4 ,maybe that's why1 even at a time when most high-technology stars are on the wane1 ,stallman's star has grown4 ,since launching the ,,gnu ,project in #aihd1e ,stallman has been at turns ignored1 satirized1 vilified1 and attacked-both from within and without the free software movement4 ,through it all1 the ,,gnu ,project has managed to meet its milestones1 albeit with a few notorious delays1 and stay relevant in a software marketplace several orders of magnitude more complex than the one it entered #ah years ago4 ,so too has the free software ideology1 an ideology meticulously groomed by ,stallman himself4 ,to understand the reasons behind this currency1 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 way4 ,the ,richard ,stallman character sketch is not a complicated one4 ,if any person exemplifies the old adage what you see is what you get1 it's ,stallman4 ,i think if you want to understand ,richard ,stallman the human being1 you really need to see all of the parts as a consistent whole1 advises ,eben ,moglen1 legal counsel to the ,free ,software ,foundation and professor of law at ,columbia ,university ,law ,school4 ,all those personal eccentricities that lots of people see as obstacles to getting to know ,stallman really are ,stallman3 ,richard's strong sense of personal frustration1 his enormous sense of principled ethical commitment1 his inability to compromise1 especially on issues he considers fundamental4 ,these are all the very reasons ,richard did what he did when he did4 ,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 task4 ,it requires a thoughtful examination of the forces that have made software ownership so important in today's society4 ,it also requires a thoughtful examination of a man who1 like many political leaders before him1 understands the malleability of human memory4 ,it requires an ability to interpret the myths and politically laden code words that have built up around ,stallman over time4 ,finally1 it requires an understanding of ,stallman's genius as a programmer and his failures and successes in translating that genius to other pursuits4 ,when it comes to offering his own summary of the journey1 ,stallman acknowledges the fusion of personality and principle observed by ,moglen4 ,stubbornness is my strong suit1 he says4 ,most people who attempt to do anything of any great difficulty eventually get discouraged and give up4 ,i never gave up4 ,he also credits blind chance4 ,had it not been for that run-in over the ,xerox laser printer1 had it not been for the personal and political conflicts that closed out his career as an ,,mit employee1 had it not been for a half dozen other timely factors1 ,stallman finds it very easy to picture his life following a different career path4 ,that being said1 ,stallman gives thanks to the forces and circumstances that put him in the position to make a difference4 ,i had just the right skills1 says ,stallman1 summing up his decision for launching the ,,gnu ,project to the audience4 ,nobody was there but me1 so ,i felt like1 ,i'm elected4 ,i have to work on this4 ,if not me 1 who8' ,endnotes #a4 ,actually1 the ,,gpl's powers are not quite that potent4 ,according to section #aj of the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 ,version #b 7#aiia71 the viral nature of the license depends heavily on the ,free ,software ,foundation's willingness to view a program as a derivative work1 not to mention the existing license the ,,gpl would replace4 ,if you wish to incorporate parts of the ,program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different1 write to the author to ask for permission4 ,for software that is copyrighted by the ,free ,software ,foundation1 write to the ,free ,software ,foundation2 we sometimes make exceptions for this4 ,our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally4 ,to compare something to a virus is very harsh1 says ,stallman4 ,a spider plant is a more accurate comparison2 it goes to another place if you actively take a cutting4 ,for more information on the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 visit http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/copyleft_/gpl4html 4 ,a ,portrait of the ,hacker as a ,young ,man ,richard ,stallman's mother1 ,alice ,lippman1 still remembers the moment she realized her son had a special gift4 ,i think it was when he was eight1 ,lippman recalls4 ,the year was #aifa1 and ,lippman1 a recently divorced single mother1 was wiling away a weekend afternoon within the family's tiny one-bedroom apartment on ,manhattan's ,upper ,west ,side4 ,leafing through a copy of ,scientific ,american1 ,lippman came upon her favorite section1 the ,martin ,gardner-authored column titled ,mathematical ,games4 ,a substitute art teacher1 ,lippman always enjoyed ,gardner's column for the brain-teasers it provided4 ,with her son already ensconced in a book on the nearby sofa1 ,lippman decided to take a crack at solving the week's feature puzzle4 ,i wasn't the best person when it came to solving the puzzles1 she admits4 ,but as an artist1 ,i found they really helped me work through conceptual barriers4 ,lippman says her attempt to solve the puzzle met an immediate brick wall4 ,about to throw the magazine down in disgust1 ,lippman was surprised by a gentle tug on her shirt sleeve4 ,it was ,richard1 she recalls1 ,he wanted to know if ,i needed any help4 ,looking back and forth1 between the puzzle and her son1 ,lippman says she initially regarded the offer with skepticism4 ,i asked ,richard if he'd read the magazine1 she says4 ,he told me that1 yes1 he had and what's more he'd already solved the puzzle4 ,the next thing ,i know1 he starts explaining to me how to solve it4 ,hearing the logic of her son's approach1 ,lippman's skepticism quickly gave way to incredulity4 ,i mean1 ,i always knew he was a bright boy1 she says1 but this was the first time ,i'd seen anything that suggested how advanced he really was4 ,thirty years after the fact1 ,lippman punctuates the memory with a laugh4 ,to tell you the truth1 ,i don't think ,i ever figured out how to solve that puzzle1 she says4 ,all ,i remember is being amazed he knew the answer4 ,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 #aifg marriage to ,maurice ,lippman1 now deceased-,alice ,lippman exudes a ,jewish mother's mixture of pride and bemusement when recalling her son's early years4 ,the nearby dining-room credenza offers an eight-by-ten photo of ,stallman glowering in full beard and doctoral robes4 ,the image dwarfs accompanying photos of ,lippman's nieces and nephews1 but before a visitor can make too much of it1 ,lippman makes sure to balance its prominent placement with an ironic wisecrack4 ,richard insisted ,i have it after he received his honorary doctorate at the ,university of ,glasgow1 says ,lippman4 ,he said to me1 ,guess what1 mom8 ,it's the first graduation ,i ever attended4'#a ,such comments reflect the sense of humor that comes with raising a child prodigy4 ,make no mistake1 for every story ,lippman hears and reads about her son's stubbornness and unusual behavior1 she can deliver at least a dozen in return4 ,he used to be so conservative1 she says1 throwing up her hands in mock exasperation4 ,we used to have the worst arguments right here at this table4 ,i was part of the first group of public city school teachers that struck to form a union1 and ,richard was very angry with me4 ,he saw unions as corrupt4 ,he was also very opposed to social security4 ,he thought people could make much more money investing it on their own4 ,who knew that within #aj years he would become so idealistic8 ,all ,i remember is his stepsister coming to me and saying1 ,what is he going to be when he grows up8 ,a fascist8' ,as a single parent for nearly a decade-she and ,richard's father1 ,daniel ,stallman1 were married in #aidh1 divorced in #aieh1 and split custody of their son afterwards-,lippman can attest to her son's aversion to authority4 ,she can also attest to her son's lust for knowledge4 ,it was during the times when the two forces intertwined1 ,lippman says1 that she and her son experienced their biggest battles4 ,it was like he never wanted to eat1 says ,lippman1 recalling the behavior pattern that set in around age eight and didn't let up until her son's high-school graduation in #aigj4 ,i'd call him for dinner1 and he'd never hear me4 ,i'd have to call him #i or #aj times just to get his attention4 ,he was totally immersed4 ,stallman1 for his part1 remembers things in a similar fashion1 albeit with a political twist4 ,i enjoyed reading1 he says4 ,if ,i wanted to read1 and my mother told me to go to the kitchen and eat or go to sleep1 ,i wasn't going to listen4 ,i saw no reason why ,i couldn't read4 ,no reason why she should be able to tell me what to do1 period4 ,essentially1 what ,i had read about1 ideas such as democracy and individual freedom1 ,i applied to myself4 ,i didn't see any reason to exclude children from these principles4 ,the belief in individual freedom over arbitrary authority extended to school as well4 ,two years ahead of his classmates by age #aa1 ,stallman endured all the usual frustrations of a gifted public-school student4 ,it wasn't long after the puzzle incident that his mother attended the first in what would become a long string of parent-teacher conferences4 ,he absolutely refused to write papers1 says ,lippman1 recalling an early controversy4 ,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 teacher4 ,gifted in anything that required analytical thinking1 ,stallman gravitated toward math and science at the expense of his other studies4 ,what some teachers saw as single-mindedness1 however1 ,lippman saw as impatience4 ,math and science offered simply too much opportunity to learn1 especially in comparison to subjects and pursuits for which her son seemed less naturally inclined4 ,around age #aj or #aa1 when the boys in ,stallman's class began playing a regular game of touch football1 she remembers her son coming home in a rage4 ,he wanted to play so badly1 but he just didn't have the coordination skills1 ,lippman recalls4 ,it made him so angry4 ,the anger eventually drove her son to focus on math and science all the more4 ,even in the realm of science1 however1 her son's impatience could be problematic4 ,poring through calculus textbooks by age seven1 ,stallman saw little need to dumb down his discourse for adults4 ,sometime1 during his middle-school years1 ,lippman hired a student from nearby ,columbia ,university to play big brother to her son4 ,the student left the family's apartment after the first session and never came back4 ,i think what ,richard was talking about went over his head1 ,lippman speculates4 ,another favorite maternal anecdote dates back to the early #aifjs1 shortly after the puzzle incident4 ,around age seven1 two years after the divorce and relocation from ,queens1 ,richard took up the hobby of launching model rockets in nearby ,riverside ,drive ,park4 ,what started as aimless fun soon took on an earnest edge as her son began recording the data from each launch4 ,like the interest in mathematical games1 the pursuit drew little attention until one day1 just before a major ,,nasa launch1 ,lippman checked in on her son to see if he wanted to watch4 ,he was fuming1 ,lippman says4 ,all he could say to me was1 ,but ,i'm not published yet4' ,apparently he had something that he really wanted to show ,,nasa4 ,such anecdotes offer early evidence of the intensity that would become ,stallman's chief trademark throughout life4 ,when other kids came to the table1 ,stallman stayed in his room and read4 ,when other kids played ,johnny ,unitas1 ,stallman played ,werner von ,braun4 ,i was weird1 ,stallman says1 summing up his early years succinctly in a #aiii interview4 ,after a certain age1 the only friends ,i had were teachers4,see ,michael ,gross1 ,richard ,stallman3 ,high ,school ,misfit1 ,symbol of ,free ,software1 ,mac,arthur-certified ,genius 7#aiii74 ,this interview is one of the most candid ,stallman interviews on the record4 ,i recommend it highly4 http3_/_/www4mgross4com_/interviews_/sta llman#a4;html ,although it meant courting more run-ins at school1 ,lippman decided to indulge her son's passion4 ,by age #ab1 ,richard was attending science camps during the summer and private school during the school year4 ,when a teacher recommended her son enroll in the ,columbia ,science ,honors ,program1 a post-,sputnik program designed for gifted middle- and high-school students in ,new ,york ,city1 ,stallman added to his extracurriculars and was soon commuting uptown to the ,columbia ,university campus on ,saturdays4 ,dan ,chess1 a fellow classmate in the ,columbia ,science ,honors ,program1 recalls ,richard ,stallman seeming a bit weird even among the students who shared a similar lust for math and science4 ,we were all geeks and nerds1 but he was unusually poorly adjusted1 recalls ,chess1 now a mathematics professor at ,hunter ,college4 ,he was also smart as shit4 ,i've known a lot of smart people1 but ,i think he was the smartest person ,i've ever known4 ,seth ,breidbart1 a fellow ,columbia ,science ,honors ,program alumnus1 offers bolstering testimony4 ,a computer programmer who has kept in touch with ,stallman thanks to a shared passion for science fiction and science-fiction conventions1 he recalls the #ae-year-old1 buzz-cut-wearing ,stallman as scary1 especially to a fellow #ae-year-old4 ,it's hard to describe1 ,breidbart says4 ,it wasn't like he was unapproachable4 ,he was just very intense4 ,he was very knowledgeable but also very hardheaded in some ways4 ,such descriptions give rise to speculation3 are judgment-laden adjectives like intense and hardheaded simply a way to describe traits that today might be categorized under juvenile behavioral disorder8 ,a ,december1 #bjja1 ,wired magazine article titled ,the ,geek ,syndrome paints the portrait of several scientifically gifted children diagnosed with high-functioning autism or ,asperger ,syndrome4 ,in many ways1 the parental recollections recorded in the ,wired article are eerily similar to the ones offered by ,lippman4 ,even ,stallman has indulged in psychiatric revisionism from time to time4 ,during a #bjjj profile for the ,toronto ,star1 ,stallman described himself to an interviewer as borderline autistic1,see ,judy ,steed1 ,toronto ,star1 ,,business1 7,october #i1 #bjjj73 ,c#jc4 ,his vision of free software and social cooperation stands in stark contrast to the isolated nature of his private life4 ,a ,glenn ,gould-like eccentric1 the ,canadian pianist was similarly brilliant1 articulate1 and lonely4 ,stallman considers himself afflicted1 to some degree1 by autism3 a condition that1 he says1 makes it difficult for him to interact with people4 a description that goes a long way toward explaining a lifelong tendency toward social and emotional isolation and the equally lifelong effort to overcome it4 ,such speculation benefits from the fast and loose nature of most so-called behavioral disorders nowadays1 of course4 ,as ,steve ,silberman1 author of ,the ,geek ,syndrome1 notes1 ,american psychiatrists have only recently come to accept ,asperger ,syndrome as a valid umbrella term covering a wide set of behavioral traits4 ,the traits range from poor motor skills and poor socialization to high intelligence and an almost obsessive affinity for numbers1 computers1 and ordered systems4,see ,steve ,silberman1 ,the ,geek ,syndrome1 ,wired 7,december1 #bjja74 ,reflecting on the broad nature of this umbrella1 ,stallman says its possible that1 if born #dj years later1 he might have merited just such a diagnosis4 ,then again1 so would many of his computer-world colleagues4 ,it's possible ,i could have had something like that1 he says4 ,on the other hand1 one of the aspects of that syndrome is difficulty following rhythms4 ,i can dance4 ,in fact1 ,i love following the most complicated rhythms4 ,it's not clear cut enough to know4 ,chess1 for one1 rejects such attempts at back-diagnosis4 ,i never thought of him as having that sort of thing1 he says4 ,he was just very unsocialized1 but then1 we all were4 ,lippman1 on the other hand1 entertains the possibility4 ,she recalls a few stories from her son's infancy1 however1 that provide fodder for speculation4 ,a prominent symptom of autism is an oversensitivity to noises and colors1 and ,lippman recalls two anecdotes that stand out in this regard4 ,when ,richard was an infant1 we'd take him to the beach1 she says4 ,he would start screaming two or three blocks before we reached the surf4 ,it wasn't until the third time that we figured out what was going on3 the sound of the surf was hurting his ears4 ,she also recalls a similar screaming reaction in relation to color3 ,my mother had bright red hair1 and every time she'd stoop down to pick him up1 he'd let out a wail4 ,in recent years1 ,lippman says she has taken to reading books about autism and believes that such episodes were more than coincidental4 ,i do feel that ,richard had some of the qualities of an autistic child1 she says4 ,i regret that so little was known about autism back then4 ,over time1 however1 ,lippman says her son learned to adjust4 ,by age seven1 she says1 her son had become fond of standing at the front window of subway trains1 mapping out and memorizing the labyrinthian system of railroad tracks underneath the city4 ,it was a hobby that relied on an ability to accommodate the loud noises that accompanied each train ride4 ,only the initial noise seemed to bother him1 says ,lippman4 ,it was as if he got shocked by the sound but his nerves learned how to make the adjustment4 ,for the most part1 ,lippman recalls her son exhibiting the excitement1 energy1 and social skills of any normal boy4 ,it wasn't until after a series of traumatic events battered the ,stallman household1 she says1 that her son became introverted and emotionally distant4 ,the first traumatic event was the divorce of ,alice and ,daniel ,stallman1 ,richard's father4 ,although ,lippman says both she and her ex-husband tried to prepare their son for the blow1 she says the blow was devastating nonetheless4 ,he sort of didn't pay attention when we first told him what was happening1 ,lippman recalls4 ,but the reality smacked him in the face when he and ,i moved into a new apartment4 ,the first thing he said was1 ,where's ,dad's furniture8' ,for the next decade1 ,stallman would spend his weekdays at his mother's apartment in ,manhattan and his weekends at his father's home in ,queens4 ,the shuttling back and forth gave him a chance to study a pair of contrasting parenting styles that1 to this day1 leaves ,stallman firmly opposed to the idea of raising children himself4 ,speaking about his father1 a ,world ,war ,,ii vet who passed away in early #bjja1 ,stallman balances respect with anger4 ,on one hand1 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 come4 ,on the other hand1 there was the parent who always knew how to craft a put-down for cruel effect4,regrettably1 ,i did not get a chance to interview ,daniel ,stallman for this book4 ,during the early research for this book1 ,stallman informed me that his father suffered from ,alzheimer's4 ,when ,i resumed research in late #bjja1 ,i learned1 sadly1 that ,daniel ,stallman had died earlier in the year4 ,my father had a horrible temper1 ,stallman says4 ,he never screamed1 but he always found a way to criticize you in a cold1 designed-to-crush way4 ,as for life in his mother's apartment1 ,stallman is less equivocal4 ,that was war1 he says4 ,i used to say in my misery1 ,i want to go home1' meaning to the nonexistent place that ,i'll never have4 ,for the first few years after the divorce1 ,stallman found the tranquility that eluded him in the home of his paternal grandparents4 ,then1 around age #aj his grandparents passed away in short succession4 ,for ,stallman1 the loss was devastating4 ,i used to go and visit and feel ,i was in a loving1 gentle environment1 ,stallman recalls4 ,it was the only place ,i ever found one1 until ,i went away to college4 ,lippman lists the death of ,richard's paternal grandparents as the second traumatic event4 ,it really upset him1 she says4 ,he was very close to both his grandparents4 ,before they died1 he was very outgoing1 almost a leader-of-the-pack type with the other kids4 ,after they died1 he became much more emotionally withdrawn4 ,from ,stallman's perspective1 the emotional withdrawal was merely an attempt to deal with the agony of adolescence4 ,labeling his teenage years a pure horror1 ,stallman says he often felt like a deaf person amid a crowd of chattering music listeners4 ,i often had the feeling that ,i couldn't understand what other people were saying1 says ,stallman1 recalling the emotional bubble that insulated him from the rest of the adolescent and adult world4 ,i could understand the words1 but something was going on underneath the conversations that ,i didn't understand4 ,i couldn't understand why people were interested in the things other people said4 ,for all the agony it produced1 adolescence would have a encouraging effect on ,stallman's sense of individuality4 ,at a time when most of his classmates were growing their hair out1 ,stallman preferred to keep his short4 ,at a time when the whole teenage world was listening to rock and roll1 ,stallman preferred classical music4 ,a devoted fan of science fiction1 ,mad magazine1 and late-night ,,tv1 ,stallman cultivated a distinctly off-the-wall personality that fed off the incomprehension of parents and peers alike4 ,oh1 the puns1 says ,lippman1 still exasperated by the memory of her son's teenage personality4 ,there wasn't a thing you could say at the dinner table that he couldn't throw back at you as a pun4 ,outside the home1 ,stallman saved the jokes for the adults who tended to indulge his gifted nature4 ,one of the first was a summer-camp counselor who handed ,stallman a print-out manual for the ,,ibm #gjid computer during his #abth year4 ,to a preteenager fascinated with numbers and science1 the gift was a godsend4,stallman1 an atheist1 would probably quibble with this description4 ,suffice it to say1 it was something ,stallman welcomed4 ,see previous note #a3 ,as soon as ,i heard about computers1 ,i wanted to see one and play with one4 ,by the end of summer1 ,stallman was writing out paper programs according to the #gjid's internal specifications1 anxiously anticipating getting a chance to try them out on a real machine4 ,with the first personal computer still a decade away1 ,stallman would be forced to wait a few years before getting access to his first computer4 ,his first chance finally came during his junior year of high school4 ,hired on at the ,,ibm ,new ,york ,scientific ,center1 a now-defunct research facility in downtown ,manhattan1 ,stallman spent the summer after high-school graduation writing his first program1 a pre-processor for the #gjid written in the programming language ,,pl_/,i4 ,i first wrote it in ,,pl_/,i1 then started over in assembler language when the ,,pl_/,i program was too big to fit in the computer1 he recalls4 ,after that job at the ,,ibm ,scientific ,center1 ,stallman had held a laboratory-assistant position in the biology department at ,rockefeller ,university4 ,although he was already moving toward a career in math or physics1 ,stallman's analytical mind impressed the lab director enough that a few years after ,stallman departed for college1 ,lippman received an unexpected phone call4 ,it was the professor at ,rockefeller1 ,lippman says4 ,he wanted to know how ,richard was doing4 ,he was surprised to learn that he was working in computers4 ,he'd always thought ,richard had a great future ahead of him as a biologist4 ,stallman's analytical skills impressed faculty members at ,columbia as well1 even when ,stallman himself became a target of their ire4 ,typically once or twice an hour ,stallman would catch some mistake in the lecture1 says ,breidbart4 ,and he was not shy about letting the professors know it immediately4 ,it got him a lot of respect but not much popularity4 ,hearing ,breidbart's anecdote retold elicits a wry smile from ,stallman4 ,i may have been a bit of a jerk sometimes1 he admits4 ,but ,i found kindred spirits among the teachers1 because they1 too1 liked to learn4 ,kids1 for the most part1 didn't4 ,at least not in the same way4 ,hanging out with the advanced kids on ,saturday nevertheless encouraged ,stallman to think more about the merits of increased socialization4 ,with college fast approaching1 ,stallman1 like many in his ,columbia ,science ,honors ,program1 had narrowed his list of desired schools down to two choices3 ,harvard and ,,mit4 ,hearing of her son's desire to move on to the ,ivy ,league1 ,lippman became concerned4 ,as a #ae-year-old high-school junior1 ,stallman was still having run-ins with teachers and administrators4 ,only the year before1 he had pulled straight ,a's in ,american ,history1 ,chemistry1 ,french1 and ,algebra1 but a glaring ,f in ,english reflected the ongoing boycott of writing assignments4 ,such miscues might draw a knowing chuckle at ,,mit1 but at ,harvard1 they were a red flag4 ,during her son's junior year1 ,lippman says she scheduled an appointment with a therapist4 ,the therapist expressed instant concern over ,stallman's unwillingness to write papers and his run-ins with teachers4 ,her son certainly had the intellectual wherewithal to succeed at ,harvard1 but did he have the patience to sit through college classes that required a term paper8 ,the therapist suggested a trial run4 ,if ,stallman could make it through a full year in ,new ,york ,city public schools1 including an ,english class that required term papers1 he could probably make it at ,harvard4 ,following the completion of his junior year1 ,stallman promptly enrolled in summer school at ,louis ,d4 ,brandeis ,high ,school1 a public school located on #hdth ,street1 and began making up the mandatory art classes he had shunned earlier in his high-school career4 ,by fall1 ,stallman was back within the mainstream population of ,new ,york ,city high-school students4 ,it wasn't easy sitting through classes that seemed remedial in comparison with his ,saturday studies at ,columbia1 but ,lippman recalls proudly her son's ability to toe the line4 ,he was forced to kowtow to a certain degree1 but he did it1 ,lippman says4 ,i only got called in once1 which was a bit of a miracle4 ,it was the calculus teacher complaining that ,richard was interrupting his lesson4 ,i asked how he was interrupting4 ,he said ,richard was always accusing the teacher of using a false proof4 ,i said1 ,well1 is he right8' ,the teacher said1 ,yeah1 but ,i can't tell that to the class4 ,they wouldn't understand4' ,by the end of his first semester at ,brandeis1 things were falling into place4 ,a #if in ,english wiped away much of the stigma of the #fj earned #b years before4 ,for good measure1 ,stallman backed it up with top marks in ,american ,history1 ,advanced ,placement ,calculus1 and ,microbiology4 ,the crowning touch was a perfect #ajj in ,physics4 ,though still a social outcast1 ,stallman finished his #aa months at ,brandeis as the fourth-ranked student in a class of #ghi4 ,graphic file3_/home_/craigm_/books_/free#jcjf4pn g ,stallman's senior-year transcript at ,louis ,d4 ,brandeis ,h4,s41 ,november1 #aifi4 ,note turnaround in ,english class performance4 ,he was forced to kowtow to a certain degree1 says his mother1 but he did it4 ,outside the classroom1 ,stallman pursued his studies with even more diligence1 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 ,columbia4 ,it was there1 while the rest of the ,science ,honors ,program students sat around discussing their college choices1 that ,stallman finally took a moment to participate in the preclass bull session4 ,recalls ,breidbart1 ,most of the students were going to ,harvard and ,,mit1 of course1 but you had a few going to other ,ivy ,league schools4 ,as the conversation circled the room1 it became apparent that ,richard hadn't said anything yet4 ,i don't know who it was1 but somebody got up the courage to ask him what he planned to do4 ,thirty years later1 ,breidbart remembers the moment clearly4 ,as soon as ,stallman broke the news that he1 too1 would be attending ,harvard ,university in the fall1 an awkward silence filled the room4 ,almost as if on cue1 the corners of ,stallman's mouth slowly turned upward into a self-satisfied smile4 ,says ,breidbart1 ,it was his silent way of saying1 ,that's right4 ,you haven't got rid of me yet4' ,impeach ,god ,although their relationship was fraught with tension1 ,richard ,stallman would inherit one noteworthy trait from his mother3 a passion for progressive politics4 ,it was an inherited trait that would take several decades to emerge1 however4 ,for the first few years of his life1 ,stallman lived in what he now admits was a political vacuum4,see ,michael ,gross1 ,richard ,stallman3 ,high ,school ,misfit1 ,symbol of ,free ,software1 ,mac,arthur-certified ,genius 7#aiii74 ,like most ,americans during the ,eisenhower age1 the ,stallman family spent the #ejs trying to recapture the normalcy lost during the wartime years of the #aidjs4 ,richard's father and ,i were ,democrats but happy enough to leave it at that1 says ,lippman1 recalling the family's years in ,queens4 ,we didn't get involved much in local or national politics4 ,that all began to change1 however1 in the late #aiejs when ,alice divorced ,daniel ,stallman4 ,the move back to ,manhattan represented more than a change of address2 it represented a new1 independent identity and a jarring loss of tranquility4 ,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 library1 recalls ,lippman4 ,it was very controlled by the ,catholic church1 at least in ,elmhurst1 where we lived4 ,i think that was the first inkling ,i had of the forces that quietly control our lives4 ,returning to her childhood neighborhood1 ,manhattan's ,upper ,west ,side1 ,lippman was shocked by the changes that had taken place since her departure to ,hunter ,college a decade and a half before4 ,the skyrocketing demand for postwar housing had turned the neighborhood into a political battleground4 ,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 city4 ,on the other side stood the poor ,irish and ,puerto ,rican tenants who had found an affordable haven in the neighborhood4 ,at first1 ,lippman didn't know which side to choose4 ,as a new resident1 she felt the need for new housing4 ,as a single mother with minimal income1 however1 she shared the poorer tenants' concern over the growing number of development projects catering mainly to wealthy residents4 ,indignant1 ,lippman began looking for ways to combat the political machine that was attempting to turn her neighborhood into a clone of the ,upper ,east ,side4 ,lippman says her first visit to the local ,democratic party headquarters came in #aieh4 ,looking for a day-care center to take care of her son while she worked1 she had been appalled by the conditions encountered at one of the city-owned centers that catered to low-income residents4 ,all ,i remember is the stench of rotten milk1 the dark hallways1 the paucity of supplies4 ,i had been a teacher in private nursery schools4 ,the contrast was so great4 ,we took one look at that room and left4 ,that stirred me up4 ,the visit to the party headquarters proved disappointing1 however4 ,describing it as the proverbial smoke-filled room1 ,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 residents4 ,instead of going back to the headquarters1 ,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 machine4 ,dubbed the ,woodrow ,wilson_/,,fdr ,reform ,democratic ,club1 ,lippman and her club began showing up at planning and city-council meetings1 demanding a greater say4 ,our primary goal was to fight ,tammany ,hall1 ,carmine ,de,sapio and his henchman1,carmine ,de,sapio holds the dubious distinction of being the first ,italian-,american boss of ,tammany ,hall1 the ,new ,york ,city political machine4 ,for more information on ,de,sapio and the politics of post-war ,new ,york1 see ,john ,davenport1 ,skinning the ,tiger3 ,carmine ,de,sapio and the ,end of the ,tammany ,era1 ,new ,york ,affairs 7#aige73 #c3a4 says ,lippman4 ,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 neighborhood4 ,such involvement would blossom into greater political activity during the #aifjs4 ,by #aife1 ,lippman had become an outspoken supporter for political candidates like ,william ,fitts ,ryan1 a ,democratic elected to ,congress with the help of reform clubs and one of the first ,u4,s4 representatives to speak out against the ,vietnam ,war4 ,it wasn't long before ,lippman1 too1 was an outspoken opponent of ,u4,s4 involvement in ,indochina4 ,i was against the ,vietnam war from the time ,kennedy sent troops1 she says4 ,i had read the stories by reporters and journalists sent to cover the early stages of the conflict4 ,i really believed their forecast that it would become a quagmire4 ,such opposition permeated the ,stallman-,lippman household4 ,in #aifg1 ,lippman remarried4 ,her new husband1 ,maurice ,lippman1 a major in the ,air ,national ,guard1 resigned his commission to demonstrate his opposition to the war4 ,lippman's stepson1 ,andrew ,lippman1 was at ,,mit and temporarily eligible for a student deferment4 ,still1 the threat of induction should that deferment disappear1 as it eventually did1 made the risk of ,u4,s4 escalation all the more immediate4 ,finally1 there was ,richard who1 though younger1 faced the prospect of choosing between ,vietnam or ,canada when the war lasted into the #aigjs4 ,vietnam was a major issue in our household1 says ,lippman4 ,we talked about it constantly3 what would we do if the war continued1 what steps ,richard or his stepbrother would take if they got drafted4 ,we were all opposed to the war and the draft4 ,we really thought it was immoral4 ,for ,stallman1 the ,vietnam ,war elicited a complex mixture of emotions3 confusion1 horror1 and1 ultimately1 a profound sense of political impotence4 ,as a kid who could barely cope in the mild authoritarian universe of private school1 ,stallman experienced a shiver whenever the thought of ,army boot camp presented itself4 ,i was devastated by the fear1 but ,i couldn't imagine what to do and didn't have the guts to go demonstrate1 recalls ,stallman1 whose ,march #ahth birthday earned him a dreaded low number in the draft lottery when the federal government finally eliminated college deferments in #aiga4 ,i couldn't envision moving to ,canada or ,sweden4 ,the idea of getting up by myself and moving somewhere4 ,how could ,i do that8 ,i didn't know how to live by myself4 ,i wasn't the kind of person who felt confident in approaching things like that4 ,stallman says he was both impressed and shamed by the family members who did speak out4 ,recalling a bumper sticker on his father's car likening the ,my ,lai massacre to similar ,nazi atrocities in ,world ,war ,,ii1 he says he was excited by his father's gesture of outrage4 ,i admired him for doing it1 ,stallman says4 ,but ,i didn't imagine that ,i could do anything4 ,i was afraid that the juggernaut of the draft was going to destroy me4 ,although descriptions of his own unwillingness to speak out carry a tinge of nostalgic regret1 ,stallman says he was ultimately turned off by the tone and direction of the anti-war movement4 ,like other members of the ,science ,honors ,program1 he saw the weekend demonstrations at ,columbia as little more than a distracting spectacle4,chess1 another ,columbia ,science ,honors ,program alum1 describes the protests as background noise4 ,we were all political1 he says1 but the ,,shp was imporant4 ,we would never have skipped it for a demonstration4 ,ultimately1 ,stallman says1 the irrational forces driving the anti-war movement became indistinguishable from the irrational forces driving the rest of youth culture4 ,instead of worshiping the ,beatles1 girls in ,stallman's age group were suddenly worshiping firebrands like ,abbie ,hoffman and ,jerry ,rubin4 ,to a kid already struggling to comprehend his teenage peers1 escapist slogans like make love not war had a taunting quality4 ,not only was it a reminder that ,stallman1 the short-haired outsider who hated rock 'n' roll1 detested drugs1 and didn't participate in campus demonstrations1 wasn't getting it politically2 he wasn't getting it sexually either4 ,i didn't like the counter culture much1 ,stallman admits4 ,i didn't like the music4 ,i didn't like the drugs4 ,i was scared of the drugs4 ,i especially didn't like the anti-intellectualism1 and ,i didn't like the prejudice against technology4 ,after all1 ,i loved a computer4 ,and ,i didn't like the mindless anti-,americanism that ,i often encountered4 ,there were people whose thinking was so simplistic that if they disapproved of the conduct of the ,u4,s4 in the ,vietnam ,war1 they had to support the ,north ,vietnamese4 ,they couldn't imagine a more complicated position1 ,i guess4 ,such comments alleviate feelings of timidity4 ,they also underline a trait that would become the key to ,stallman's own political maturation4 ,for ,stallman1 political confidence was directly proportionate to personal confidence4 ,by #aigj1 ,stallman had become confident in few things outside the realm of math and science4 ,nevertheless1 confidence in math gave him enough of a foundation to examine the anti-war movement in purely logical terms4 ,in the process of doing so1 ,stallman had found the logic wanting4 ,although opposed to the war in ,vietnam1 ,stallman saw no reason to disavow war as a means for defending liberty or correcting injustice4 ,rather than widen the breach between himself and his peers1 however1 ,stallman elected to keep the analysis to himself4 ,in #aigj1 ,stallman left behind the nightly dinnertime conversations about politics and the ,vietnam ,war as he departed for ,harvard4 ,looking back1 ,stallman describes the transition from his mother's ,manhattan apartment to life in a ,cambridge dorm as an escape4 ,peers who watched ,stallman make the transition1 however1 saw little to suggest a liberating experience4 ,he seemed pretty miserable for the first while at ,harvard1 recalls ,dan ,chess1 a classmate in the ,science ,honors ,program who also matriculated at ,harvard4 ,you could tell that human interaction was really difficult for him1 and there was no way of avoiding it at ,harvard4 ,harvard was an intensely social kind of place4 ,to ease the transition1 ,stallman fell back on his strengths3 math and science4 ,like most members of the ,science ,honors ,program1 ,stallman breezed through the qualifying exam for ,math #ee1 the legendary boot camp class for freshman mathematics concentrators at ,harvard4 ,within the class1 members of the ,science ,honors ,program formed a durable unit4 ,we were the math mafia1 says ,chess with a laugh4 ,harvard was nothing1 at least compared with the ,,shp4 ,to earn the right to boast1 however1 ,stallman1 ,chess1 and the other ,,shp alumni had to get through ,math #ee4 ,promising four years worth of math in two semesters1 the course favored only the truly devout4 ,it was an amazing class1 says ,david ,harbater1 a former math mafia member and now a professor of mathematics at the ,university of ,pennsylvania4 ,it's probably safe to say there has never been a class for beginning college students that was that intense and that advanced4 ,the phrase ,i say to people just to get it across is that1 among other things1 by the second semester we were discussing the differential geometry of ,banach manifolds4 ,that's usually when their eyes bug out1 because most people don't start talking about ,banach manifolds until their second year of graduate school4 ,starting with #ge students1 the class quickly melted down to #bj by the end of the second semester4 ,of that #bj1 says ,harbater1 only #aj really knew what they were doing4 ,of that #aj1 #h would go on to become future mathematics professors1 #a would go on to teach physics4 ,the other one1 emphasizes ,harbater1 was ,richard ,stallman4 ,seth ,breidbart1 a fellow ,math #ee classmate1 remembers ,stallman distinguishing himself from his peers even then4 ,he was a stickler in some very strange ways1 says ,breidbart4 ,there is a standard technique in math which everybody does wrong4 ,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 defined4 ,except the first time he did and presented it1 he defined a relation and proved that it's a function4 ,it's the exact same proof1 but he used the correct terminology1 which no one else did4 ,that's just the way he was4 ,it was in ,math #ee that ,richard ,stallman began to cultivate a reputation for brilliance4 ,breidbart agrees1 but ,chess1 whose competitive streak refused to yield1 says the realization that ,stallman might be the best mathematician in the class didn't set in until the next year4 ,it was during a class on ,real ,analysis1 which ,i took with ,richard the next year1 says ,chess1 now a math professor at ,hunter ,college4 ,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 variations4 ,it was the first time ,i ever saw somebody solve a problem in a brilliantly original way4 ,chess makes no bones about it3 watching ,stallman's solution unfold on the chalkboard was a devastating blow4 ,as a kid who'd always taken pride in being the smartest mathematician the room1 it was like catching a glimpse of his own mortality4 ,years later1 as ,chess slowly came to accept the professional rank of a good-but-not-great mathematician1 he had ,stallman's sophomore-year proof to look back on as a taunting early indicator4 ,that's the thing about mathematics1 says ,chess4 ,you don't have to be a first-rank mathematician to recognize first-rate mathematical talent4 ,i could tell ,i was up there1 but ,i could also tell ,i wasn't at the first rank4 ,if ,richard had chosen to be a mathematician1 he would have been a first-rank mathematician4 ,for ,stallman1 success in the classroom was balanced by the same lack of success in the social arena4 ,even as other members of the math mafia gathered to take on the ,math #ee problem sets1 ,stallman preferred to work alone4 ,the same went for living arrangements4 ,on the housing application for ,harvard1 ,stallman clearly spelled out his preferences4 ,i said ,i preferred an invisible1 inaudible1 intangible roommate1 he says4 ,in a rare stroke of bureaucratic foresight1 ,harvard's housing office accepted the request1 giving ,stallman a one-room single for his freshman year4 ,breidbart1 the only math-mafia member to share a dorm with ,stallman that freshman year1 says ,stallman slowly but surely learned how to interact with other students4 ,he recalls how other dorm mates1 impressed by ,stallman's logical acumen1 began welcoming his input whenever an intellectual debate broke out in the dining club or dorm commons4 ,we had the usual bull sessions about solving the world's problems or what would be the result of something1 recalls ,breidbart4 ,say somebody discovers an immortality serum4 ,what do you do8 ,what are the political results8 ,if you give it to everybody1 the world gets overcrowded and everybody dies4 ,if you limit it1 if you say everyone who's alive now can have it but their children can't1 then you end up with an underclass of people without it4 ,richard was just better able than most to see the unforeseen circumstances of any decision4 ,stallman remembers the discussions vividly4 ,i was always in favor of immortality1 he says4 ,i was shocked that most people regarded immortality as a bad thing4 ,how else would we be able to see what the world is like #bjj years from now8 ,although a first-rank mathematician and first-rate debater1 ,stallman shied away from clear-cut competitive events that might have sealed his brilliant reputation4 ,near the end of freshman year at ,harvard1 ,breidbart recalls how ,stallman conspicuously ducked the ,putnam exam1 a prestigious test open to math students throughout the ,u4,s4 and ,canada4 ,in addition to giving students a chance to measure their knowledge in relation to their peers1 the ,putnam served as a chief recruiting tool for academic math departments4 ,according to campus legend1 the top scorer automatically qualified for a graduate fellowship at any school of his choice1 including ,harvard4 ,like ,math #ee1 the ,putnam was a brutal test of merit4 ,a six-hour exam in two parts1 it seemed explicitly designed to separate the wheat from the chaff4 ,breidbart1 a veteran of both the ,science ,honors ,program and ,math #ee1 describes it as easily the most difficult test he ever took4 ,just to give you an idea of how difficult it was1 says ,breidbart1 the top score was a #abj1 and my score the first year was in the #cjs4 ,that score was still good enough to place me #ajast in the country4 ,surprised that ,stallman1 the best student in the class1 had passed on the test1 ,breidbart says he and a fellow classmate cornered him in the dining common and demanded an explanation4 ,he said he was afraid of not doing well1 ,breidbart recalls4 ,breidbart and the friend quickly wrote down a few problems from memory and gave them to ,stallman4 ,he solved all of them1 ,breidbart says1 leading me to conclude that by not doing well1 he either meant coming in second or getting something wrong4 ,stallman remembers the episode a bit differently4 ,i remember that they did bring me the questions and it's possible that ,i solved one of them1 but ,i'm pretty sure ,i didn't solve them all1 he says4 ,nevertheless1 ,stallman agrees with ,breidbart's recollection that fear was the primary reason for not taking the test4 ,despite a demonstrated willingness to point out the intellectual weaknesses of his peers and professors in the classroom1 ,stallman hated the notion of head-to-head competition4 ,it's the same reason ,i never liked chess1 says ,stallman4 ,whenever ,i'd play1 ,i would become so consumed by the fear of making a single mistake that ,i would start making stupid mistakes very early in the game4 ,the fear became a self-fulfilling prophecy4 ,whether such fears ultimately prompted ,stallman to shy away from a mathematical career is a moot issue4 ,by the end of his freshman year at ,harvard1 ,stallman had other interests pulling him away from the field4 ,computer programming1 a latent fascination throughout ,stallman's high-school years1 was becoming a full-fledged passion4 ,where other math students sought occasional refuge in art and history classes1 ,stallman sought it in the computer-science laboratory4 ,for ,stallman1 the first taste of real computer programming at the ,,ibm ,new ,york ,scientific ,center had triggered a desire to learn more4 ,toward the end of my first year at ,harvard school1 ,i started to have enough courage to go visit computer labs and see what they had4 ,i'd ask them if they had extra copies of any manuals that ,i could read4 ,taking the manuals home1 ,stallman would examine machine specifications1 compare them with other machines he already knew1 and concoct a trial program1 which he would then bring back to the lab along with the borrowed manual4 ,although some labs balked at the notion of a strange kid coming off the street and working on the lab machinery1 most recognized competence when they saw it and let ,stallman run the programs he had created4 ,one day1 near the end of freshman year1 ,stallman heard about a special laboratory near ,,mit4 ,the laboratory was located on the ninth floor an off-campus building in ,tech ,square1 the newly built facility dedicated to advanced research4 ,according to the rumors1 the lab itself was dedicated to the cutting-edge science of artificial intelligence and boasted the cutting-edge machines and software programs to match4 ,intrigued1 ,stallman decided to pay a visit4 ,the trip was short1 about #b miles on foot1 #aj minutes by train1 but as ,stallman would soon find out1 ,,mit and ,harvard can feel like opposite poles of the same planet4 ,with its maze-like tangle of interconnected office buildings1 the ,institute's campus offered an aesthetic yin to ,harvard's spacious colonial-village yang4 ,the same could be said for the student body1 a geeky collection of ex-high school misfits known more for its predilection for pranks than its politically powerful alumni4 ,the yin-yang relationship extended to the ,,ai ,lab as well4 ,unlike ,harvard computer labs1 there was no grad-student gatekeeper1 no clipboard waiting list for terminal access1 no explicit atmosphere of look but don't touch4 ,instead1 ,stallman found only a collection of open terminals and robotic arms1 presumably the artifacts of some ,a4,i4 experiment4 ,although the rumors said anybody could sit down at the terminals1 ,stallman decided to stick with the original plan4 ,when he encountered a lab employee1 he asked if the lab had any spare manuals it could loan to an inquisitive student4 ,they had some1 but a lot of things weren't documented1 ,stallman recalls4 ,they were hackers after all4 ,stallman left with something even better than a manual3 a job4 ,although he doesn't remember what the first project was1 he does remember coming back to the ,,ai ,lab the next week1 grabbing an open terminal and writing software code4 ,looking back1 ,stallman sees nothing unusual in the ,,ai ,lab's willingness to accept an unproven outsider at first glance4 ,that's the way it was back then1 he says4 ,that's the way it still is now4 ,i'll hire somebody when ,i meet him if ,i see he's good4 ,why wait8 ,stuffy people who insist on putting bureaucracy into everything really miss the point4 ,if a person is good1 he shouldn't have to go through a long1 detailed hiring process2 he should be sitting at a computer writing code4 ,to get a taste of bureaucratic and stuffy1 ,stallman need only visit the computer labs at ,harvard4 ,there1 access to the terminals was doled out according to academic rank4 ,as an undergrad1 ,stallman usually had to sign up or wait until midnight1 about the time most professors and grad students finished their daily work assignments4 ,the waiting wasn't difficult1 but it was frustrating4 ,waiting for a public terminal1 knowing all the while that a half dozen equally usable machines were sitting idle inside professors' locked offices1 seemed the height of illogic4 ,although ,stallman paid the occasional visit to the ,harvard computer labs1 he preferred the more egalitarian policies of the ,,ai ,lab4 ,it was a breath of fresh air1 he says4 ,at the ,,ai ,lab1 people seemed more concerned about work than status4 ,stallman quickly learned that the ,,ai ,lab's first-come1 first-served policy owed much to the efforts of a vigilant few4 ,many were holdovers from the days of ,project ,,mac1 the ,department of ,defense-funded research program that had given birth to the first time-share operating systems4 ,a few were already legends in the computing world4 ,there was ,richard ,greenblatt1 the lab's in-house ,lisp expert and author of ,mac,hack1 the computer chess program that had once humbled ,a4,i4 critic ,hubert ,dreyfus4 ,there was ,gerald ,sussman1 original author of the robotic block-stacking program ,,hacker4 ,and there was ,bill ,gosper1 the in-house math whiz already in the midst of an #ah-month hacking bender triggered by the philosophical implications of the computer game ,,life4,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #add4 ,levy devotes about five pages to describing ,gosper's fascination with ,,life1 a math-based software game first created by ,british mathematician ,john ,conway4 ,i heartily recommend this book as a supplement1 perhaps even a prerequisite1 to this one4 ,members of the tight-knit group called themselves hackers4 ,over time1 they extended the hacker description to ,stallman as well4 ,in the process of doing so1 they inculcated ,stallman in the ethical traditions of the hacker ethic 4 ,to be a hacker meant more than just writing programs1 ,stallman learned4 ,it meant writing the best possible programs4 ,it meant sitting at a terminal for #cf hours straight if that's what it took to write the best possible programs4 ,most importantly1 it meant having access to the best possible machines and the most useful information at all times4 ,hackers spoke openly about changing the world through software1 and ,stallman learned the instinctual hacker disdain for any obstacle that prevented a hacker from fulfilling this noble cause4 ,chief among these obstacles were poor software1 academic bureaucracy1 and selfish behavior4 ,stallman also learned the lore1 stories of how hackers1 when presented with an obstacle1 had circumvented it in creative ways4 ,stallman learned about lock hacking1 the art of breaking into professors' offices to liberate sequestered terminals4 ,unlike their pampered ,harvard counterparts1 ,,mit faculty members knew better than to treat the ,,ai ,lab's terminal as private property4 ,if a faculty member made the mistake of locking away a terminal for the night1 hackers were quick to correct the error4 ,hackers were equally quick to send a message if the mistake repeated itself4 ,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 office1,gerald ,sussman1 an ,,mit faculty member and hacker whose work at the ,,ai ,lab predates ,stallman's1 disputes this memory4 ,according to ,sussman1 the hackers never broke any doors to retrieve terminals4 ,stallman says4 ,such methods1 while lacking in subtlety1 served a purpose4 ,although professors and administrators outnumbered hackers two-to-one inside the ,,ai ,lab1 the hacker ethic prevailed4 ,indeed1 by the time of ,stallman's arrival at the ,,ai ,lab1 hackers and the ,,ai ,lab administration had coevolved into something of a symbiotic relationship4 ,in exchange for fixing the machines and keeping the software up and running1 hackers earned the right to work on favorite pet projects4 ,often1 the pet projects revolved around improving the machines and software programs even further4 ,like teenage hot-rodders1 most hackers viewed tinkering with machines as its own form of entertainment4 ,nowhere was this tinkering impulse better reflected than in the operating system that powered the lab's central ,,pdp-#f mini-computer4 ,dubbed ,,its1 short for the ,incompatible ,time ,sharing system1 the operating system incorporated the hacking ethic into its very design4 ,hackers had built it as a protest to ,project ,,mac's original operating system1 the ,compatible ,time ,sharing ,system1 ,,ctss1 and named it accordingly4 ,at the time1 hackers felt the ,,ctss design too restrictive1 limiting programmers' power to modify and improve the program's own internal architecture if needed4 ,according to one legend passed down by hackers1 the decision to build ,,its had political overtones as well4 ,unlike ,,ctss1 which had been designed for the ,,ibm #gjid1 ,,its was built specifically for the ,,pdp-#f4 ,in letting hackers write the systems themselves1 ,,ai ,lab administrators guaranteed that only hackers would feel comfortable using the ,,pdp-#f4 ,in the feudal world of academic research1 the gambit worked4 ,although the ,,pdp-#f was co-owned in conjunction with other departments1 ,a4,i4 researchers soon had it to themselves4 ,,its boasted features most commercial operating systems wouldn't offer for years1 features such as multitasking1 debugging1 and full-screen editing capability4 ,using it and the ,,pdp-#f as a foundation1 the ,lab had been able to declare independence from ,project ,,mac shortly before ,stallman's arrival4,i apologize for the whirlwind summary of ,,its' genesis1 an operating system many hackers still regard as the epitome of the hacker ethos4 ,for more information on the program's political significance1 see ,simson ,garfinkel1 ,architects of the ,information ,society3 ,thirty-,five ,years of the ,laboratory for ,computer ,science at ,,mit 7,,mit ,press1 #aiii74 ,as an apprentice hacker1 ,stallman quickly became enamored with ,,its4 ,although forbidding to most newcomers1 the program contained many built-in features that provided a lesson in software development to hacker apprentices such as himself4 ,,its had a very elegant internal mechanism for one program to examine another1 says ,stallman1 recalling the program4 ,you could examine all sorts of status about another program in a very clean1 well-specified way4 ,using this feature1 ,stallman was able to watch how programs written by hackers processed instructions as they ran4 ,another favorite feature would allow the monitoring program to freeze the monitored program's job between instructions4 ,in other operating systems1 such a command would have resulted in half-computed gibberish or an automatic systems crash4 ,in ,,its1 it provided yet another way to monitor the step-by-step performance4 ,if you said1 ,stop the job1' it would always be stopped in user mode4 ,it would be stopped between two user-mode instructions1 and everything about the job would be consistent for that point1 ,stallman says4 ,if you said1 ,resume the job1' it would continue properly4 ,not only that1 but if you were to change the status of the job and then change it back1 everything would be consistent4 ,there was no hidden status anywhere4 ,by the end of #aigj1 hacking at the ,,ai ,lab had become a regular part of ,stallman's weekly schedule4 ,from ,monday to ,thursday1 ,stallman devoted his waking hours to his ,harvard classes4 ,as soon as ,friday afternoon arrived1 however1 he was on the ,t1 heading down to ,,mit for the weekend4 ,stallman usually timed his arrival to coincide with the ritual food run4 ,joining five or six other hackers in their nightly quest for ,chinese food1 he would jump inside a beat-up car and head across the ,harvard ,bridge into nearby ,boston4 ,for the next two hours1 he and his hacker colleagues would discuss everything from ,,its to the internal logic of the ,chinese language and pictograph system4 ,following dinner1 the group would return to ,,mit and hack code until dawn4 ,for the geeky outcast who rarely associated with his high-school peers1 it was a heady experience1 suddenly hanging out with people who shared the same predilection for computers1 science fiction1 and ,chinese food4 ,i remember many sunrises seen from a car coming back from ,chinatown1 ,stallman would recall nostalgically1 #ae years after the fact in a speech at the ,swedish ,royal ,technical ,institute4 ,it was actually a very beautiful thing to see a sunrise1 'cause that's such a calm time of day4 ,it's a wonderful time of day to get ready to go to bed4 ,it's so nice to walk home with the light just brightening and the birds starting to chirp2 you can get a real feeling of gentle satisfaction1 of tranquility about the work that you have done that night4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,,rms lecture at ,,kth 7,sweden71 7,october #cj1 #aihf74 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/philosophy_/stallm an-kth4html ,the more ,stallman hung out with the hackers1 the more he adopted the hacker worldview4 ,already committed to the notion of personal liberty1 ,stallman began to infuse his actions with a sense of communal responsibility4 ,when others violated the communal code1 ,stallman was quick to speak out4 ,within a year of his first visit1 ,stallman was the one breaking into locked offices1 trying to recover the sequestered terminals that belonged to the lab community as a whole4 ,in true hacker fashion1 ,stallman also sought to make his own personal contribution to the art of lock hacking4 ,one of the most artful door-opening tricks1 commonly attributed to ,greenblatt1 involved bending a stiff wire into a cane and attaching a loop of tape to the long end4 ,sliding the wire under the door1 a hacker could twist and rotate the wire so that the long end touched the door knob4 ,provided the adhesive on the tape held1 a hacker could open the doorknob with a few sharp twists4 ,when ,stallman tried the trick1 he found it good but wanting in a few places4 ,getting the tape to stick wasn't always easy1 and twisting the wire in a way that turned the doorknob was similarly difficult4 ,stallman remembered that the hallway ceiling possessed tiles that could be slid away4 ,some hackers1 in fact1 had used the false ceiling as a way to get around locked doors1 an approach that generally covered the perpetrator in fiberglass but got the job done4 ,stallman considered an alternative approach4 ,what if1 instead of slipping a wire under the door1 a hacker slid away one of the panels and stood over the door jamb8 ,stallman took it upon himself to try it out4 ,instead of using a wire1 ,stallman draped out a long ,u-shaped loop of magnetic tape1 fastening a loop of adhesive tape at the base of the ,u4 ,standing over the door jamb1 he dangled the tape until it looped under the doorknob4 ,lifting the tape until the adhesive fastened1 he then pulled on the left end of the tape1 twisting the doorknob counter-clockwise4 ,sure enough1 the door opened4 ,stallman had added a new twist to the art of lock hacking4 ,sometimes you had to kick the door after you turned the door knob1 says ,stallman1 recalling the lingering bugginess of the new method4 ,it took a little bit of balance to pull it off4 ,such activities reflected a growing willingness on ,stallman's part to speak and act out in defense of political beliefs4 ,the ,,ai ,lab's spirit of direct action had proved inspirational enough for ,stallman to break out of the timid impotence of his teenage years4 ,breaking into an office to free a terminal wasn't the same as taking part in a protest march1 but it was effective in ways that most protests weren't4 ,it solved the problem at hand4 ,by the time of his last years at ,harvard1 ,stallman was beginning to apply the whimsical and irreverent lessons of the ,,ai ,lab back at school4 ,did he tell you about the snake8 his mother asks at one point during an interview4 ,he and his dorm mates put a snake up for student election4 ,apparently it got a considerable number of votes4 ,stallman verifies the snake candidacy with a few caveats4 ,the snake was a candidate for election within ,currier ,house1 ,stallman's dorm1 not the campus-wide student council4 ,stallman does remember the snake attracting a fairly significant number of votes1 thanks in large part to the fact that both the snake and its owner both shared the same last name4 ,people may have voted for it1 because they thought they were voting for the owner1 ,stallman says4 ,campaign posters said that the snake was slithering for' the office4 ,we also said it was an at large' candidate1 since it had climbed into the wall through the ventilating unit a few weeks before and nobody knew where it was4 ,running a snake for dorm council was just one of several election-related pranks4 ,in a later election1 ,stallman and his dorm mates nominated the house master's son4 ,his platform was mandatory retirement at age seven1 ,stallman recalls4 ,such pranks paled in comparison to the fake-candidate pranks on the ,,mit campus1 however4 ,one of the most successful fake-candidate pranks was a cat named ,woodstock1 which actually managed to outdraw most of the human candidates in a campus-wide election4 ,they never announced how many votes ,woodstock got1 and they treated those votes as spoiled ballots1 ,stallman recalls4 ,but the large number of spoiled ballots in that election suggested that ,woodstock had actually won4 ,a couple of years later1 ,woodstock was suspiciously run over by a car4 ,nobody knows if the driver was working for the ,,mit administration4 ,stallman says he had nothing to do with ,woodstock's candidacy1 but ,i admired it4,in an email shortly after this book went into its final edit cycle1 ,stallman says he drew political inspiration from the ,harvard campus as well4 ,in my first year of ,harvard1 in a ,chinese ,history class1 ,i read the story of the first revolt against the ,chin dynasty1 he says4 ,the story is not reliable history1 but it was very moving4 ,at the ,,ai ,lab1 ,stallman's political activities had a sharper-edged tone4 ,during the #aigjs1 hackers faced the constant challenge of faculty members and administrators pulling an end-run around ,,its and its hacker-friendly design4 ,one of the first attempts came in the mid-#aigjs1 as more and more faculty members began calling for a file security system to protect research data4 ,most other computer labs had installed such systems during late #aifjs1 but the ,,ai ,lab1 through the insistence of ,stallman and other hackers1 remained a security-free zone4 ,for ,stallman1 the opposition to security was both ethical and practical4 ,on the ethical side1 ,stallman pointed out that the entire art of hacking relied on intellectual openness and trust4 ,on the practical side1 he pointed to the internal structure of ,,its being built to foster this spirit of openness1 and any attempt to reverse that design required a major overhaul4 ,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 else1 ,stallman would later explain4 ,they didn't want anyone to be able to get power over them that way1 so they didn't implement that kind of a feature4 ,the result was1 that whenever something in the system was broken1 you could always fix it4,see ,richard ,stallman 7#aihf74 ,through such vigilance1 hackers managed to keep the ,,ai ,lab's machines security-free4 ,over at the nearby ,,mit ,laboratory for ,computer ,sciences1 however1 security-minded faculty members won the day4 ,the ,,lcs installed its first password-based system in #aigg4 ,once again1 ,stallman took it upon himself to correct what he saw as ethical laxity4 ,gaining access to the software code that controlled the password system1 ,stallman implanted a software command that sent out a message to any ,,lcs user who attempted to choose a unique password4 ,if a user entered starfish1 for example1 the message came back something like3 ,i see you chose the password starfish4 ,i suggest that you switch to the password carriage return4 ,it's much easier to type1 and also it stands up to the principle that there should be no passwords4,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #dag4 ,i have modified this quote1 which ,levy also uses as an excerpt1 to illustrate more directly how the program might reveal the false security of the system4 ,levy uses the placeholder such and such4 ,users who did enter carriage return-that is1 users who simply pressed the ,enter or ,return button1 entering a blank string instead of a unique password-left their accounts accessible to the world at large4 ,as scary as that might have been for some users1 it reinforced the hacker notion that ,institute computers1 and even ,institute computer files1 belonged to the public1 not private individuals4 ,stallman1 speaking in an interview for the #aihd book ,hackers1 proudly noted that one-fifth of the ,,lcs staff accepted this argument and employed the blank-string password4,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #dag4 ,stallman's null-string crusade would prove ultimately futile4 ,by the early #aihjs1 even the ,,ai ,lab's machines were sporting password-based security systems4 ,even so1 it represents a major milestone in terms of ,stallman's personal and political maturation4 ,to the objective observer familiar with ,stallman's later career1 it offers a convenient inflection point between the timid teenager afraid to speak out even on issues of life-threatening importance and the adult activist who would soon turn needling and cajoling into a full-time occupation4 ,in voicing his opposition to computer security1 ,stallman drew on many of the forces that had shaped his early life3 hunger for knowledge1 distaste for authority1 and frustration over hidden procedures and rules that rendered some people clueless outcasts4 ,he would also draw on the ethical concepts that would shape his adult life3 communal responsibility1 trust1 and the hacker spirit of direct action4 ,expressed in software-computing terms1 the null string represents the #a4j version of the ,richard ,stallman political worldview-incomplete in a few places but1 for the most part1 fully mature4 ,looking back1 ,stallman hesitates to impart too much significance to an event so early in his hacking career4 ,in that early stage there were a lot of people who shared my feelings1 he says4 ,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 do4 ,i was simply inclined to be an activist about it4 ,stallman does credit the ,,ai ,lab for awakening that activist spirit1 however4 ,as a teenager1 ,stallman had observed political events with little idea as to how a single individual could do or say anything of importance4 ,as a young adult1 ,stallman was speaking out on matters in which he felt supremely confident1 matters such as software design1 communal responsibility1 and individual freedom4 ,i joined this community which had a way of life which involved respecting each other's freedom1 he says4 ,it didn't take me long to figure out that that was a good thing4 ,it took me longer to come to the conclusion that this was a moral issue4 ,hacking at the ,,ai ,lab wasn't the only activity helping to boost ,stallman's esteem4 ,during the middle of his sophomore year at ,harvard1 ,stallman had joined up with a dance troupe that specialized in folk dances 4 ,what began as a simple attempt to meet women and expand his social horizons soon expanded into yet another passion alongside hacking4 ,dancing in front of audiences dressed in the native garb of a ,balkan peasant1 ,stallman no longer felt like the awkward1 uncoordinated #aj-year-old whose attempts to play football had ended in frustration4 ,he felt confident1 agile1 and alive4 ,for a brief moment1 he even felt a hint of emotional connection4 ,he soon found being in front of an audience fun1 and it wasn't long thereafter that he began craving the performance side of dancing almost as much as the social side4 ,although the dancing and hacking did little to improve ,stallman's social standing1 they helped him overcome the feelings of weirdness that had clouded his pre-,harvard life4 ,instead of lamenting his weird nature1 ,stallman found ways to celebrate it4 ,in #aigg1 while attending a science-fiction convention1 he came across a woman selling custom-made buttons4 ,excited1 ,stallman ordered a button with the words ,impeach ,god emblazoned on it4 ,for ,stallman1 the ,impeach ,god message worked on many levels4 ,an atheist since early childhood1 ,stallman first saw it as an attempt to set a second front in the ongoing debate on religion4 ,back then everybody was arguing about ,god being dead or alive1 ,stallman recalls4 ,impeach ,god' approached the subject of ,god from a completely different viewpoint4 ,if ,god was so powerful as to create the world and yet do nothing to correct the problems in it1 why would we ever want to worship such a ,god8 ,wouldn't it be better to put him on trial8 ,at the same time1 ,impeach ,god was a satirical take on ,america and the ,american political system4 ,the ,watergate scandal of the #aigjs affected ,stallman deeply4 ,as a child1 ,stallman had grown up mistrusting authority4 ,now1 as an adult1 his mistrust had been solidified by the culture of the ,,ai ,lab hacker community4 ,to the hackers1 ,watergate was merely a ,shakespearean rendition of the daily power struggles that made life such a hassle for those without privilege4 ,it was an outsized parable for what happened when people traded liberty and openness for security and convenience4 ,buoyed by growing confidence1 ,stallman wore the button proudly4 ,people curious enough to ask him about it received the same well-prepared spiel4 ,my name is ,jehovah1 ,stallman would say4 ,i have a special plan to save the universe1 but because of heavenly security reasons ,i can't tell you what that plan is4 ,you're just going to have to put your faith in me1 because ,i see the picture and you don't4 ,you know ,i'm good because ,i told you so4 ,if you don't believe me1 ,i'll throw you on my enemies list and throw you in a pit where ,infernal ,revenue ,service will audit your taxes for eternity4 ,those who interpreted the spiel as a word-for-word parody of the ,watergate hearings only got half the message4 ,for ,stallman1 the other half of the message was something only his fellow hackers seemed to be hearing4 ,one hundred years after ,lord ,acton warned about absolute power corrupting absolutely1 ,americans seemed to have forgotten the first part of ,acton's truism3 power1 itself1 corrupts4 ,rather than point out the numerous examples of petty corruption1 ,stallman felt content voicing his outrage toward an entire system that trusted power in the first place4 ,i figured why stop with the small fry1 says ,stallman1 recalling the button and its message4 ,if we went after ,nixon1 why not going after ,mr4 ,big4 ,the way ,i see it1 any being that has power and abuses it deserves to have that power taken away4 ,small ,puddle of ,freedom ,ask anyone who's spent more than a minute in ,richard ,stallman's presence1 and you'll get the same recollection3 forget the long hair4 ,forget the quirky demeanor4 ,the first thing you notice is the gaze4 ,one look into ,stallman's green eyes1 and you know you're in the presence of a true believer4 ,to call the ,stallman gaze intense is an understatement4 ,stallman's eyes don't just look at you2 they look through you4 ,even when your own eyes momentarily shift away out of simple primate politeness1 ,stallman's eyes remain locked-in1 sizzling away at the side of your head like twin photon beams4 ,maybe that's why most writers1 when describing ,stallman1 tend to go for the religious angle4 ,in a #aiih ,salon4com article titled ,the ,saint of ,free ,software1 ,andrew ,leonard describes ,stallman's green eyes as radiating the power of an ,old ,testament prophet4,see ,andrew ,leonard1 ,the ,saint of ,free ,software1 ,salon4com 7,august #aiih74 http3_/_/www4salon4com_/#bast_/feature_/ #aiih_/jh_/;cov#ca;feature4html ,a #aiii ,wired magazine article describes the ,stallman beard as ,rasputin-like1,see ,leander ,kahney1 ,linux's ,forgotten ,man1 ,wired ,news 7,march #e1 #aiii74 http3_/_/www4wired4com_/news_/print_/#j1 abid1ahbia1jj4;html while a ,london ,guardian profile describes the ,stallman smile as the smile of a disciple seeing ,jesus4,see ,programmer on moral high ground2 ,free software is a moral issue for ,richard ,stallman believes in freedom and free software4 ,london ,guardian 7,november #f1 #aiii74 ,these are just a small sampling of the religious comparisons4 ,to date1 the most extreme comparison has to go to ,linus ,torvalds1 who1 in his autobiography-see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #eh-writes ,richard ,stallman is the ,god of ,free ,software4 ,honorable mention goes to ,larry ,lessig1 who1 in a footnote description of ,stallman in his book-see ,larry ,lessig1 ,the ,future of ,ideas 7,random ,house1 #bjja73 #bgj-likens ,stallman to ,moses3 4 4 4 as with ,moses1 it was another leader1 ,linus ,torvalds1 who finally carried the movement into the promised land by facilitating the development of the final part of the ,,os puzzle4 ,like ,moses1 too1 ,stallman is both respected and reviled by allies within the movement4 ,he is an unforgiving1 and hence for many inspiring1 leader of a critically important aspect of modern culture4 ,i have deep respect for the principle and commitment of this extraordinary individual1 though ,i also have great respect for those who are courageous enough to question his thinking and then sustain his wrath4 ,in a final interview with ,stallman1 ,i asked him his thoughts about the religious comparisons4 ,some people do compare me with an ,old ,testament prophent1 and the reason is ,old ,testament prophets said certain social practices were wrong4 ,they wouldn't compromise on moral issues4 ,they couldn't be bought off1 and they were usually treated with contempt4 ,such analogies serve a purpose1 but they ultimately fall short4 ,that's because they fail to take into account the vulnerable side of the ,stallman persona4 ,watch the ,stallman gaze for an extended period of time1 and you will begin to notice a subtle change4 ,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 contact4 ,if1 as ,stallman himself has suspected from time to time1 his personality is the product of autism or ,asperger ,syndrome1 his eyes certainly confirm the diagnosis4 ,even at their most high-beam level of intensity1 they have a tendency to grow cloudy and distant1 like the eyes of a wounded animal preparing to give up the ghost4 ,my own first encounter with the legendary ,stallman gaze dates back to the ,march1 #aiii1 ,linux,world ,convention and ,expo in ,san ,jose1 ,california4 ,billed as a coming out party for the ,linux software community1 the convention also stands out as the event that reintroduced ,stallman to the technology media4 ,determined to push for his proper share of credit1 ,stallman used the event to instruct spectators and reporters alike on the history of the ,,gnu ,project and the project's overt political objectives4 ,as a reporter sent to cover the event1 ,i received my own ,stallman tutorial during a press conference announcing the release of ,,gnome #a4j1 a free software graphic user interface4 ,unwittingly1 ,i push an entire bank of hot buttons when ,i throw out my very first question to ,stallman himself3 do you think ,,gnome's maturity will affect the commercial popularity of the ,linux operating system8 ,i ask that you please stop calling the operating system ,linux1 ,stallman responds1 eyes immediately zeroing in on mine4 ,the ,linux kernel is just a small part of the operating system4 ,many of the software programs that make up the operating system you call ,linux were not developed by ,linus ,torvalds at all4 ,they were created by ,,gnu ,project volunteers1 putting in their own personal time so that users might have a free operating system like the one we have today4 ,to not acknowledge the contribution of those programmers is both impolite and a misrepresentation of history4 ,that's why ,i ask that when you refer to the operating system1 please call it by its proper name1 ,,gnu_/,linux4 ,taking the words down in my reporter's notebook1 ,i notice an eerie silence in the crowded room4 ,when ,i finally look up1 ,i find ,stallman's unblinking eyes waiting for me4 ,timidly1 a second reporter throws out a question1 making sure to use the term ,,gnu_/,linux instead of ,linux4 ,miguel de ,icaza1 leader of the ,,gnome project1 fields the question4 ,it isn't until halfway through de ,icaza's answer1 however1 that ,stallman's eyes finally unlock from mine4 ,as soon as they do1 a mild shiver rolls down my back4 ,when ,stallman starts lecturing another reporter over a perceived error in diction1 ,i feel a guilty tinge of relief4 ,at least he isn't looking at me1 ,i tell myself4 ,for ,stallman1 such face-to-face moments would serve their purpose4 ,by the end of the first ,linux,world show1 most reporters know better than to use the term ,linux in his presence1 and wired4com 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 objectives4#b ,other articles follow1 and while few reporters call the operating system ,,gnu_/,linux in print1 most are quick to credit ,stallman for launching the drive to build a free software operating system #ae years before4 ,i won't meet ,stallman again for another #ag months4 ,during the interim1 ,stallman will revisit ,silicon ,valley once more for the ,august1 #aiii ,linux,world show4 ,although not invited to speak1 ,stallman does managed to deliver the event's best line4 ,accepting the show's ,linus ,torvalds ,award for ,community ,service-an award named after ,linux creator ,linus ,torvalds-on behalf of the ,free ,software ,foundation1 ,stallman wisecracks1 ,giving the ,linus ,torvalds ,award to the ,free ,software ,foundation is a bit like giving the ,han ,solo ,award to the ,rebel ,alliance4 ,this time around1 however1 the comments fail to make much of a media dent4 ,midway through the week1 ,red ,hat1 ,inc41 a prominent ,,gnu_/,linux vendor1 goes public4 ,the news merely confirms what many reporters such as myself already suspect3 ,linux has become a ,wall ,street buzzword1 much like e-commerce and dot-com before it4 ,with the stock market approaching the ,y#b,k rollover like a hyperbola approaching its vertical asymptote1 all talk of free software or open source as a political phenomenon falls by the wayside4 ,maybe that's why1 when ,linux,world follows up its first two shows with a third ,linux,world show in ,august1 #bjjj1 ,stallman is conspicuously absent4 ,my second encounter with ,stallman and his trademark gaze comes shortly after that third ,linux,world show4 ,hearing that ,stallman is going to be in ,silicon ,valley1 ,i set up a lunch interview in ,palo ,alto1 ,california4 ,the meeting place seems ironic1 not only because of the recent no-show but also because of the overall backdrop4 ,outside of ,redmond1 ,washington1 few cities offer a more direct testament to the economic value of proprietary software4 ,curious to see how ,stallman1 a man who has spent the better part of his life railing against our culture's predilection toward greed and selfishness1 is coping in a city where even garage-sized bungalows run in the half-million-dollar price range1 ,i make the drive down from ,oakland4 ,i follow the directions ,stallman has given me1 until ,i reach the headquarters of ,art4net1 a nonprofit virtual artists collective4 ,located in a hedge-shrouded house in the northern corner of the city1 the ,art4net headquarters are refreshingly run-down4 ,suddenly1 the idea of ,stallman lurking in the heart of ,silicon ,valley doesn't seem so strange after all4 ,i find ,stallman sitting in a darkened room1 tapping away on his gray laptop computer4 ,he looks up as soon as ,i enter the room1 giving me a full blast of his #bjj-watt gaze4 ,when he offers a soothing ,hello1 ,i offer a return greeting4 ,before the words come out1 however1 his eyes have already shifted back to the laptop screen4 ,i'm just finishing an article on the spirit of hacking1 ,stallman says1 fingers still tapping4 ,take a look4 ,i take a look4 ,the room is dimly lit1 and the text appears as greenish-white letters on a black background1 a reversal of the color scheme used by most desktop word-processing programs1 so it takes my eyes a moment to adjust4 ,when they do1 ,i find myself reading ,stallman's account of a recent meal at a ,korean restaurant4 ,before the meal1 ,stallman makes an interesting discovery3 the person setting the table has left six chopsticks instead of the usual two in front of ,stallman's place setting4 ,where most restaurant goers would have ignored the redundant pairs1 ,stallman takes it as challenge3 find a way to use all six chopsticks at once4 ,like many software hacks1 the successful solution is both clever and silly at the same time4 ,hence ,stallman's decision to use it as an illustration4 ,as ,i read the story1 ,i feel ,stallman watching me intently4 ,i look over to notice a proud but child-like half smile on his face4 ,when ,i praise the essay1 my comment barely merits a raised eyebrow4 ,i'll be ready to go in a moment1 he says4 ,stallman goes back to tapping away at his laptop4 ,the laptop is gray and boxy1 not like the sleek1 modern laptops that seemed to be a programmer favorite at the recent ,linux,world show4 ,above the keyboard rides a smaller1 lighter keyboard1 a testament to ,stallman's aging hands4 ,during the late #aihjs1 when ,stallman was putting in #gj- and #hj-;hour work weeks writing the first free software tools and programs for the ,,gnu ,project1 the pain in ,stallman's hands became so unbearable that he had to hire a typist4 ,today1 ,stallman relies on a keyboard whose keys require less pressure than a typical computer keyboard4 ,stallman has a tendency to block out all external stimuli while working4 ,watching his eyes lock onto the screen and his fingers dance1 one quickly gets the sense of two old friends locked in deep conversation4 ,the session ends with a few loud keystrokes and the slow disassembly of the laptop4 ,ready for lunch8 ,stallman asks4 ,we walk to my car4 ,pleading a sore ankle1 ,stallman limps along slowly4 ,stallman blames the injury on a tendon in his left foot4 ,the injury is three years old and has gotten so bad that ,stallman1 a huge fan of folk dancing1 has been forced to give up all dancing activities4 ,i love folk dancing inherently1 ,stallman laments4 ,not being able to dance has been a tragedy for me4 ,stallman's body bears witness to the tragedy4 ,lack of exercise has left ,stallman with swollen cheeks and a pot belly that was much less visible the year before4 ,you can tell the weight gain has been dramatic1 because when ,stallman walks1 he arches his back like a pregnant woman trying to accommodate an unfamiliar load4 ,the walk is further slowed by ,stallman's willingness to stop and smell the roses1 literally4 ,spotting a particularly beautiful blossom1 he tickles the innermost petals with his prodigious nose1 takes a deep sniff and steps back with a contented sigh4 ,mmm1 rhinophytophilia1,at the time1 ,i thought ,stallman was referring to the flower's scientific name4 ,months later1 ,i would learn that rhinophytophilia was in fact a humorous reference to the activity1 i4e41 ,stallman sticking his nose into a flower and enjoying the moment4 ,for another humorous ,stallman flower incident1 visit3 http3_/_/www4stallman4org_/texas4html he says1 rubbing his back4 ,the drive to the restaurant takes less than three minutes4 ,upon recommendation from ,tim ,ney1 former executive director of the ,free ,software ,foundation1 ,i have let ,stallman choose the restaurant4 ,while some reporters zero in on ,stallman's monk-like lifestyle1 the truth is1 ,stallman is a committed epicure when it comes to food4 ,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 world4 ,visit almost any major city in the world1 and chances are ,richard knows the best restaurant in town1 says ,ney4 ,richard also takes great pride in knowing what's on the menu and ordering for the entire table4 ,for today's meal1 ,stallman has chosen a ,cantonese-style dim sum restaurant two blocks off ,university ,avenue1 ,palo ,alto's main drag4 ,the choice is partially inspired by ,stallman's recent visit to ,china1 including a lecture stop in ,guangdong province1 in addition to ,stallman's personal aversion to spicier ,hunanese and ,szechuan cuisine4 ,i'm not a big fan of spicy1 ,stallman admits4 ,we arrive a few minutes after #aa a4m4 and find ourselves already subject to a #bj-minute wait4 ,given the hacker aversion to lost time1 ,i hold my breath momentarily1 fearing an outburst4 ,stallman1 contrary to expectations1 takes the news in stride4 ,it's too bad we couldn't have found somebody else to join us1 he tells me4 ,it's always more fun to eat with a group of people4 ,during the wait1 ,stallman practices a few dance steps4 ,his moves are tentative but skilled4 ,we discuss current events4 ,stallman says his only regret about not attending ,linux,world was missing out on a press conference announcing the launch of the ,,gnome ,foundation4 ,backed by ,sun ,microsystems and ,,ibm1 the foundation is in many ways a vindication for ,stallman1 who has long championed that free software and free-market economics need not be mutually exclusive4 ,nevertheless1 ,stallman remains dissatisfied by the message that came out4 ,the way it was presented1 the companies were talking about ,linux with no mention of the ,,gnu ,project at all1 ,stallman says4 ,such disappointments merely contrast the warm response coming from overseas1 especially ,asia1 ,stallman notes4 ,a quick glance at the ,stallman #bjjj travel itinerary bespeaks the growing popularity of the free software message4 ,between recent visits to ,india1 ,china1 and ,brazil1 ,stallman has spent #ab of the last #aae days on ,united ,states soil4 ,his travels have given him an opportunity to see how the free software concept translates into different languages of cultures4 ,in ,india many people are interested in free software1 because they see it as a way to build their computing infrastructure without spending a lot of money1 ,stallman says4 ,in ,china1 the concept has been much slower to catch on4 ,comparing free software to free speech is harder to do when you don't have any free speech4 ,still1 the level of interest in free software during my last visit was profound4 ,the conversation shifts to ,napster1 the ,san ,mateo1 ,california software company1 which has become something of a media cause clbre in recent months4 ,the company markets a controversial software tool that lets music fans browse and copy the music files of other music fans4 ,thanks to the magnifying powers of the ,internet1 this so-called peer-to-peer program has evolved into a de facto online juke box1 giving ordinary music fans a way to listen to ,,mp#c music files over the computer without paying a royalty or fee1 much to record companies' chagrin4 ,although based on proprietary software1 the ,napster system draws inspiration from the long-held ,stallman contention that once a work enters the digital realm-in other words1 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 restrict4 ,rather than impose additional restrictions1 ,napster execs have decided to take advantage of the impulse4 ,giving music listeners a central place to trade music files1 the company has gambled on its ability to steer the resulting user traffic toward other commercial opportunities4 ,the sudden success of the ,napster model has put the fear in traditional record companies1 with good reason4 ,just days before my ,palo ,alto meeting with ,stallman1 ,u4,s4 ,district ,court ,judge ,marilyn ,patel granted a request filed by the ,recording ,industry ,association of ,america for an injunction against the file-sharing service4 ,the injunction was subsequently suspended by the ,u4,s4 ,ninth ,district ,court of ,appeals1 but by early #bjja1 the ,court of ,appeals1 too1 would find the ,san ,mateo-based company in breach of copyright law1#e a decision ,,riaa spokesperson ,hillary ,rosen would later proclaim proclaim a clear victory for the creative content community and the legitimate online marketplace4,see ,a ,clear ,victory for ,recording ,industry in ,napster ,case1 ,,riaa press release 7,february #ab1 #bjja74 http3_/_/www4riaa4com_/,,prstory4cfm8id# cgb ,for hackers such as ,stallman1 the ,napster business model is scary in different ways4 ,the company's eagerness to appropriate time-worn hacker principles such as file sharing and communal information ownership1 while at the same time selling a service based on proprietary software1 sends a distressing mixed message4 ,as a person who already has a hard enough time getting his own carefully articulated message into the media stream1 ,stallman is understandably reticent when it comes to speaking out about the company4 ,still1 ,stallman does admit to learning a thing or two from the social side of the ,napster phenomenon4 ,before ,napster1 ,i thought it might be ,,ok for people to privately redistribute works of entertainment1 ,stallman says4 ,the number of people who find ,napster useful1 however1 tells me that the right to redistribute copies not only on a neighbor-to-neighbor basis1 but to the public at large1 is essential and therefore may not be taken away4 ,no sooner does ,stallman say this than the door to the restaurant swings open and we are invited back inside by the host4 ,within a few seconds1 we are seated in a side corner of the restaurant next to a large mirrored wall4 ,the restaurant's menu doubles as an order form1 and ,stallman is quickly checking off boxes before the host has even brought water to the table4 ,deep-fried shrimp roll wrapped in bean-curd skin1 ,stallman reads4 ,bean-curd skin4 ,it offers such an interesting texture4 ,i think we should get it4 ,this comment leads to an impromptu discussion of ,chinese food and ,stallman's recent visit to ,china4 ,the food in ,china is utterly exquisite1 ,stallman says1 his voice gaining an edge of emotion for the first time this morning4 ,so many different things that ,i've never seen in the ,u4,s41 local things made from local mushrooms and local vegetables4 ,it got to the point where ,i started keeping a journal just to keep track of every wonderful meal4 ,the conversation segues into a discussion of ,korean cuisine4 ,during the same ,june1 #bjjj1 ,asian tour1 ,stallman paid a visit to ,south ,korea4 ,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 week4 ,next to getting his photo above ,gates's photo on the front page of the top ,seoul newspaper1 ,stallman says the best thing about the trip was the food4 ,i had a bowl of naeng myun1 which is cold noodles1 says ,stallman4 ,these were a very interesting feeling noodle4 ,most places don't use quite the same kind of noodles for your naeng myun1 so ,i can say with complete certainty that this was the most exquisite naeng myun ,i ever had4 ,the term exquisite is high praise coming from ,stallman4 ,i know this1 because a few moments after listening to ,stallman rhapsodize about naeng myun1 ,i feel his laser-beam eyes singeing the top of my right shoulder4 ,there is the most exquisite woman sitting just behind you1 ,stallman says4 ,i turn to look1 catching a glimpse of a woman's back4 ,the woman is young1 somewhere in her mid-#bjs1 and is wearing a white sequinned dress4 ,she and her male lunch companion are in the final stages of paying the check4 ,when both get up from the table to leave the restaurant1 ,i can tell without looking1 because ,stallman's eyes suddenly dim in intensity4 ,oh1 no1 he says4 ,they're gone4 ,and to think1 ,i'll probably never even get to see her again4 ,after a brief sigh1 ,stallman recovers4 ,the moment gives me a chance to discuss ,stallman's reputation vis--vis the fairer sex4 ,the reputation is a bit contradictory at times4 ,a number of hackers report ,stallman's predilection for greeting females with a kiss on the back of the hand4,see ,mae ,ling ,mak1 ,mae ,ling's ,story 7,december #ag1 #aiih74 http3_/_/www4crackmonkey4org_/pipermail_ /crackmonkey_/#aiihq#d_/jjcjjf4;htm ,so far1 ,mak is the only person ,i've found willing to speak on the record in regard to this practice1 although ,i've heard this from a few other female sources4 ,mak1 despite expressing initial revulsion at it1 later managed to put aside her misgivings and dance with ,stallman at a #aiii ,linux,world show4 http3_/_/www4linux4com_/interact_/potd4p html8potdid#dd ,a ,may #bf1 #bjjj ,salon4com article1 meanwhile1 portrays ,stallman as a bit of a hacker lothario4 ,documenting the free software-free love connection1 reporter ,annalee ,newitz presents ,stallman as rejecting traditional family values1 telling her1 ,i believe in love1 but not monogamy4,see ,annalee ,newitz1 ,if ,code is ,free ,why ,not ,me8 ,salon4com 7,may #bf1 #bjjj74 ,stallman lets his menu drop a little when ,i bring this up4 ,well1 most men seem to want sex and seem to have a rather contemptuous attitude towards women1 he says4 ,even women they're involved with4 ,i can't understand it at all4 ,i mention a passage from the #aiii book ,open ,sources in which ,stallman confesses to wanting to name the ill-fated ,,gnu kernel after a girlfriend at the time4 ,the girlfriend's name was ,alix1 a name that fit perfectly with the ,unix developer convention of putting an x at the end of any new kernel name-e4g41 ,linux4 ,because the woman was a ,unix system administrator1 ,stallman says it would have been an even more touching tribute4 ,unfortunately1 ,stallman notes1 the kernel project's eventual main developer renamed the kernel ,,hurd4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,the ,,gnu ,operating ,system and the ,free ,software ,movement1 ,open ,sources 7,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc41 #aiii73 #fe4 ,although ,stallman and the girlfriend later broke up1 the story triggers an automatic question3 for all the media imagery depicting him as a wild-eyed fanatic1 is ,richard ,stallman really just a hopeless romantic1 a wandering ,quixote tilting at corporate windmills in an effort to impress some as-yet-unidentified ,dulcinea8 ,i wasn't really trying to be romantic1 ,stallman says1 recalling the ,alix story4 ,it was more of a teasing thing4 ,i mean1 it was romantic1 but it was also teasing1 you know8 ,it would have been a delightful surprise4 ,for the first time all morning1 ,stallman smiles4 ,i bring up the hand kissing4 ,yes1 ,i do do that1 ,stallman says4 ,i've found it's a way of offering some affection that a lot of women will enjoy4 ,it's a chance to give some affection and to be appreciated for it4 ,affection is a thread that runs clear through ,richard ,stallman's life1 and he is painfully candid about it when questions arise4 ,there really hasn't been much affection in my life1 except in my mind1 he says4 ,still1 the discussion quickly grows awkward4 ,after a few one-word replies1 ,stallman finally lifts up his menu1 cutting off the inquiry4 ,would you like some shimai8 he asks4 ,when the food comes out1 the conversation slaloms between the arriving courses4 ,we discuss the oft-noted hacker affection for ,chinese food1 the weekly dinner runs into ,boston's ,chinatown district during ,stallman's days as a staff programmer at the ,,ai ,lab1 and the underlying logic of the ,chinese language and its associated writing system4 ,each thrust on my part elicits a well-informed parry on ,stallman's part4 ,i heard some people speaking ,shanghainese the last time ,i was in ,china1 ,stallman says4 ,it was interesting to hear4 ,it sounded quite different from ,mandarin4 ,i had them tell me some cognate words in ,mandarin and ,shanghainese4 ,in some cases you can see the resemblance1 but one question ,i was wondering about was whether tones would be similar4 ,they're not4 ,that's interesting to me1 because there's a theory that the tones evolved from additional syllables that got lost and replaced4 ,their effect survives in the tone4 ,if that's true1 and ,i've seen claims that that happened within historic times1 the dialects must have diverged before the loss of these final syllables4 ,the first dish1 a plate of pan-fried turnip cakes1 has arrived4 ,both ,stallman and ,i take a moment to carve up the large rectangular cakes1 which smell like boiled cabbage but taste like potato latkes fried in bacon4 ,i decide to bring up the outcast issue again1 wondering if ,stallman's teenage years conditioned him to take unpopular stands1 most notably his uphill battle since #aiid to get computer users and the media to replace the popular term ,linux with ,,gnu_/,linux4 ,i believe it did help me1 ,stallman says1 chewing on a dumpling4 ,i have never understood what peer pressure does to other people4 ,i think the reason is that ,i was so hopelessly rejected that for me1 there wasn't anything to gain by trying to follow any of the fads4 ,it wouldn't have made any difference4 ,i'd still be just as rejected1 so ,i didn't try4 ,stallman points to his taste in music as a key example of his contrarian tendencies4 ,as a teenager1 when most of his high school classmates were listening to ,motown and acid rock1 ,stallman preferred classical music4 ,the memory leads to a rare humorous episode from ,stallman's middle-school years4 ,following the ,beatles' #aifd appearance on the ,ed ,sullivan ,show1 most of ,stallman's classmates rushed out to purchase the latest ,beatles albums and singles4 ,right then and there1 ,stallman says1 he made a decision to boycott the ,fab ,four4 ,i liked some of the pre-,beatles popular music1 ,stallman says4 ,but ,i didn't like the ,beatles4 ,i especially disliked the wild way people reacted to them4 ,it was like3 who was going to have a ,beatles assembly to adulate the ,beatles the most8 ,when his ,beatles boycott failed to take hold1 ,stallman looked for other ways to point out the herd-mentality of his peers4 ,stallman says he briefly considered putting together a rock band himself dedicated to satirizing the ,liverpool group4 ,i wanted to call it ,tokyo ,rose and the ,japanese ,beetles4 ,given his current love for international folk music1 ,i ask ,stallman if he had a similar affinity for ,bob ,dylan and the other folk musicians of the early #aifjs4 ,stallman shakes his head4 ,i did like ,peter1 ,paul and ,mary1 he says4 ,that reminds me of a great filk4 ,when ,i ask for a definition of filk1 ,stallman explains the concept4 ,a filk1 he says1 is a popular song whose lyrics have been replaced with parody lyrics4 ,the process of writing a filk is called filking1 and it is a popular activity among hackers and science-fiction aficionados4 ,classic filks include ,on ,top of ,spaghetti1 a rewrite of ,on ,top of ,old ,smokey1 and ,yoda1 filk-master ,weird ,al ,yankovic's ,star ,wars-oriented rendition of the ,kinks tune1 ,lola4 ,stallman asks me if ,i would be interested in hearing the folk filk4 ,as soon as ,i say yes1 ,stallman's voice begins singing in an unexpectedly clear tone3 ,how much wood could a woodchuck chuck1,if a woodchuck could chuck wood8,how many poles could a polak lock1,if a polak could lock poles8,how many knees could a negro grow1,if a negro could grow knees8,the answer1 my dear1 is stick it in your ear4,the answer is to stick it in your ear4 ,the singing ends1 and ,stallman's lips curl into another child-like half smile4 ,i glance around at the nearby tables4 ,the ,asian families enjoying their ,sunday lunch pay little attention to the bearded alto in their midst4,for more ,stallman filks1 visit http3_/_/www4stallman4org_/doggerel4html 4 ,to hear ,stallman singing ,the ,free ,software ,song1 visit http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/music_/free-softwa re-song4html4 ,after a few moments of hesitation1 ,i finally smile too4 ,do you want that last cornball8 ,stallman asks1 eyes twinkling4 ,before ,i can screw up the punch line1 ,stallman grabs the corn-encrusted dumpling with his two chopsticks and lifts it proudly4 ,maybe ,i'm the one who should get the cornball1 he says4 ,the food gone1 our conversation assumes the dynamics of a normal interview4 ,stallman reclines in his chair and cradles a cup of tea in his hands4 ,we resume talking about ,napster and its relation to the free software movement4 ,should the principles of free software be extended to similar arenas such as music publishing8 ,i ask4 ,it's a mistake to transfer answers from one thing to another1 says ,stallman1 contrasting songs with software programs4 ,the right approach is to look at each type of work and see what conclusion you get4 ,when it comes to copyrighted works1 ,stallman says he divides the world into three categories4 ,the first category involves functional works-e4g41 software programs1 dictionaries1 and textbooks4 ,the second category involves works that might best be described as testimonial-e4g41 scientific papers and historical documents4 ,such works serve a purpose that would be undermined if subsequent readers or authors were free to modify the work at will4 ,the final category involves works of personal expression-e4g41 diaries1 journals1 and autobiographies4 ,to modify such documents would be to alter a person's recollections or point of view-action ,stallman considers ethically unjustifiable4 ,of the three categories1 the first should give users the unlimited right to make modified versions1 while the second and third should regulate that right according to the will of the original author4 ,regardless of category1 however1 the freedom to copy and redistribute noncommercially should remain unabridged at all times1 ,stallman insists4 ,if that means giving ,internet users the right to generate a hundred copies of an article1 image1 song1 or book and then email the copies to a hundred strangers1 so be it4 ,it's clear that private occasional redistribution must be permitted1 because only a police state can stop that1 ,stallman says4 ,it's antisocial to come between people and their friends4 ,napster has convinced me that we also need to permit1 must permit1 even noncommercial redistribution to the public for the fun of it4 ,because so many people want to do that and find it so useful4 ,when ,i ask whether the courts would accept such a permissive outlook1 ,stallman cuts me off4 ,that's the wrong question1 he says4 ,i mean now you've changed the subject entirely from one of ethics to one of interpreting laws4 ,and those are two totally different questions in the same field4 ,it's useless to jump from one to the other4 ,how the courts would interpret the existing laws is mainly in a harsh way1 because that's the way these laws have been bought by publishers4 ,the comment provides an insight into ,stallman's political philosophy3 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 rules4 ,freedom is an ethical issue1 not a legal issue4 ,i'm looking beyond what the existing laws are to what they should be1 ,stallman says4 ,i'm not trying to draft legislation4 ,i'm thinking about what should the law do8 ,i consider the law prohibiting the sharing of copies with your friend the moral equivalent of ,jim ,crow4 ,it does not deserve respect4 ,the invocation of ,jim ,crow prompts another question4 ,how much influence or inspiration does ,stallman draw from past political leaders8 ,like the civil-rights movement of the #aiejs and #aifjs1 his attempt to drive social change is based on an appeal to timeless values3 freedom1 justice1 and fair play4 ,stallman divides his attention between my analogy and a particularly tangled strand of hair4 ,when ,i stretch the analogy to the point where ,i'm comparing ,stallman with ,dr4 ,martin ,luther ,king1 ,jr41 ,stallman1 after breaking off a split end and popping it into his mouth1 cuts me off4 ,i'm not in his league1 but ,i do play the same game1 he says1 chewing4 ,i suggest ,malcolm ,x as another point of comparison4 ,like the former ,nation of ,islam spokesperson1 ,stallman has built up a reputation for courting controversy1 alienating potential allies1 and preaching a message favoring self-sufficiency over cultural integration4 ,chewing on another split end1 ,stallman rejects the comparison4 ,my message is closer to ,king's message1 he says4 ,it's a universal message4 ,it's a message of firm condemnation of certain practices that mistreat others4 ,it's not a message of hatred for anyone4 ,and it's not aimed at a narrow group of people4 ,i invite anyone to value freedom and to have freedom4 ,even so1 a suspicious attitude toward political alliances remains a fundamental ,stallman character trait4 ,in the case of his well-publicized distaste for the term open source1 the unwillingness to participate in recent coalition-building projects seems understandable4 ,as a man who has spent the last two decades stumping on the behalf of free software1 ,stallman's political capital is deeply invested in the term4 ,still1 comments such as the ,han ,solo wisecrack at the #aiii ,linux,world have only reinforced the ,stallman's reputation in the software industry as a disgrunted mossback unwilling to roll with political or marketing trends4 ,i admire and respect ,richard for all the work he's done1 says ,red ,hat president ,robert ,young1 summing up ,stallman's paradoxical political nature4 ,my only critique is that sometimes ,richard treats his friends worse than his enemies4 ,stallman's unwillingness to seek alliances seems equally perplexing when you consider his political interests outside of the free software movement4 ,visit ,stallman's offices at ,,mit1 and you instantly find a clearinghouse of left-leaning news articles covering civil-rights abuses around the globe4 ,visit his web site1 and you'll find diatribes on the ,digital ,millennium ,copyright ,act1 the ,war on ,drugs1 and the ,world ,trade ,organization4 ,given his activist tendencies1 ,i ask1 why hasn't ,stallman sought a larger voice8 ,why hasn't he used his visibility in the hacker world as a platform to boost rather than reduce his political voice4 ,stallman lets his tangled hair drop and contemplates the question for a moment4 ,i hesitate to exaggerate the importance of this little puddle of freedom1 he says4 ,because the more well-known and conventional areas of working for freedom and a better society are tremendously important4 ,i wouldn't say that free software is as important as they are4 ,it's the responsibility ,i undertook1 because it dropped in my lap and ,i saw a way ,i could do something about it4 ,but1 for example1 to end police brutality1 to end the war on drugs1 to end the kinds of racism we still have1 to help everyone have a comfortable life1 to protect the rights of people who do abortions1 to protect us from theocracy1 these are tremendously important issues1 far more important than what ,i do4 ,i just wish ,i knew how to do something about them4 ,once again1 ,stallman presents his political activity as a function of personal confidence4 ,given the amount of time it has taken him to develop and hone the free software movement's core tenets1 ,stallman is hesitant to jump aboard any issues or trends that might transport him into uncharted territory4 ,i wish ,i knew ,i how to make a major difference on those bigger issues1 because ,i would be tremendously proud if ,i could1 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 far1 he says4 ,but as ,i see it1 while other people were defending against these big visible threats1 ,i saw another threat that was unguarded4 ,and so ,i went to defend against that threat4 ,it may not be as big a threat1 but ,i was the only one there4 ,chewing a final split end1 ,stallman suggests paying the check4 ,before the waiter can take it away1 however1 ,stallman pulls out a white-colored dollar bill and throws it on the pile4 ,the bill looks so clearly counterfeit1 ,i can't help but pick it up and read it4 ,sure enough1 it is counterfeit4 ,instead of bearing the image of a ,george ,washington or ,abe ,lincoln1 the bill's front side bears the image of a cartoon pig4 ,instead of the ,united ,states of ,america1 the banner above the pig reads ,united ,swines of ,avarice4 ,the bill is for zero dollars1 and when the waiter picks up the money1 ,stallman makes sure to tug on his sleeve4 ,i added an extra zero to your tip1 ,stallman says1 yet another half smile creeping across his lips4 ,the waiter1 uncomprehending or fooled by the look of the bill1 smiles and scurries away4 ,i think that means we're free to go1 ,stallman says4 ,the ,emacs ,commune ,the ,,ai ,lab of the #aigjs was by all accounts a special place4 ,cutting-edge projects and top-flight researchers gave it an esteemed position in the world of computer science4 ,the internal hacker culture and its anarchic policies lent a rebellious mystique as well4 ,only later1 when many of the lab's scientists and software superstars had departed1 would hackers fully realize the unique and ephemeral world they had once inhabited4 ,it was a bit like the ,garden of ,eden1 says ,stallman1 summing up the lab and its software-sharing ethos in a #aiih ,forbes article4 ,it hadn't occurred to us not to cooperate4,see ,josh ,mc,hugh1 ,for the ,love of ,hacking1 ,forbes 7,august #aj1 #aiih74 http3_/_/www4forbes4com_/forbes_/#aiih_/ jhaj_/fbjcjid;a4html ,such mythological descriptions1 while extreme1 underline an important fact4 ,the ninth floor of #ede ,tech ,square was more than a workplace for many4 ,for hackers such as ,stallman1 it was home4 ,the word home is a weighted term in the ,stallman lexicon4 ,in a pointed swipe at his parents1 ,stallman1 to this day1 refuses to acknowledge any home before ,currier ,house1 the dorm he lived in during his days at ,harvard4 ,he has also been known to describe leaving that home in tragicomic terms4 ,once1 while describing his years at ,harvard1 ,stallman said his only regret was getting kicked out4 ,it wasn't until ,i asked ,stallman what precipitated his ouster1 that ,i realized ,i had walked into a classic ,stallman setup line4 ,at ,harvard they have this policy where if you pass too many classes they ask you to leave1 ,stallman says4 ,with no dorm and no desire to return to ,new ,york1 ,stallman followed a path blazed by ,greenblatt1 ,gosper1 ,sussman1 and the many other hackers before him4 ,enrolling at ,,mit as a grad student1 ,stallman rented an apartment in nearby ,cambridge but soon viewed the ,,ai ,lab itself as his de facto home4 ,in a #aihf speech1 ,stallman recalled his memories of the ,,ai ,lab during this period3 ,i may have done a little bit more living at the lab than most people1 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 lab4 ,and ,i've always found it very comfortable1 as well as nice and cool in the summer4 ,but it was not at all uncommon to find people falling asleep at the lab1 again because of their enthusiasm2 you stay up as long as you possibly can hacking1 because you just don't want to stop4 ,and then when you're completely exhausted1 you climb over to the nearest soft horizontal surface4 ,a very informal atmosphere4,see ,stallman 7#aihf74 ,the lab's home-like atmosphere could be a problem at times4 ,what some saw as a dorm1 others viewed as an electronic opium den4 ,in the #aigf book ,computer ,power and ,human ,reason1 ,,mit researcher ,joseph ,weizenbaum offered a withering critique of the computer bum1 ,weizenbaum's term for the hackers who populated computer rooms such as the ,,ai ,lab4 ,their rumpled clothes1 their unwashed hair and unshaved faces1 and their uncombed hair all testify that they are oblivious to their bodies and to the world in which they move1 ,weizenbaum wrote4 ,computer bums exist1 at least when so engaged1 only through and for the computers4,see ,joseph ,weizenbaum1 ,computer ,power and ,human ,reason3 ,from ,judgment to ,calculation 7,w4 ,h4 ,freeman1 #aigf73 #aaf4 ,almost a quarter century after its publication1 ,stallman still bristles when hearing ,weizenbaum's computer bum description1 discussing it in the present tense as if ,weizenbaum himself was still in the room4 ,he wants people to be just professionals1 doing it for the money and wanting to get away from it and forget about it as soon as possible1 ,stallman says4 ,what he sees as a normal state of affairs1 ,i see as a tragedy4 ,hacker life1 however1 was not without tragedy4 ,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 hacking4 ,as ,stallman himself has said1 the first misfortune was his graduation from ,harvard4 ,eager to continue his studies in physics1 ,stallman enrolled as a graduate student at ,,mit4 ,the choice of schools was a natural one4 ,not only did it give ,stallman the chance to follow the footsteps of great ,,mit alumni3 ,william ,shockley 7'#cf71 ,richard ,p4 ,feynman 7'#ci71 and ,murray ,gell-,mann 7'#ea71 it also put him two miles closer to the ,,ai ,lab and its new ,,pdp-#aj computer4 ,my attention was going toward programming1 but ,i still thought1 well1 maybe ,i can do both1 ,stallman says4 ,toiling in the fields of graduate-level science by day and programming in the monastic confines of the ,,ai ,lab by night1 ,stallman tried to achieve a perfect balance4 ,the fulcrum of this geek teeter-totter was his weekly outing with the folk-dance troupe1 his one social outlet that guaranteed at least a modicum of interaction with the opposite sex4 ,near the end of that first year at ,,mit1 however1 disaster struck4 ,a knee injury forced ,stallman to drop out of the troupe4 ,at first1 ,stallman viewed the injury as a temporary problem1 devoting the spare time he would have spent dancing to working at the ,,ai ,lab even more4 ,by the end of the summer1 when the knee still ached and classes reconvened1 ,stallman began to worry4 ,my knee wasn't getting any better1 ,stallman recalls1 which meant ,i had to stop dancing completely4 ,i was heartbroken4 ,with no dorm and no dancing1 ,stallman's social universe imploded4 ,like an astronaut experiencing the aftereffects of zero-gravity1 ,stallman found that his ability to interact with nonhackers1 especially female nonhackers1 had atrophied significantly4 ,after #af weeks in the ,,ai ,lab1 the self confidence he'd been quietly accumulating during his #d years at ,harvard was virtually gone4 ,i felt basically that ,i'd lost all my energy1 ,stallman recalls4 ,i'd lost my energy to do anything but what was most immediately tempting4 ,the energy to do something else was gone4 ,i was in total despair4 ,stallman retreated from the world even further1 focusing entirely on his work at the ,,ai ,lab4 ,by ,october1 #aige1 he dropped out of ,,mit1 never to go back4 ,software hacking1 once a hobby1 had become his calling4 ,looking back on that period1 ,stallman sees the transition from full-time student to full-time hacker as inevitable4 ,sooner or later1 he believes1 the siren's call of computer hacking would have overpowered his interest in other professional pursuits4 ,with physics and math1 ,i could never figure out a way to contribute1 says ,stallman1 recalling his struggles prior to the knee injury4 ,i would have been proud to advance either one of those fields1 but ,i could never see a way to do that4 ,i didn't know where to start4 ,with software1 ,i saw right away how to write things that would run and be useful4 ,the pleasure of that knowledge led me to want to do it more4 ,stallman wasn't the first to equate hacking with pleasure4 ,many of the hackers who staffed the ,,ai ,lab boasted similar1 incomplete academic rsums4 ,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 addressed4 ,like ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas1 the scholastic known for working so long on his theological summae that he sometimes achieved spiritual visions1 hackers reached transcendent internal states through sheer mental focus and physical exhaustion4 ,although ,stallman shunned drugs1 like most hackers1 he enjoyed the high that came near the end of a #bj-;hour coding bender4 ,perhaps the most enjoyable emotion1 however1 was the sense of personal fulfillment4 ,when it came to hacking1 ,stallman was a natural4 ,a childhood's worth of late-night study sessions gave him the ability to work long hours with little sleep4 ,as a social outcast since age #aj1 he had little difficulty working alone4 ,and as a mathematician with built-in gift for logic and foresight1 ,stallman possessed the ability to circumvent design barriers that left most hackers spinning their wheels4 ,he was special1 recalls ,gerald ,sussman1 an ,,mit faculty member and former ,,ai ,lab researcher4 ,describing ,stallman as a clear thinker and a clear designer1 ,sussman employed ,stallman as a research-project assistant beginning in #aige4 ,the project was complex1 involving the creation of an ,,ai program that could analyze circuit diagrams4 ,not only did it involve an expert's command of ,lisp1 a programming language built specifically for ,,ai applications1 but it also required an understanding of how a human might approach the same task4 ,when he wasn't working on official projects such as ,sussman's automated circuit-analysis program1 ,stallman devoted his time to pet projects4 ,it was in a hacker's best interest to improve the lab's software infrastructure1 and one of ,stallman's biggest pet projects during this period was the lab's editor program ,,teco4 ,the story of ,stallman's work on ,,teco during the #aigjs is inextricably linked with ,stallman's later leadership of the free software movement4 ,it is also a significant stage in the history of computer evolution1 so much so that a brief recapitulation of that evolution is necessary4 ,during the #aiejs and #aifjs1 when computers were first appearing at universities1 computer programming was an incredibly abstract pursuit4 ,to communicate with the machine1 programmers created a series of punch cards1 with each card representing an individual software command4 ,programmers would then hand the cards over to a central system administrator who would then insert them1 one by one1 into the machine1 waiting for the machine to spit out a new set of punch cards1 which the programmer would then decipher as output4 ,this process1 known as batch processing1 was cumbersome and time consuming4 ,it was also prone to abuses of authority4 ,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 priority4 ,in #aifb1 computer scientists and hackers involved in ,,mit's ,project ,,mac1 an early forerunner of the ,,ai ,lab1 took steps to alleviate this frustration4 ,time-sharing1 originally known as time stealing1 made it possible for multiple programs to take advantage of a machine's operational capabilities4 ,teletype interfaces also made it possible to communicate with a machine not through a series of punched holes but through actual text4 ,a programmer typed in commands and read the line-by-line output generated by the machine4 ,during the late #aifjs1 interface design made additional leaps4 ,in a famous #aifh lecture1 ,doug ,engelbart1 a scientist then working at the ,stanford ,research ,institute1 unveiled a prototype of the modern graphical interface4 ,rigging up a television set to the computer and adding a pointer device which ,engelbart dubbed a mouse1 the scientist created a system even more interactive than the time-sharing system developed a ,,mit4 ,treating the video display like a high-speed printer1 ,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 time4 ,the user suddenly had the ability to position text anywhere on the screen4 ,such innovations would take another two decades to make their way into the commercial marketplace4 ,still1 by the #aigjs1 video screens had started to replace teletypes as display terminals1 creating the potential for full-screen-as opposed to line-by-line-editing capabilities4 ,one of the first programs to take advantage of this full-screen capability was the ,,mit ,,ai ,lab's ,,teco4 ,short for ,text ,editor and ,c,orrector1 the program had been upgraded by hackers from an old teletype line editor for the lab's ,,pdp-#f machine4ccording to the ,jargon ,file1 ,,teco's name originally stood for ,tape ,editor and ,corrector4 ,,teco was a substantial improvement over old editors1 but it still had its drawbacks4 ,to create and edit a document1 a programmer had to enter a series of software commands specifying each edit4 ,it was an abstract process4 ,unlike modern word processors1 which update text with each keystroke1 ,,teco demanded that the user enter an extended series of editing instructions followed by an end of command sequence just to change the text4,over time1 a hacker grew proficient enough to write entire documents in edit mode1 but as ,stallman himself would later point out1 the process required a mental skill like that of blindfold chess4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,,emacs3 ,the ,extensible1 ,customizable1 ,display ,editor1 ,,ai ,lab ,memo 7#aigi74 ,an updated ,,html version of this memo1 from which ,i am quoting1 is available at http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/software_/emacs_/e macs-paper4html4 ,to facilitate the process1 ,,ai ,lab hackers had built a system that displayed both the source and display modes on a split screen4 ,despite this innovative hack1 switching from mode to mode was still a nuisance4 ,,teco wasn't the only full-screen editor floating around the computer world at this time4 ,during a visit to the ,stanford ,artificial ,intelligence ,lab in #aigf1 ,stallman encountered an edit program named ,e4 ,the program contained an internal feature1 which allowed a user to update display text after each command keystroke4 ,in the language of #aigjs programming1 ,e was one of the first rudimentary ,,wysiwyg editors4 ,short for what you see is what you get1 ,,wysiwyg meant that a user could manipulate the file by moving through the displayed text1 as opposed to working through a back-end editor program4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,emacs the ,full ,screen ,editor 7#aihg74 http3_/_/www4lysator4liu4se_/history_/ga rb_/txt_/#hg-a-;emacs4txt ,impressed by the hack1 ,stallman looked for ways to expand ,,teco's functionality in similar fashion upon his return to ,,mit4 ,he found a ,,teco feature called ,control-,r1 written by ,carl ,mikkelson and named after the two-key combination that triggered it4 ,mikkelson's hack switched ,,teco from its usual abstract command-execution mode to a more intuitive keystroke-by-keystroke mode4 ,stallman revised the feature in a subtle but significant way4 ,he made it possible to trigger other ,,teco command strings1 or macros1 using other1 two-key combinations4 ,where users had once entered command strings and discarded them after entering then1 ,stallman's hack made it possible to save macro tricks on file and call them up at will4 ,mikkelson's hack had raised ,,teco to the level of a ,,wysiwyg editor4 ,stallman's hack had raised it to the level of a user-programmable ,,wysiwyg editor4 ,that was the real breakthrough1 says ,guy ,steele1 a fellow ,,ai ,lab hacker at the time4 ,by ,stallman's own recollection1 the macro hack touched off an explosion of further innovation4 ,everybody and his brother was writing his own collection of redefined screen-editor commands1 a command for everything he typically liked to do1 ,stallman would later recall4 ,people would pass them around and improve them1 making them more powerful and more general4 ,the collections of redefinitions gradually became system programs in their own right4 ,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 inspired4 ,we started to categorize it mentally as a programming language rather than as an editor1 ,stallman says4 ,users were experiencing their own pleasure tweaking the software and trading new ideas4 ,two years after the explosion1 the rate of innovation began to exhibit dangerous side effects4 ,the explosive growth had provided an exciting validation of the collaborative hacker approach1 but it had also led to over-complexity4 ,we had a ,tower of ,babel effect1 says ,guy ,steele4 ,the effect threatened to kill the spirit that had created it1 ,steele says4 ,hackers had designed ,,its to facilitate programmers' ability to share knowledge and improve each other's work4 ,that meant being able to sit down at another programmer's desk1 open up a programmer's work and make comments and modifications directly within the software4 ,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 them1 explains ,steele4 ,the macro feature1 after its second year1 began to foil this capability4 ,in their eagerness to embrace the new full-screen capabilities1 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 what4 ,frustrated1 ,steele took it upon himself to the solve the problem4 ,he gathered together the four different macro packages and began assembling a chart documenting the most useful macro commands4 ,in the course of implementing the design specified by the chart1 ,steele says he attracted ,stallman's attention4 ,he started looking over my shoulder1 asking me what ,i was doing1 recalls ,steele4 ,for ,steele1 a soft-spoken hacker who interacted with ,stallman infrequently1 the memory still sticks out4 ,looking over another hacker's shoulder while he worked was a common activity at the ,,ai ,lab4 ,stallman1 the ,,teco maintainer at the lab1 deemed ,steele's work interesting and quickly set off to complete it4 ,as ,i like to say1 ,i did the first #j4jja percent of the implementation1 and ,stallman did the rest1 says ,steele with a laugh4 ,the project's new name1 ,emacs1 came courtesy of ,stallman4 ,short for editing macros1 it signified the evolutionary transcendence that had taken place during the macros explosion two years before4 ,it also took advantage of a gap in the software programming lexicon4 ,noting a lack of programs on ,,its starting with the letter ,e1 ,stallman chose ,emacs1 making it possible to reference the program with a single letter4 ,once again1 the hacker lust for efficiency had left its mark4 ,in the course of developing a standard system of macro commands1 ,stallman and ,steele had to traverse a political tightrope4 ,in creating a standard program1 ,stallman was in clear violation of the fundamental hacker tenet-promote decentralization4 ,he was also threatening to hobble the very flexibility that had fueled ,,teco's explosive innovation in the first place4 ,on the one hand1 we were trying to make a uniform command set again2 on the other hand1 we wanted to keep it open ended1 because the programmability was important1 recalls ,steele4 ,to solve the problem1 ,stallman1 ,steele1 and fellow hackers ,david ,moon and ,dan ,weinreib limited their standardization effort to the ,,wysiwyg commands that controlled how text appeared on-screen4 ,the rest of the ,emacs effort would be devoted to retaining the program's ,tinker ,toy-style extensibility4 ,stallman now faced another conundrum3 if users made changes but didn't communicate those changes back to the rest of the community1 the ,tower of ,babel effect would simply emerge in other places4 ,falling back on the hacker doctrine of sharing innovation1 ,stallman embedded a statement within the source code that set the terms of use4 ,users were free to modify and redistribute the code on the condition that they gave back all the extensions they made4 ,stallman dubbed it the ,emacs ,commune4 ,just as ,,teco had become more than a simple editor1 ,emacs had become more than a simple software program4 ,to ,stallman1 it was a social contract4 ,in an early memo documenting the project1 ,stallman spelled out the contract terms4 ,,emacs1 he wrote1 was distributed on a basis of communal sharing1 which means that all improvements must be given back to me to be incorporated and distributed4,see ,stallman 7#aigi73 ,,sec#cd4 ,not everybody accepted the contract4 ,the explosive innovation continued throughout the decade1 resulting in a host of ,emacs-like programs with varying degrees of cross-compatibility4 ,a few cited their relation to ,stallman's original ,emacs with humorously recursive names3 ,sine 7,sine is not ,emacs71 ,eine 7,eine is not ,emacs71 and ,zwei 7,zwei was ,eine initially74 ,as a devoted exponent of the hacker ethic1 ,stallman saw no reason to halt this innovation through legal harassment4 ,still1 the fact that some people would so eagerly take software from the community chest1 alter it1 and slap a new name on the resulting software displayed a stunning lack of courtesy4 ,such rude behavior was reflected against other1 unsettling developments in the hacker community4 ,brian ,reid's #aigi decision to embed time bombs in ,scribe1 making it possible for ,unilogic to limit unpaid user access to the software1 was a dark omen to ,stallman4 ,he considered it the most ,nazi thing he ever saw in his life1 recalls ,reid4 ,despite going on to later ,internet fame as the cocreator of the ,usenet alt heirarchy1 ,reid says he still has yet to live down that #aigi decision1 at least in ,stallman's eyes4 ,he said that all software should be free and the prospect of charging money for software was a crime against humanity4,in a #aiif interview with online magazine ,,meme 1 ,stallman cited ,scribe's sale as irksome1 but hesitated to mention ,reid by name4 ,the problem was nobody censured or punished this student for what he did1 ,stallman said4 ,the result was other people got tempted to follow his example4 ,see ,,meme #b4jd4 http3_/_/memex4org_/meme#b-jd4;html ,although ,stallman had been powerless to head off ,reid's sale1 he did possess the ability to curtail other forms of behavior deemed contrary to the hacker ethos4 ,as central source-code maintainer for the ,emacs commune1 ,stallman began to wield his power for political effect4 ,during his final stages of conflict with the administrators at the ,laboratory for ,computer ,science over password systems1 ,stallman initiated a software strike1,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #dai4 refusing to send lab members the latest version of ,emacs until they rejected the security system on the lab's computers4 ,the move did little to improve ,stallman's growing reputation as an extremist1 but it got the point across3 commune members were expected to speak up for basic hacker values4 ,a lot of people were angry with me1 saying ,i was trying to hold them hostage or blackmail them1 which in a sense ,i was1 ,stallman would later tell author ,steven ,levy4 ,i was engaging in violence against them because ,i thought they were engaging in violence to everyone at large4 ,over time1 ,emacs became a sales tool for the hacker ethic4 ,the flexibility ,stallman and built into the software not only encouraged collaboration1 it demanded it4 ,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 breakthroughs4 ,and the breakthroughs were many4 ,twenty years later1 users had modified ,emacs for so many different uses-using it as a spreadsheet1 calculator1 database1 and web browser-that later ,emacs developers adopted an overflowing sink to represent its versatile functionality4 ,that's the idea that we wanted to convey1 says ,stallman4 ,the amount of stuff it has contained within it is both wonderful and awful at the same time4 ,stallman's ,,ai ,lab contemporaries are more charitable4 ,hal ,abelson1 an ,,mit grad student who worked with ,stallman during the #aigjs and would later assist ,stallman as a charter boardmember of the ,free ,software ,foundation1 describes ,emacs as an absolutely brilliant creation4 ,in giving programmers a way to add new software libraries and features without messing up the system1 ,abelson says1 ,stallman paved the way for future large-scale collaborative software projects4 ,its structure was robust enough that you'd have people all over the world who were loosely collaborating and contributing to it1 ,abelson says4 ,i don't know if that had been done before4,in writing this chapter1 ,i've elected to focus more on the social significance of ,emacs than the software significance4 ,to read more about the software side1 ,i recommend ,stallman's #aigi memo4 ,i particularly recommend the section titled ,research ,through ,development of ,installed ,tools 7,,sec#bg74 ,not only is it accessible to the nontechnical reader1 it also sheds light on how closely intertwined ,stallman's political philosophies are with his software-design philosophies4 ,a sample excerpt follows3 ,,emacs could not have been reached by a process of careful design1 because such processes arrive only at goals which are visible at the outset1 and whose desirability is established on the bottom line at the outset4 ,neither ,i nor anyone else visualized an extensible editor until ,i had made one1 nor appreciated its value until he had experienced it4 ,,emacs exists because ,i felt free to make individually useful small improvements on a path whose end was not in sight4 ,guy ,steele expresses similar admiration4 ,currently a research scientist for ,sun ,microsystems1 he remembers ,stallman primarily as a brilliant programmer with the ability to generate large quantities of relatively bug-free code4 ,although their personalities didn't exactly mesh1 ,steele and ,stallman collaborated long enough for ,steele to get a glimpse of ,stallman's intense coding style4 ,he recalls a notable episode in the late #aigjs when the two programmers banded together to write the editor's pretty print feature4 ,originally conceived by ,steele1 pretty print was another keystroke-triggerd feature that reformatted ,emacs' source code so that it was both more readable and took up less space1 further bolstering the program's ,,wysiwig qualities4 ,the feature was strategic enough to attract ,stallman's active interest1 and it wasn't long before ,steele wrote that he and ,stallman were planning an improved version4 ,we sat down one morning1 recalls ,steele4 ,i was at the keyboard1 and he was at my elbow1 says ,steele4 ,he was perfectly willing to let me type1 but he was also telling me what to type4 ,the programming session lasted #aj hours4 ,throughout that entire time1 ,steele says1 neither he nor ,stallman took a break or made any small talk4 ,by the end of the session1 they had managed to hack the pretty print source code to just under #ajj lines4 ,my fingers were on the keyboard the whole time1 ,steele recalls1 but it felt like both of our ideas were flowing onto the screen4 ,he told me what to type1 and ,i typed it4 ,the length of the session revealed itself when ,steele finally left the ,,ai ,lab4 ,standing outside the building at #ede ,tech ,square1 he was surprised to find himself surrounded by nighttime darkness4 ,as a programmer1 ,steele was used to marathon coding sessions4 ,still1 something about this session was different4 ,working with ,stallman had forced ,steele to block out all external stimuli and focus his entire mental energies on the task at hand4 ,looking back1 ,steele says he found the ,stallman mind-meld both exhilarating and scary at the same time4 ,my first thought afterward was3 it was a great experience1 very intense1 and that ,i never wanted to do it again in my life4 ,a ,stark ,moral ,choice ,on ,september #bg1 #aihc1 computer programmers logging on to the ,usenet newsgroup net4unix-wizards encountered an unusual message4 ,posted in the small hours of the morning1 #ab3cj a4m4 to be exact1 and signed by rmsmit-oz 1 the message's subject line was terse but attention-grabbing4 ,new ,,unix implementation1 it read4 ,instead of introducing a newly released version of ,unix1 however1 the message's opening paragraph issued a call to arms3 ,starting this ,thanksgiving ,i am going to write a complete ,unix-compatible software system called ,,gnu 7for ,gnu's ,not ,unix71 and give it away free to everyone who can use it4 ,contributions of time1 money1 programs and equipment are greatly needed4#a ,to an experienced ,unix developer1 the message was a mixture of idealism and hubris4 ,not only did the author pledge to rebuild the already mature ,unix operating system from the ground up1 he also proposed to improve it in places4 ,the new ,,gnu system1 the author predicted1 would carry all the usual components-a text editor1 a shell program to run ,unix-compatible applications1 a compiler1 and a few other things4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,initial ,,gnu ,announcement 7,september #aihc74 http3_/_/www4gnu4ai4mit4edu_/gnu_/initia l-announcement4html ,it would also contain many enticing features that other ,unix systems didn't yet offer3 a graphic user interface based on the ,lisp programming language1 a crash-proof file system1 and networking protocols built according to ,,mit's internal networking system4 ,,gnu will be able to run ,unix programs1 but will not be identical to ,unix1 the author wrote4 ,we will make all improvements that are convenient1 based on our experience with other operating systems4 ,anticipating a skeptical response on some readers' part1 the author made sure to follow up his operating-system outline with a brief biographical sketch titled1 ,who am ,i83 ,i am ,richard ,stallman1 inventor of the original much-imitated ,,emacs editor1 now at the ,artificial ,intelligence ,lab at ,,mit4 ,i have worked extensively on compilers1 editors1 debuggers1 command interpreters1 the ,incompatible ,timesharing ,system and the ,lisp ,machine operating system4 ,i pioneered terminal-independent display support in ,,its4 ,in addition ,i have implemented one crashproof file system and two window systems for ,lisp machines4 ,as fate would have it1 ,stallman's fanciful ,,gnu ,project missed its ,thanksgiving launch date4 ,by ,january1 #aihd1 however1 ,stallman made good on his promise and fully immersed himself in the world of ,unix software development4 ,for a software architect raised on ,,its1 it was like designing suburban shopping malls instead of ,moorish palaces4 ,even so1 building a ,unix-like operating system had its hidden advantages4 ,,its had been powerful1 but it also possessed an ,achilles' heel3 ,,mit hackers had designed it to take specific advantage of the ,,dec-built ,,pdp line4 ,when ,,ai ,lab administrators elected to phase out the lab's powerful ,,pdp-#aj machine in the early #aihjs1 the operating system that hackers once likened to a vibrant city became an instant ghost town4 ,unix1 on the other hand1 was designed for mobility and long-term survival4 ,originally developed by junior scientists at ,,at,t1 the program had slipped out under corporate-management radar1 finding a happy home in the cash-strapped world of academic computer systems4 ,with fewer resources than their ,,mit brethren1 ,unix developers had customized the software to ride atop a motley assortment of hardware systems3 everything from the #af-;bit ,,pdp-#aa-;a machine considered fit for only small tasks by most ,,ai ,lab hackers-to #cb-;bit mainframes such as the ,,vax #aa_/ghj4 ,by #aihc1 a few companies1 most notably ,sun ,microsystems1 were even going so far as to develop a new generation of microcomputers1 dubbed workstations1 to take advantage of the increasingly ubiquitous operating system4 ,to facilitate this process1 the developers in charge of designing the dominant ,unix strains made sure to keep an extra layer of abstraction between the software and the machine4 ,instead of tailoring the operating system to take advantage of a specific machine's resources-as the ,,ai ,lab hackers had done with ,,its and the ,,pdp-#aj-,unix developers favored a more generic1 off-the-rack approach4 ,focusing more on the interlocking standards and specifications that held the operating system's many subcomponents together1 rather than the actual components themselves1 they created a system that could be quickly modified to suit the tastes of any machine4 ,if a user quibbled with a certain portion1 the standards made it possible to pull out an individual subcomponent and either fix it or replace it with something better4 ,simply put1 what the ,unix approach lacked in terms of style or aesthetics1 it more than made up for in terms of flexibility and economy1 hence its rapid adoption4,see ,marshall ,kirk ,mc,kusick1 ,twenty ,years of ,berkeley ,unix1 ,open ,sources 7,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc41 #aiii73 #ch4 ,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 long4 ,the demise of ,,its had been a traumatic blow to ,stallman4 ,coming on the heels of the ,xerox laser printer episode1 it offered further evidence that the ,,ai ,lab hacker culture was losing its immunity to business practices in the outside world4 ,like the software code that composed it1 the roots of ,,its' demise stretched way back4 ,defense spending1 long a major font for computer-science research1 had dried up during the post-,vietnam years4 ,in a desperate quest for new funds1 laboratories and universities turned to the private sector4 ,in the case of the ,,ai ,lab1 winning over private investors was an easy sell4 ,home to some of the most ambitious computer-science projects of the post-war era1 the lab became a quick incubator of technology4 ,indeed1 by #aihj1 most of the lab's staff1 including many hackers1 were dividing its time between ,institute and commercial projects4 ,what at first seemed like a win-win deal-hackers got to work on the best projects1 giving the lab first look at many of the newest computer technologies coming down the pike-soon revealed itself as a ,faustian bargain4 ,the more time hackers devoted to cutting-edge commercial projects1 the less time they had to devote to general maintenance on the lab's baroque software infrastructure4 ,soon1 companies began hiring away hackers outright in an attempt to monopolize their time and attention4 ,with fewer hackers to mind the shop1 programs and machines took longer to fix4 ,even worse1 ,stallman says1 the lab began to undergo a demographic change4 ,the hackers who had once formed a vocal minority within the ,,ai ,lab were losing membership while the professors and the students who didn't really love the ,,pdp-#aj were just as numerous as before4,see ,richard ,stallman 7#aihf74 ,the breaking point came in #aihb4 ,that was the year the lab's administration decided to upgrade its main computer1 the ,,pdp-#aj4 ,digital1 the corporation that manufactured the ,,pdp-#aj1 had discontinued the line4 ,although the company still offered a high-powered mainframe1 dubbed the ,,kl-#aj1 the new machine required a drastic rewrite or port of ,,its if hackers wanted to continue running the same operating system4 ,fearful that the lab had lost its critical mass of in-house programming talent1 ,,ai ,lab faculty members pressed for ,twenex1 a commercial operating system developed by ,digital4 ,outnumbered1 the hackers had no choice but to comply4 ,without hackers to maintain the system1 faculty members said1 ,we're going to have a disaster2 we must have commercial software1' ,stallman would recall a few years later4 ,they said1 ,we can expect the company to maintain it4' ,it proved that they were utterly wrong1 but that's what they did4 ,at first1 hackers viewed the ,twenex system as yet another authoritarian symbol begging to be subverted4 ,the system's name itself was a protest4 ,officially dubbed ,,tops-#bj by ,,dec1 it was a successor to ,,tops-#aj1 a commercial operating system ,,dec marketed for the ,,pdp-#aj4 ,bolt ,beranek ,newman had deveoped an improved version1 dubbed ,tenex1 which ,,tops-#bj drew upon4,multiple sources3 see ,richard ,stallman interview1 ,gerald ,sussman email1 and ,jargon ,file #c4j4j4 http3_/_/www4clueless4com_/jargon#c4j4j_ /,,twenex4html ,stallman1 the hacker who coined the ,twenex term1 says he came up with the name as a way to avoid using the ,,tops-#bj name4 ,the system was far from tops1 so there was no way ,i was going to call it that1 ,stallman recalls4 ,so ,i decided to insert a w' in the ,tenex name and call it ,twenex4 ,the machine that ran the ,twenex_/,,tops-#bj system had its own derisive nickname3 ,oz4 ,according to one hacker legend1 the machine got its nickname because it required a smaller ,,pdp-#aa machine to power its terminal4 ,one hacker1 upon viewing the ,,kl-#aj-,,pdp-#aa setup for the first time1 likened it to the wizard's bombastic onscreen introduction in the ,wizard of ,oz4 ,i am the great and powerful ,oz1 the hacker intoned4 ,pay no attention to the ,,pdp-#aa behind that console4,see http3_/_/www4as4cmu4edu_/geek_/humor_/,s ee,figure#a4txt ,if hackers laughed when they first encountered the ,,kl-#aj1 their laughter quickly died when they encountered ,twenex4 ,not only did ,twenex boast built-in security1 but the system's software engineers had designed the tools and applications with the security system in mind4 ,what once had been a cat-and-mouse game over passwords in the case of the ,laboratory for ,computer ,science's security system1 now became an out-and-out battle over system management4 ,system administrators argued that without security1 the ,oz system was more prone to accidental crashes4 ,hackers argued that crashes could be better prevented by overhauling the source code4 ,unfortunately1 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 prevailed4 ,cadging passwords and deliberately crashing the system in order to glean evidence from the resulting wreckage1 ,stallman successfully foiled the system administrators' attempt to assert control4 ,after one foiled coup d'etat1 ,stallman issued an alert to the entire ,,ai staff4 ,there has been another attempt to seize power1 ,stallman wrote4 ,so far1 the aristocratic forces have been defeated4 ,to protect his identity1 ,stallman signed the message ,radio ,free ,,oz4 ,the disguise was a thin one at best4 ,by #aihb1 ,stallman's aversion to passwords and secrecy had become so well known that users outside the ,,ai ,laboratory were using his account as a stepping stone to the ,a,r,p,anet1 the research-funded computer network that would serve as a foundation for today's ,internet4 ,one such tourist during the early #aihjs was ,don ,hopkins1 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 password4 ,i'm eternally grateful that ,,mit let me and many other people use their computers for free1 says ,hopkins4 ,it meant a lot to many people4 ,this so-called tourist policy1 which had been openly tolerated by ,,mit management during the ,,its years1,see ,,mit ,,ai ,lab ,tourist ,policy4 http3_/_/catalog4com_/hopkins_/text_/tou rist-policy4html fell by the wayside when ,oz became the lab's primary link to the ,a,r,p,anet4 ,at first1 ,stallman continued his policy of repeating his login ,,id as a password so outside users could follow in his footsteps4 ,over time1 however1 the ,oz's fragility prompted administrators to bar outsiders who1 through sheer accident or malicious intent1 might bring down the system4 ,when those same administrators eventually demanded that ,stallman stop publishing his password1 ,stallman1 citing personal ethics1 refused to do so and ceased using the ,oz system altogether4#c ,when passwords first appeared at the ,,mit ,,ai ,lab ,i decided to follow my belief that there should be no passwords1 ,stallman would later say4 ,because ,i don't believe that it's really desirable to have security on a computer1 ,i shouldn't be willing to help uphold the security regime4 ,stallman's refusal to bow before the great and powerful ,oz symbolized the growing tension between hackers and ,,ai ,lab management during the early #aihjs4 ,this tension paled in comparison to the conflict that raged within the hacker community itself4 ,by the time the ,,kl-#aj arrived1 the hacker community had already divided into two camps4 ,the first centered around a software company called ,symbolics1 ,inc4 ,the second centered around ,symbolics chief rival1 ,lisp ,machines1 ,inc4 7,,lmi74 ,both companies were in a race to market the ,lisp ,machine1 a device built to take full advantage of the ,lisp programming language4 ,created by artificial-intelligence research pioneer ,john ,mc,carthy1 a ,,mit artificial-intelligence researcher during the late #aiejs1 ,lisp is an elegant language well-suited for programs charged with heavy-duty sorting and processing4 ,the language's name is a shortened version of ,l,i,st ,processing4 ,following ,mc,carthy's departure to the ,stanford ,artificial ,intelligence ,laboratory1 ,,mit hackers refined the language into a local dialect dubbed ,,maclisp4 ,the ,,mac stood for ,project ,,mac1 the ,,darpa-funded research project that gave birth to the ,,ai ,lab and the ,laboratory for ,computer ,science4 ,led by ,,ai ,lab arch-hacker ,richard ,greenblatt1 ,,ai ,lab programmers during the #aigjs built up an entire ,lisp-based operating system1 dubbed the ,lisp ,machine operating system4 ,by #aihj1 the ,lisp ,machine project had generated two commercial spin-offs4 ,symbolics was headed by ,russell ,noftsker1 a former ,,ai ,lab administrator1 and ,lisp ,machines1 ,inc41 was headed by ,greenblatt4 ,the ,lisp ,machine software was hacker-built1 meaning it was owned by ,,mit but available for anyone to copy as per hacker custom4 ,such a system limited the marketing advantage of any company hoping to license the software from ,,mit and market it as unique4 ,to secure an advantage1 and to bolster the aspects of the operating system that customers might consider attractive1 the companies recruited various ,,ai ,lab hackers and set them working on various components of the ,lisp ,machine operating system outside the auspices of the ,,ai ,lab4 ,the most aggressive in this strategy was ,symbolics4 ,by the end of #aihj1 the company had hired #ad ,,ai ,lab staffers as part-time consultants to develop its version of the ,lisp ,machine4 ,apart from ,stallman1 the rest signed on to help ,,lmi4,see ,h4 ,p4 ,newquist1 ,the ,brain ,makers3 ,genius1 ,ego1 and ,greed in the ,quest for ,machines that ,think 7,sams ,publishing1 #aiid73 #agb4 ,at first1 ,stallman accepted both companies' attempt to commercialize the ,lisp machine1 even though it meant more work for him4 ,both licensed the ,lisp ,machine ,,os source code from ,,mit1 and it was ,stallman's job to update the lab's own ,lisp ,machine to keep pace with the latest innovations4 ,although ,symbolics' license with ,,mit gave ,stallman the right to review1 but not copy1 ,symbolics' source code1 ,stallman says a gentleman's agreement between ,symbolics management and the ,,ai ,lab made it possible to borrow attractive snippets in traditional hacker fashion4 ,on ,march #af1 #aihb1 a date ,stallman remembers well because it was his birthday1 ,symbolics executives decided to end this gentlemen's agreement4 ,the move was largely strategic4 ,,lmi1 the primary competition in the ,lisp ,machine marketplace1 was essentially using a copy of the ,,ai ,lab ,lisp ,machine4 ,rather than subsidize the development of a market rival1 ,symbolics executives elected to enforce the letter of the license4 ,if the ,,ai ,lab wanted its operating system to stay current with the ,symbolics operating system1 the lab would have to switch over to a ,symbolics machine and sever its connection to ,,lmi4 ,as the person responsible for keeping up the lab's ,lisp ,machine1 ,stallman was incensed4 ,viewing this announcement as an ultimatum1 he retaliated by disconnecting ,symbolics' microwave communications link to the laboratory4 ,he then vowed never to work on a ,symbolics machine and pledged his immediate allegiance to ,,lmi4 ,the way ,i saw it1 the ,,ai ,lab was a neutral country1 like ,belgium in ,world ,war ,i1 ,stallman says4 ,if ,germany invades ,belgium1 ,belgium declares war on ,germany and sides with ,britain and ,france4 ,the circumstances of the so-called ,symbolics ,war of #aihb-aihc depend heavily on the source doing the telling4 ,when ,symbolics executives noticed that their latest features were still appearing in the ,,ai ,lab ,lisp ,machine and1 by extension1 the ,,lmi ,lisp machine1 they installed a spy program on ,stallman's computer terminal4 ,stallman says he was rewriting the features from scratch1 taking advantage of the license's review clause but also taking pains to make the source code as different as possible4 ,symbolics executives argued otherwise and took their case to ,,mit administration4 ,according to #aiid book1 ,the ,brain ,makers3 ,genius1 ,ego1 and ,greed1 and the ,quest for ,machines ,that ,think1 written by ,harvey ,newquist1 the administration responded with a warning to ,stallman to stay away from the ,lisp ,machine project4,ibid43 #aif4 ,according to ,stallman1 ,,mit administrators backed ,stallman up4 ,i was never threatened1 he says4 ,i did make changes in my practices1 though4 ,just to be ultra safe1 ,i no longer read their source code4 ,i used only the documentation and wrote the code from that4 ,whatever the outcome1 the bickering solidified ,stallman's resolve4 ,with no source code to review1 ,stallman filled in the software gaps according to his own tastes and enlisted members of the ,,ai ,lab to provide a continuous stream of bug reports4 ,he also made sure ,,lmi programmers had direct access to the changes4 ,i was going to punish ,symbolics if it was the last thing ,i did1 ,stallman says4 ,such statements are revealing4 ,not only do they shed light on ,stallman's nonpacifist nature1 they also reflect the intense level of emotion triggered by the conflict4 ,according to another ,newquist-related story1 ,stallman became so irate at one point that he issued an email threatening to wrap myself in dynamite and walk into ,symbolics' offices4,ibid4 ,newquist1 who says this anecdote was confirmed by several ,symbolics executives1 writes1 ,the message caused a brief flurry of excitement and speculation on the part of ,symbolics' employees1 but ultimately1 no one took ,stallman's outburst that seriously4 ,although ,stallman would deny any memory of the email and still describes its existence as a vicious rumor1 he acknowledges that such thoughts did enter his head4 ,i definitely did have fantasies of killing myself and destroying their building in the process1 ,stallman says4 ,i thought my life was over4 ,the level of despair owed much to what ,stallman viewed as the destruction of his home-i4e41 the demise of the ,,ai ,lab's close-knit hacker subculture4 ,in a later email interview with ,levy1 ,stallman would liken himself to the historical figure ,ishi1 the last surviving member of the ,yahi1 a ,pacific ,northwest tribe wiped out during the ,indian wars of the #ahfjs and #ahgjs4 ,the analogy casts ,stallman's survival in epic1 almost mythical1 terms4 ,in reality1 however1 it glosses over the tension between ,stallman and his fellow ,,ai ,lab hackers prior to the ,symbolics-,,lmi schism4 ,instead of seeing ,symbolics as an exterminating force1 many of ,stallman's colleagues saw it as a belated bid for relevance4 ,in commercializing the ,lisp ,machine1 the company pushed hacker principles of engineer-driven software design out of the ivory-tower confines of the ,,ai ,lab and into the corporate marketplace where manager-driven design principles held sway4 ,rather than viewing ,stallman as a holdout1 many hackers saw him as a troubling anachronism4 ,stallman does not dispute this alternate view of historical events4 ,in fact1 he says it was yet another reason for the hostility triggered by the ,symbolics ultimatum4 ,even before ,symbolics hired away most of the ,,ai ,lab's hacker staff1 ,stallman says many of the hackers who later joined ,symbolics were shunning him4 ,i was no longer getting invited to go to ,chinatown1 ,stallman recalls4 ,the custom started by ,greenblatt was that if you went out to dinner1 you went around or sent a message asking anybody at the lab if they also wanted to go4 ,sometime around #aihj-aiha1 ,i stopped getting asked4 ,they were not only not inviting me1 but one person later confessed that he had been pressured to lie to me to keep their going away to dinner without me a secret4 ,although ,stallman felt anger toward the hackers who orchestrated this petty form of ostracism1 the ,symbolics controversy dredged up a new kind of anger1 the anger of a person about to lose his home4 ,when ,symbolics stopped sending over its source-code changes1 ,stallman responded by holing up in his ,,mit offices and rewriting each new software feature and tool from scratch4 ,frustrating as it may have been1 it guaranteed that future ,lisp ,machine users had unfettered access to the same features as ,symbolics users4 ,it also guaranteed ,stallman's legendary status within the hacker community4 ,already renowned for his work with ,emacs1 ,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 has one of the major human accomplishments of the ,information ,age1 or of any age for that matter4 ,dubbing it a master hack and ,stallman himself a virtual ,john ,henry of computer code1 author ,steven ,levy notes that many of his ,symbolics-employed rivals had no choice but to pay their idealistic former comrade grudging respect4 ,levy quotes ,bill ,gosper1 a hacker who eventually went to work for ,symbolics in the company's ,palo ,alto office1 expressing amazement over ,stallman's output during this period3 ,i can see something ,stallman wrote1 and ,i might decide it was bad 7probably not1 but somebody could convince me it was bad71 and ,i would still say1 ,but wait a minute-,stallman doesn't have anybody to argue with all night over there4 ,he's working alone6 ,it's incredible anyone could do this alone6,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #dbf4 ,for ,stallman1 the months spent playing catch up with ,symbolics evoke a mixture of pride and profound sadness4 ,as a dyed-in-the-wool liberal whose father had served in ,world ,war ,,ii1 ,stallman is no pacifist4 ,in many ways1 the ,symbolics war offered the rite of passage toward which ,stallman had been careening ever since joining the ,,ai ,lab staff a decade before4 ,at the same time1 however1 it coincided with the traumatic destruction of the ,,ai ,lab hacker culture that had nurtured ,stallman since his teenage years4 ,one day1 while taking a break from writing code1 ,stallman experienced a traumatic moment passing through the lab's equipment room4 ,there1 ,stallman encountered the hulking1 unused frame of the ,,pdp-#aj machine4 ,startled by the dormant lights1 lights that once actively blinked out a silent code indicating the status of the internal program1 ,stallman says the emotional impact was not unlike coming across a beloved family member's well-preserved corpse4 ,i started crying right there in the equipment room1 he says4 ,seeing the machine there1 dead1 with nobody left to fix it1 it all drove home how completely my community had been destroyed4 ,stallman would have little opportunity to mourn4 ,the ,lisp ,machine1 despite all the furor it invoked and all the labor that had gone into making it1 was merely a sideshow to the large battles in the technology marketplace4 ,the relentless pace of computer miniaturization was bringing in newer1 more powerful microprocessors that would soon incorporate the machine's hardware and software capabilities like a modern metropolis swallowing up an ancient desert village4 ,riding atop this microprocessor wave were hundreds-thousands-of commercial software programs1 each protected by a patchwork of user licenses and nondisclosure agreements that made it impossible for hackers to review or share source code4 ,the licenses were crude and ill-fitting1 but by #aihc they had become strong enough to satisfy the courts and scare away would-be interlopers4 ,software1 once a form of garnish most hardware companies gave away to make their expensive computer systems more flavorful1 was quickly becoming the main dish4 ,in their increasing hunger for new games and features1 users were putting aside the traditional demand to review the recipe after every meal4 ,nowhere was this state of affairs more evident than in the realm of personal computer systems4 ,companies such as ,apple ,computer and ,commodore were minting fresh millionaires selling machines with built-in operating systems4 ,unaware of the hacker culture and its distaste for binary-only software1 many of these users saw little need to protest when these companies failed to attach the accompanying source-code files4 ,a few anarchic adherents of the hacker ethic helped propel that ethic into this new marketplace1 but for the most part1 the marketplace rewarded the programmers speedy enough to write new programs and savvy enough to copyright them as legally protected works4 ,one of the most notorious of these programmers was ,bill ,gates1 a ,harvard dropout two years ,stallman's junior4 ,although ,stallman didn't know it at the time1 seven years before sending out his message to the n et4unix-wizards newsgroup1 ,gates1 a budding entrepreneur and general partner with the ,albuquerque-based software firm ,micro-,soft1 later spelled as ,microsoft1 had sent out his own open letter to the software-developer community4 ,written in response to the ,,pc users copying ,micro-,soft's software programs1 ,gates' ,open ,letter to ,hobbyists had excoriated the notion of communal software development4 ,who can afford to do professional work for nothing8 asked ,gates4 ,what hobbyist can put three man-years into programming1 finding all bugs1 documenting his product1 and distributing it for free8,see ,bill ,gates1 ,an ,open ,letter to ,hobbyists 7,february #c1 #aigf74 ,to view an online copy of this letter1 go to http3_/_/www4blinkenlights4com_/classicc mp_/gateswhine4html4 ,although few hackers at the ,,ai ,lab saw the missive1 ,gates' #aigf letter nevertheless represented the changing attitude toward software both among commercial software companies and commercial software developers4 ,why treat software as a zero-cost commodity when the market said otherwise8 ,as the #aigjs gave way to the #aihjs1 selling software became more than a way to recoup costs2 it became a political statement4 ,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 ,depression1 more than a few software programmers saw the hacker ethic as anticompetitive and1 by extension1 un-,american4 ,at best1 it was a throwback to the anticorporate attitudes of the late #aifjs and early #aigjs4 ,like a ,wall ,street banker discovering an old tie-dyed shirt hiding between ,french-cuffed shirts and double-breasted suits1 many computer programmers treated the hacker ethic as an embarrassing reminder of an idealistic age4 ,for a man who had spent the entire #aifjs as an embarrassing throwback to the #aiejs1 ,stallman didn't mind living out of step with his peers4 ,as a programmer used to working with the best machines and the best software1 however1 ,stallman faced what he could only describe as a stark moral choice3 either get over his ethical objection for proprietary software-the term ,stallman and his fellow hackers used to describe any program that carried private copyright or end-user license that restricted copying and modification-or dedicate his life to building an alternate1 nonproprietary system of software programs4 ,given his recent months-long ordeal with ,symbolics1 ,stallman felt more comfortable with the latter option4 ,i suppose ,i could have stopped working on computers altogether1 ,stallman says4 ,i had no special skills1 but ,i'm sure ,i could have become a waiter4 ,not at a fancy restaurant1 probably1 but ,i could've been a waiter somewhere4 ,being a waiter-i4e41 dropping out of programming altogether-would have meant completely giving up an activity1 computer programming1 that had given him so much pleasure4 ,looking back on his life since moving to ,cambridge1 ,stallman finds it easy to identify lengthy periods when software programming provided the only pleasure4 ,rather than drop out1 ,stallman decided to stick it out4 ,an atheist1 ,stallman rejects notions such as fate1 dharma1 or a divine calling in life4 ,nevertheless1 he does feel that the decision to shun proprietary software and build an operating system to help others do the same was a natural one4 ,after all1 it was ,stallman's own personal combination of stubbornness1 foresight1 and coding virtuosity that led him to consider a fork in the road most others didn't know existed4 ,in describing the decision in a chapter for the #aiii book1 ,open ,sources1 ,stallman cites the spirit encapsulated in the words of the ,jewish sage ,hillel3 ,if ,i am not for myself1 who will be for me8,if ,i am only for myself1 what am ,i8,if not now1 when8,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,open ,sources 7,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc41 #aiii73 #ef4 ,stallman adds his own footnote to this statement1 writing1 ,as an atheist1 ,i don't follow any religious leaders1 but ,i sometimes find ,i admire something one of them has said4 ,speaking to audiences1 ,stallman avoids the religious route and expresses the decision in pragmatic terms4 ,i asked myself3 what could ,i1 an operating-system developer1 do to improve the situation8 ,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 problem4 ,once he reached that decision1 ,stallman says1 everything else fell into place4 ,he would abstain from using software programs that forced him to compromise his ethical beliefs1 while at the same time devoting his life to the creation of software that would make it easier for others to follow the same path4 ,pledging to build a free software operating system or die trying-of old age1 of course1 ,stallman quips1 he resigned from the ,,mit staff in ,january1 #aihd1 to build ,,gnu4 ,the resignation distanced ,stallman's work from the legal auspices of ,,mit4 ,still1 ,stallman had enough friends and allies within the ,,ai ,lab to retain rent-free access to his ,,mit office4 ,he also had the ability to secure outside consulting gigs to underwrite the early stages of the ,,gnu ,project4 ,in resigning from ,,mit1 however1 ,stallman negated any debate about conflict of interest or ,institute ownership of the software4 ,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 environment4 ,for the first few months1 ,stallman operated in isolation from the ,unix community as well4 ,although his announcement to the net4unix-wizards group had attracted sympathetic responses1 few volunteers signed on to join the crusade in its early stages4 ,the community reaction was pretty much uniform1 recalls ,rich ,morin1 leader of a ,unix user group at the time4 ,people said1 ,oh1 that's a great idea4 ,show us your code4 ,show us it can be done4' ,in true hacker fashion1 ,stallman began looking for existing programs and tools that could be converted into ,,gnu programs and tools4 ,one of the first was a compiler named ,,vuck1 which converted programs written in the popular ,c programming language into machine-readable code4 ,translated from the ,dutch1 the program's acronym stood for the ,free ,university ,compiler ,kit4 ,optimistic1 ,stallman asked the program's author if the program was free4 ,when the author informed him that the words ,free ,university were a reference to the ,vrije ,universiteit in ,amsterdam1 ,stallman was chagrined4 ,he responded derisively1 stating that the university was free but the compiler was not1 recalls ,stallman4 ,i therefore decided that my first program for the ,,gnu ,project would be a multi-language1 multi-platform compiler4 ,eventually ,stallman found a ,pastel language compiler written by programmers at ,lawrence ,livermore ,national ,lab4 ,according to ,stallman's knowledge at the time1 the compiler was free to copy and modify4 ,unfortunately1 the program possessed a sizable design flaw3 it saved each program into core memory1 tying up precious space for other software activities4 ,on mainframe systems this design flaw had been forgivable4 ,on ,unix systems it was a crippling barrier1 since the machines that ran ,unix were too small to handle the large files generated4 ,stallman made substantial progress at first1 building a ,c-compatible frontend to the compiler4 ,by summer1 however1 he had come to the conclusion that he would have to build a totally new compiler from scratch4 ,in ,september of #aihd1 ,stallman shelved compiler development for the near term and began searching for lower-lying fruit4 ,he began development of a ,,gnu version of ,emacs1 the program he himself had been supervising for a decade4 ,the decision was strategic4 ,within the ,unix community1 the two native editor programs were vi1 written by ,sun ,microsystems cofounder ,bill ,joy1 and ed1 written by ,bell ,labs scientist 7and ,unix cocreator7 ,ken ,thompson4 ,both were useful and popular1 but neither offered the endlessly expandable nature of ,emacs4 ,in rewriting ,emacs for the ,unix audience1 ,stallman stood a better chance of showing off his skills4 ,it also stood to reason that ,emacs users might be more attuned to the ,stallman mentality4 ,looking back1 ,stallman says he didn't view the decision in strategic terms4 ,i wanted an ,emacs1 and ,i had a good opportunity to develop one4 ,once again1 the notion of reinventing the wheel grated on ,stallman's efficient hacker sensibilities4 ,in writing a ,unix version of ,emacs1 ,stallman was soon following the footsteps of ,carnegie ,mellon graduate student ,james ,gosling1 author of a ,c-based version dubbed ,gosling ,emacs or ,,gosmacs4 ,gosling's version of ,emacs included an interpreter that exploited a simplified offshoot of the ,lisp language called ,,mocklisp4 ,determined to build ,,gnu ,emacs on a similar ,lisp foundation1 ,stallman borrowed copiously from ,gosling's innovations4 ,although ,gosling had put ,,gosmacs under copyright and had sold the rights to ,uni,press1 a privately held software company1 ,stallman cited the assurances of a fellow developer who had participated in the early ,,mocklisp interpreter4 ,according to the developer1 ,gosling1 while a ,ph4,d4 student at ,carnegie ,mellon1 had assured early collaborators that their work would remain accessible4 ,when ,uni,press caught wind of ,stallman's project1 however1 the company threatened to enforce the copyright4 ,once again1 ,stallman faced the prospect of building from the ground up4 ,in the course of reverse-engineering ,gosling's interpreter1 ,stallman would create a fully functional ,lisp interpreter1 rendering the need for ,gosling's original interpreter moot4 ,nevertheless1 the notion of developers selling off software rights-indeed1 the very notion of developers having software rights to sell in the first place-rankled ,stallman4 ,in a #aihf speech at the ,swedish ,royal ,technical ,institute1 ,stallman cited the ,uni,press incident as yet another example of the dangers associated with proprietary software4 ,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 secret1 and start handing out copies on a street corner so it wouldn't be a trade secret any more1 said ,stallman4 ,perhaps that would be a much more efficient way for me to give people new free software than actually writing it myself2 but everyone is too cowardly to even take it4 ,despite the stress it generated1 the dispute over ,gosling's innovations would assist both ,stallman and the free software movement in the long term4 ,it would force ,stallman to address the weaknesses of the ,emacs ,commune and the informal trust system that had allowed problematic offshoots to emerge4 ,it would also force ,stallman to sharpen the free software movement's political objectives4 ,following the release of ,,gnu ,emacs in #aihe1 ,stallman issued ,the ,,gnu ,manifesto1 an expansion of the original announcement posted in ,september1 #aihc4 ,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 programs4 ,one argument1 ,don't programmers deserve a reward for their creativity1 earned a response encapsulating ,stallman's anger over the recent ,gosling ,emacs episode3 ,if anything deserves a reward1 it is social contribution1 ,stallman wrote4 ,creativity can be a social contribution1 but only in so far sic as society is free to use the results4 ,if programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs1 by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,the ,,gnu ,manifesto 7#aihe74 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/manifesto4html ,with the release of ,,gnu ,emacs1 the ,,gnu ,project finally had code to show4 ,it also had the burdens of any software-based enterprise4 ,as more and more ,unix developers began playing with the software1 money1 gifts1 and requests for tapes began to pour in4 ,to address the business side of the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman drafted a few of his colleagues and formed the ,free ,software ,foundation 7,,fsf71 a nonprofit organization dedicated to speeding the ,,gnu ,project towards its goal4 ,with ,stallman as president and various hacker allies as board members1 the ,,fsf helped provide a corporate face for the ,,gnu ,project4 ,robert ,chassell1 a programmer then working at ,lisp ,machines1 ,inc41 became one of five charter board members at the ,free ,software ,foundation following a dinner conversation with ,stallman4 ,chassell also served as the organization's treasurer1 a role that started small but quickly grew4 ,i think in '#he our total expenses and revenue were something in the order of #bc1jjj1 give or take1 ,chassell recalls4 ,richard had his office1 and we borrowed space4 ,i put all the stuff1 especially the tapes1 under my desk4 ,it wasn't until sometime later ,,lmi loaned us some space where we could store tapes and things of that sort4 ,in addition to providing a face1 the ,free ,software ,foundation provided a center of gravity for other disenchanted programmers4 ,the ,unix market that had seemed so collegial even at the time of ,stallman's initial ,,gnu announcement was becoming increasingly competitive4 ,in an attempt to tighten their hold on customers1 companies were starting to close off access to ,unix source code1 a trend that only speeded the number of inquiries into ongoing ,,gnu software projects4 ,the ,unix wizards who once regarded ,stallman as a noisy kook were now beginning to see him as a software ,cassandra4 ,a lot of people don't realize1 until they've had it happen to them1 how frustrating it can be to spend a few years working on a software program only to have it taken away1 says ,chassell1 summarizing the feelings and opinions of the correspondents writing in to the ,,fsf during the early years4 ,after that happens a couple of times1 you start to say to yourself1 ,hey1 wait a minute4' ,for ,chassell1 the decision to participate in the ,free ,software ,foundation came down to his own personal feelings of loss4 ,prior to ,,lmi1 ,chassell had been working for hire1 writing an introductory book on ,unix for ,cadmus1 ,inc41 a ,cambridge-area software company4 ,when ,cadmus folded1 taking the rights to the book down with it1 ,chassell says he attempted to buy the rights back with no success4 ,as far as ,i know1 that book is still sitting on shelf somewhere1 unusable1 uncopyable1 just taken out of the system1 ,chassell says4 ,it was quite a good introduction if ,i may say so myself4 ,it would have taken maybe three or four months to convert the book into a perfectly usable introduction to ,,gnu_/,linux today4 ,the whole experience1 aside from what ,i have in my memory1 was lost4 ,forced to watch his work sink into the mire while his erstwhile employer struggled through bankruptcy1 ,chassell says he felt a hint of the anger that drove ,stallman to fits of apoplexy4 ,the main clarity1 for me1 was the sense that if you want to have a decent life1 you don't want to have bits of it closed off1 ,chassell says4 ,this whole idea of having the freedom to go in and to fix something and modify it1 whatever it may be1 it really makes a difference4 ,it makes one think happily that after you've lived a few years that what you've done is worthwhile4 ,because otherwise it just gets taken away and thrown out or abandoned or1 at the very least1 you no longer have any relation to it4 ,it's like losing a bit of your life4 ,st4 ,ignucius ,the ,maui ,high ,performance ,computing ,center is located in a single-story building in the dusty red hills just above the town of ,kihei4 ,framed by million-dollar views and the multimillion dollar real estate of the ,silversword ,golf ,course1 the center seems like the ultimate scientific boondoggle4 ,far from the boxy1 sterile confines of ,tech ,square or even the sprawling research metropolises of ,argonne1 ,illinois and ,los ,alamos1 ,new ,mexico1 the ,,mhpcc seems like the kind of place where scientists spend more time on their tans than their post-doctoral research projects4 ,the image is only half true4 ,although researchers at the ,,mhpcc do take advantage of the local recreational opportunities1 they also take their work seriously4 ,according to ,top#ejj4org1 a web site that tracks the most powerful supercomputers in the world1 the ,,ibm ,,sp ,power#c supercomputer housed within the ,,mhpcc clocks in at #hcg billion floating-point operations per second1 making it one of #be most powerful computers in the world4 ,co-owned and operated by the ,university of ,hawaii and the ,u4,s4 ,air ,force1 the machine divides its computer cycles between the number crunching tasks associated with military logistics and high-temperature physics research4 ,simply put1 the ,,mhpcc is a unique place1 a place where the brainy culture of science and engineering and the laid-back culture of the ,hawaiian islands coexist in peaceful equilibrium4 ,a slogan on the lab's #bjjj web site sums it up3 ,computing in paradise4 ,it's not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to find ,richard ,stallman1 a man who1 when taking in the beautiful view of the nearby ,maui ,channel through the picture windows of a staffer's office1 mutters a terse critique3 ,too much sun4 ,still1 as an emissary from one computing paradise to another1 ,stallman has a message to deliver1 even if it means subjecting his pale hacker skin to the hazards of tropical exposure4 ,the conference room is already full by the time ,i arrive to catch ,stallman's speech4 ,the gender breakdown is a little better than at the ,new ,york speech1 #he male1 #ae female1 but not by much4 ,about half of the audience members wear khaki pants and logo-encrusted golf shirts4 ,the other half seems to have gone native4 ,dressed in the gaudy flower-print shirts so popular in this corner of the world1 their faces are a deep shade of ochre4 ,the only residual indication of geek status are the gadgets3 ,nokia cell phones1 ,palm ,pilots1 and ,sony ,,vaio laptops4 ,needless to say1 ,stallman1 who stands in front of the room dressed in plain blue ,t-shirt1 brown polyester slacks1 and white socks1 sticks out like a sore thumb4 ,the fluorescent lights of the conference room help bring out the unhealthy color of his sun-starved skin4 ,his beard and hair are enough to trigger beads of sweat on even the coolest ,hawaiian neck4 ,short of having the words mainlander tattooed on his forehead1 ,stallman couldn't look more alien if he tried4 ,as ,stallman putters around the front of the room1 a few audience members wearing ,t-shirts with the logo of the ,maui ,free,b,s,d ,users ,group 7,,mfug7 race to set up camera and audio equipment4 ,free,b,s,d1 a free software offshoot of the ,berkeley ,software ,distribution1 the venerable #aigjs academic version of ,unix1 is technically a competitor to the ,,gnu_/,linux operating system4 ,still1 in the hacking world1 ,stallman speeches are documented with a fervor reminiscent of the ,grateful ,dead and its legendary army of amateur archivists4 ,as the local free software heads1 it's up to the ,,mfug members to make sure fellow programmers in ,hamburg1 ,mumbai1 and ,novosibirsk don't miss out on the latest pearls of ,,rms wisdom4 ,the analogy to the ,grateful ,dead is apt4 ,often1 when describing the business opportunities inherent within the free software model1 ,stallman has held up the ,grateful ,dead as an example4 ,in refusing to restrict fans' ability to record live concerts1 the ,grateful ,dead became more than a rock group4 ,they became the center of a tribal community dedicated to ,grateful ,dead music4 ,over time1 that tribal community became so large and so devoted that the band shunned record contracts and supported itself solely through musical tours and live appearances4 ,in #aiid1 the band's last year as a touring act1 the ,grateful ,dead drew #eb million in gate receipts alone4,see ,grateful ,dead ,time ,capsule3 #aihe-aiie ,north ,american ,tour ,grosses4 http3_/_/www4accessplace4com_/gdtc_/#aai g4;htm ,while few software companies have been able to match that success1 the tribal aspect of the free software community is one reason many in the latter half of the #aiijs started to accept the notion that publishing software source code might be a good thing4 ,hoping to build their own loyal followings1 companies such as ,,ibm1 ,sun ,microsystems1 and ,hewlett ,packard have come to accept the letter1 if not the spirit1 of the ,stallman free software message4 ,describing the ,,gpl as the information-technology industry's ,magna ,carta1 ,z,d,net software columnist ,evan ,leibovitch sees the growing affection for all things ,,gnu as more than just a trend4 ,this societal shift is letting users take back control of their futures1 ,leibovitch writes4 ,just as the ,magna ,carta gave rights to ,british subjects1 the ,,gpl enforces consumer rights and freedoms on behalf of the users of computer software4,see ,evan ,leibovitch1 ,who's ,afraid of ,big ,bad ,wolves1 ,z,d,net ,tech ,update 7,december #ae1 #bjjj74 http3_/_/techupdate4zdnet4com_/techupdat e_/stories_/main_/#j,y_/,a ,the tribal aspect of the free software community also helps explain why #dj-odd programmers1 who might otherwise be working on physics projects or surfing the ,web for windsurfing buoy reports1 have packed into a conference room to hear ,stallman speak4 ,unlike the ,new ,york speech1 ,stallman gets no introduction4 ,he also offers no self-introduction4 ,when the ,free,b,s,d people finally get their equipment up and running1 ,stallman simply steps forward1 starts speaking1 and steamrolls over every other voice in the room4 ,most of the time when people consider the question of what rules society should have for using software1 the people considering it are from software companies1 and they consider the question from a self-serving perspective1 says ,stallman1 opening his speech4 ,what rules can we impose on everybody else so they have to pay us lots of money8 ,i had the good fortune in the #aigjs to be part of a community of programmers who shared software4 ,and because of this ,i always like to look at the same issue from a different direction to ask3 what kind of rules make possible a good society that is good for the people who are in it8 ,and therefore ,i reach completely different answers4 ,once again1 ,stallman quickly segues into the parable of the ,xerox laser printer1 taking a moment to deliver the same dramatic finger-pointing gestures to the crowd4 ,he also devotes a minute or two to the ,,gnu_/,linux name4 ,some people say to me1 ,why make such a fuss about getting credit for this system8 ,after all1 the important thing is the job is done1 not whether you get recognition for it4' ,well1 this would be wise advice if it were true4 ,but the job wasn't to build an operating system2 the job is to spread freedom to the users of computers4 ,and to do that we have to make it possible to do everything with computers in freedom4,for narrative purposes1 ,i have hesitated to go in-depth when describing ,stallman's full definition of software freedom4 ,the ,,gnu ,project web site lists four fundamental components3 ,the freedom to run a program1 for any purpose 7freedom #j74 ,the freedom to study how a program works1 and adapt it to your needs 7freedom #a74 ,the freedom to redistribute copies of a program so you can help your neighbor 7freedom #b74 ,the freedom to improve the program1 and release your improvements to the public1 so that the whole community benefits 7freedom #c74 ,for more information1 please visit ,the ,free ,software ,definition at http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/philosophy_/free-s w4html4 ,adds ,stallman1 ,there's a lot more work to do4 ,for some in the audience1 this is old material4 ,for others1 it's a little arcane4 ,when a member of the golf-shirt contingent starts dozing off1 ,stallman stops the speech and asks somebody to wake the person up4 ,somebody once said my voice was so soothing1 he asked if ,i was some kind of healer1 says ,stallman1 drawing a quick laugh from the crowd4 ,i guess that probably means ,i can help you drift gently into a blissful1 relaxing sleep4 ,and some of you might need that4 ,i guess ,i shouldn't object if you do4 ,if you need to sleep1 by all means do4 ,the speech ends with a brief discussion of software patents1 a growing issue of concern both within the software industry and within the free software community4 ,like ,napster1 software patents reflect the awkward nature of applying laws and concepts written for the physical world to the frictionless universe of information technology4 ,the difference between protecting a program under copyright and protecting a program under software patents is subtle but significant4 ,in the case of copyright1 a software creator can restrict duplication of the source code but not duplication of the idea or functionality that the source code addresses4 ,in other words1 if a developer chooses not to use a software program under the original developer's terms1 that second developer is still free to reverse-engineer the program-i4e41 duplicate the software program's functionality by rewriting the source code from scratch4 ,such duplication of ideas is common within the commercial software industry1 where companies often isolate reverse-engineering teams to head off accusations of corporate espionage or developer hanky-panky4 ,in the jargon of modern software development1 companies refer to this technique as clean room engineering4 ,software patents work differently4 ,according to the ,u4,s4 ,patent ,office1 companies and individuals may secure patents for innovative algorithms provided they submit their claims to a public review4 ,in theory1 this allows the patent-holder to trade off disclosure of their invention for a limited monopoly of a minimum of #bj years after the patent filing4 ,in practice1 the disclosure is of limited value1 since the operation of the program is often self-evident4 ,unlike copyright1 a patent gives its holder the ability to head off the independent development of software programs with the same or similar functionality4 ,in the software industry1 where #bj years can cover the entire life cycle of a marketplace1 patents take on a strategic weight4 ,where companies such as ,microsoft and ,apple once battled over copyright and the look and feel of various technologies1 today's ,internet companies use patents as a way to stake out individual applications and business models1 the most notorious example being ,amazon4com's #bjjj attempt to patent the company's one-click online shopping process4 ,for most companies1 however1 software patents have become a defensive tool1 with cross-licensing deals balancing one set of corporate patents against another in a tense form of corporate detente4 ,still1 in a few notable cases of computer encryption and graphic imaging algorithms1 software vendors have successfully stifled rival technologies4 ,for ,stallman1 the software-patent issue dramatizes the need for eternal hacker vigilance4 ,it also underlines the importance of stressing the political benefits of free software programs over the competitive benefits4 ,pointing to software patents' ability to create sheltered regions in the marketplace1 ,stallman says competitive performance and price1 two areas where free software operating systems such as ,,gnu_/,linux and ,free,b,s,d already hold a distinct advantage over their proprietary counterparts1 are red herrings compared to the large issues of user and developer freedom4 ,it's not because we don't have the talent to make better software1 says ,stallman4 ,it's because we don't have the right4 ,somebody has prohibited us from serving the public4 ,so what's going to happen when users encounter these gaps in free software8 ,well1 if they have been persuaded by the open source movement that these freedoms are good because they lead to more-powerful reliable software1 they're likely to say1 ,you didn't deliver what you promised4 ,this software's not more powerful4 ,it's missing this feature4 ,you lied to me4' ,but if they have come to agree with the free software movement1 that the freedom is important in itself1 then they will say1 ,how dare those people stop me from having this feature and my freedom too4' ,and with that kind of response1 we may survive the hits that we're going to take as these patents explode4 ,such comments involve a hefty dose of spin1 of course4 ,most open source advocates are equally1 if not more1 vociferous as ,stallman when it comes to opposing software patents4 ,still1 the underlying logic of ,stallman's argument-that open source advocates emphasize the utilitarian advantages of free software over the political advantages-remains uncontested4 ,rather than stress the political significance of free software programs1 open source advocates have chosen to stress the engineering integrity of the hacker development model4 ,citing the power of peer review1 the open source argument paints programs such as ,,gnu_/,linux or ,free,b,s,d as better built1 better inspected and1 by extension1 more trushworthy to the average user4 ,that's not to say the term open source doesn't have its political implications4 ,for open source advocates1 the term open source serves two purposes4 ,first1 it eliminates the confusion associated with the word free1 a word many businesses interpret as meaning zero cost4 ,second1 it allows companies to examine the free software phenomenon on a technological1 rather than ethical1 basis4 ,eric ,raymond1 cofounder of the ,open ,source ,initiative and one of the leading hackers to endorse the term1 effectively summed up the frustration of following ,stallman down the political path in a #aiii essay1 titled ,shut ,up and ,show ,them the ,code3 ,,rms's rhetoric is very seductive to the kind of people we are4 ,we hackers are thinkers and idealists who readily resonate with appeals to principle and freedom and rights4 ,even when we disagree with bits of his program1 we want ,,rms's rhetorical style to work2 we think it ought to work2 we tend to be puzzled and disbelieving when it fails on the #ie of people who aren't wired like we are4#d ,included among that #ie1 ,raymond writes1 are the bulk of business managers1 investors1 and nonhacker computer users who1 through sheer weight of numbers1 tend to decide the overall direction of the commercial software marketplace4 ,without a way to win these people over1 ,raymond argues1 programmers are doomed to pursue their ideology on the periphery of society3 ,when ,,rms insists that we talk about computer users' rights1 he's issuing a dangerously attractive invitation to us to repeat old failures4 ,it's one we should reject-not because his principles are wrong1 but because that kind of language1 applied to software1 simply does not persuade anybody but us4 ,in fact1 it confuses and repels most people outside our culture4#d ,watching ,stallman deliver his political message in person1 it is hard to see anything confusing or repellent4 ,stallman's appearance may seem off-putting1 but his message is logical4 ,when an audience member asks if1 in shunning proprietary software1 free software proponents lose the ability to keep up with the latest technological advancements1 ,stallman answers the question in terms of his own personal beliefs4 ,i think that freedom is more important than mere technical advance1 he says4 ,i would always choose a less advanced free program rather than a more advanced nonfree program1 because ,i won't give up my freedom for something like that4 ,my rule is1 if ,i can't share it with you1 ,i won't take it4 ,such answers1 however1 reinforce the quasi-religious nature of the ,stallman message4 ,like a ,jew keeping kosher or a ,mormon refusing to drink alcohol1 ,stallman paints his decision to use free software in the place of proprietary in the color of tradition and personal belief4 ,as software evangelists go1 ,stallman avoids forcing those beliefs down listeners' throats4 ,then again1 a listener rarely leaves a ,stallman speech not knowing where the true path to software righteousness lies4 ,as if to drive home this message1 ,stallman punctuates his speech with an unusual ritual4 ,pulling a black robe out of a plastic grocery bag1 ,stallman puts it on4 ,out of a second bag1 he pulls a reflective yellow computer disk and places it on his head4 ,the crowd lets out a startled laugh4 ,i am ,st4 ,ignucius of the ,church of ,emacs1 says ,stallman1 raising his right hand in mock-blessing4 ,i bless your computer1 my child4 ,graphic file3books_/free#jhja4png ,stallman dressed as ,st4 ,ignucius4 ,photo by ,wouter van ,oortmerssen4 ,the laughter turns into full-blown applause after a few seconds4 ,as audience members clap1 the computer disk on ,stallman's head catches the glare of an overhead light1 eliciting a perfect halo effect4 ,in the blink of an eye1 ,stallman goes from awkward haole to ,russian religious icon4 ,emacs was initially a text editor1 says ,stallman1 explaining the getup4 ,eventually it became a way of life for many and a religion for some4 ,we call this religion the ,church of ,emacs4 ,the skit is a lighthearted moment of self-pardoy1 a humorous return-jab at the many people who might see ,stallman's form of software asceticism as religious fanaticism in disguise4 ,it is also the sound of the other shoe dropping-loudly4 ,it's as if1 in donning his robe and halo1 ,stallman is finally letting listeners of the hook1 saying1 ,it's ,,ok to laugh4 ,i know ,i'm weird4 ,discussing the ,st4 ,ignucius persona afterward1 ,stallman says he first came up with it in #aiif1 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 it4 ,at the time1 ,stallman says1 he wanted a way to poke fun at himself1 to remind listeners that1 though stubborn1 ,stallman was not the fanatic some made him out to be4 ,it was only later1 ,stallman adds1 that others seized the persona as a convenient way to play up his reputation as software ideologue1 as ,eric ,raymond did in an #aiii interview with the linux4com web site3 ,when ,i say ,,rms calibrates what he does1 ,i'm not belittling or accusing him of insincerity4 ,i'm saying that like all good communicators he's got a theatrical streak4 ,sometimes it's conscious-have you ever seen him in his ,st4 ,ignucius drag1 blessing software with a disk platter on his head8 ,mostly it's unconscious2 he's just learned the degree of irritating stimulus that works1 that holds attention without 7usually7 freaking people out4,see ,guest ,interview3 ,eric ,s4 ,raymond1 ,linux4com 7,may #ah1 #aiii74 http3_/_/www4linux4com_/interviews_/#aii ijeah_/h_/ ,stallman takes issue with the ,raymond analysis4 ,it's simply my way of making fun of myself1 he says4 ,the fact that others see it as anything more than that is a reflection of their agenda1 not mine4 ,that said1 ,stallman does admit to being a ham4 ,are you kidding8 he says at one point4 ,i love being the center of attention4 ,to facilitate that process1 ,stallman says he once enrolled in ,toastmasters1 an organization that helps members bolster their public-speaking skills and one ,stallman recommends highly to others4 ,he possesses a stage presence that would be the envy of most theatrical performers and feels a link to vaudevillians of years past4 ,a few days after the ,maui ,high ,performance ,computing ,center speech1 ,i allude to the #aiii ,linux,world performace and ask ,stallman if he has a ,groucho ,marx complex-i4e41 the unwillingness to belong to any club that would have him as a member4 ,stallman's response is immediate3 ,no1 but ,i admire ,groucho ,marx in a lot of ways and certainly have been in some things ,i say inspired by him4 ,but then ,i've also been inspired in some ways by ,harpo4 ,the ,groucho ,marx influence is certainly evident in ,stallman's lifelong fondness for punning4 ,then again1 punning and wordplay are common hacker traits4 ,perhaps the most ,groucho-like aspect of ,stallman's personality1 however1 is the deadpan manner in which the puns are delivered4 ,most come so stealthily-without even the hint of a raised eyebrow or upturned smile-you almost have to wonder if ,stallman's laughing at his audience more than the audience is laughing at him4 ,watching members of the ,maui ,high ,performance ,computer ,center laugh at the ,st4 ,ignucius parody1 such concerns evaporate4 ,while not exactly a standup act1 ,stallman certainly possesses the chops to keep a roomful of engineers in stitches4 ,to be a saint in the ,church of ,emacs does not require celibacy1 but it does require making a commitment to living a life of moral purity1 he tells the ,maui audience4 ,you must exorcise the evil proprietary operating system from all your computer and then install a wholly holy free operating system4 ,and then you must install only free software on top of that4 ,if you make this commitment and live by it1 then you too will be a saint in the ,church of ,emacs1 and you too may have a halo4 ,the ,st4 ,ignucius skit ends with a brief inside joke4 ,on most ,unix systems and ,unix-related offshoots1 the primary competitor program to ,emacs is vi1 a text-editing program developed by former ,,uc ,berkeley student and current ,sun ,microsystems chief scientist1 ,bill ,joy4 ,before doffing his halo1 ,stallman pokes fun at the rival program4 ,people sometimes ask me if it is a sin in the ,church of ,emacs to use vi1 he says4 ,using a free version of vi is not a sin2 it is a penance4 ,so happy hacking4 ,after a brief question-and-answer session1 audience members gather around ,stallman4 ,a few ask for autographs4 ,i'll sign this1 says ,stallman1 holding up one woman's print out of the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 but only if you promise me to use the term ,,gnu_/,linux instead of ,linux and tell all your friends to do likewise4 ,the comment merely confirms a private observation4 ,unlike other stage performers and political figures1 ,stallman has no off mode4 ,aside from the ,st4 ,ignucius character1 the ideologue you see onstage is the ideologue you meet backstage4 ,later that evening1 during a dinner conversation in which a programmer mentions his affinity for open source programs1 ,stallman1 between bites1 upbraids his tablemate3 ,you mean free software4 ,that's the proper way to refer to it4 ,during the question-and-answer session1 ,stallman admits to playing the pedagogue at times4 ,there are many people who say1 ,well1 first let's invite people to join the community1 and then let's teach them about freedom4' ,and that could be a reasonable strategy1 but what we have is almost everybody's inviting people to join the community1 and hardly anybody's teaching them about freedom once they come in4 ,the result1 ,stallman says1 is something akin to a third-world city4 ,people move in1 hoping to strike it rich or at the very least to take part in a vibrant1 open culture1 and yet those who hold the true power keep evolving new tricks and strategies-i4e41 software patents-to keep the masses out4 ,you have millions of people moving in and building shantytowns1 but nobody's working on step two3 getting them out of those shantytowns4 ,if you think talking about software freedom is a good strategy1 please join in doing step two4 ,there are plenty working on step one4 ,we need more people working on step two4 ,working on step two means driving home the issue that freedom1 not acceptance1 is the root issue of the free software movement4 ,those who hope to reform the proprietary software industry from the inside are on a fool's errand4 ,change from the inside is risky1 ,stallman stays4 ,unless you're working at the level of a ,gorbachev1 you're going to be neutralized4 ,hands pop up4 ,stallman points to a member of the golf shirt-wearing contingent4 ,without patents1 how would you suggest dealing with commercial espionage8 ,well1 those two questions have nothing to do with each other1 really1 says ,stallman4 ,but ,i mean if someone wants to steal another company's piece of software4 ,stallman's recoils as if hit by a poisonous spray4 ,wait a second1 ,stallman says4 ,steal8 ,i'm sorry1 there's so much prejudice in that statement that the only thing ,i can say is that ,i reject that prejudice4 ,companies that develop nonfree software and other things keep lots and lots of trade secrets1 and so that's not really likely to change4 ,in the old days-even in the #aihjs-for the most part programmers were not aware that there were even software patents and were paying no attention to them4 ,what happened was that people published the interesting ideas1 and if they were not in the free software movement1 they kept secret the little details4 ,and now they patent those broad ideas and keep secret the little details4 ,so as far as what you're describing1 patents really make no difference to it one way or another4 ,but if it doesn't affect their publication1 a new audience member jumps in1 his voice trailing off almost as soon as he starts speaking4 ,but it does1 ,stallman says4 ,their publication is telling you that this is an idea that's off limits to the rest of the community for #bj years4 ,and what the hell good is that8 ,besides1 they've written it in such a hard way to read1 both to obfuscate the idea and to make the patent as broad as possible1 that it's basically useless looking at the published information to learn anything anyway4 ,the only reason to look at patents is to see the bad news of what you can't do4 ,the audience falls silent4 ,the speech1 which began at #c3ae1 is now nearing the #e3jj whistle1 and most listeners are already squirming in their seats1 antsy to get a jump start on the weekend4 ,sensing the fatigue1 ,stallman glances around the room and hastily shuts things down4 ,so it looks like we're done1 he says1 following the observation with an auctioneer's going1 going1 gone to flush out any last-minute questioners4 ,when nobody throws their hand up1 ,stallman signs off with a traditional exit line4 ,happy hacking1 he says4 ,endnotes #a4 ,see ,grateful ,dead ,time ,capsule3 #aihe-aiie ,north ,american ,tour ,grosses4 http3_/_/www4accessplace4com_/gdtc_/#aai g4;htm #b4 ,see ,evan ,leibovitch1 ,who's ,afraid of ,big ,bad ,wolves1 ,z,d,net ,tech ,update 7,december #ae1 #bjjj74 http3_/_/techupdate4zdnet4com_/techupdat e_/stories_/main_/#j,y_/,a #c4 ,for narrative purposes1 ,i have hesitated to go in-depth when describing ,stallman's full definition of software freedom4 ,the ,,gnu ,project web site lists four fundamental components3 ,the freedom to run a program1 for any purpose 7freedom #j74 ,the freedom to study how a program works1 and adapt it to your needs 7freedom #a74 ,the freedom to redistribute copies of a program so you can help your neighbor 7freedom #b74 ,the freedom to improve the program1 and release your improvements to the public1 so that the whole community benefits 7freedom #c74 ,for more information1 please visit ,the ,free ,software ,definition at http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/philosophy_/free-s w4html4 #d4 ,see ,eric ,raymond1 ,shut ,up and ,show ,them the ,code1 online essay1 7,june #bh1 #aiii74 #e4 ,see ,guest ,interview3 ,eric ,s4 ,raymond1 ,linux4com 7,may #ah1 #aiii74 http3_/_/www4linux4com_/interviews_/#aii ijeah_/h_/ ,the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license ,by the spring of #aihe1 ,richard ,stallman had settled on the ,,gnu ,project's first milestone-a ,lisp-based free software version of ,emacs4 ,to meet this goal1 however1 he faced two challenges4 ,first1 he had to rebuild ,emacs in a way that made it platform independent4 ,second1 he had to rebuild the ,emacs ,commune in a similar fashion4 ,the dispute with ,uni,press had highlighted a flaw in the ,emacs ,commune social contract4 ,where users relied on ,stallman's expert insight1 the ,commune's rules held4 ,in areas where ,stallman no longer held the position of alpha hacker-pre-#aihd ,unix systems1 for example-individuals and companies were free to make their own rules4 ,the tension between the freedom to modify and the freedom to exert authorial privilege had been building before ,,gosmacs4 ,the ,copyright ,act of #aigf had overhauled ,u4,s4 copyright law1 extending the legal protection of copyright to software programs4 ,according to ,section #ajb7;b7 of the ,act1 individuals and companies now possessed the ability to copyright the expression of a software program but not the actual processes or methods embodied in the program4,see ,hal ,abelson1 ,mike ,fischer1 and ,joanne ,costello1 ,software and ,copyright ,law1 updated version 7#aiih74 ,translated1 programmers and companies had the ability to treat software programs like a story or song4 ,other programmers could take inspiration from the work1 but to make a direct copy or nonsatirical derivative1 they first had to secure permission from the original creator4 ,although the new law guaranteed that even programs without copyright notices carried copyright protection1 programmers quickly asserted their rights1 attaching coypright notices to their software programs4 ,at first1 ,stallman viewed these notices with alarm4 ,rare was the software program that didn't borrow source code from past programs1 and yet1 with a single stroke of the president's pen1 ,congress had given programmers and companies the power to assert individual authorship over communally built programs4 ,it also injected a dose of formality into what had otherwise been an informal system4 ,even if hackers could demonstrate how a given program's source-code bloodlines stretched back years1 if not decades1 the resources and money that went into battling each copyright notice were beyond most hackers' means4 ,simply put1 disputes that had once been settled hacker-to-hacker were now settled lawyer-to-lawyer4 ,in such a system1 companies1 not hackers1 held the automatic advantage4 ,proponents of software copyright had their counter-arguments3 without copyright1 works might otherwise slip into the public domain4 ,putting a copyright notice on a work also served as a statement of quality4 ,programmers or companies who attached their name to the copyright attached their reputations as well4 ,finally1 it was a contract1 as well as a statement of ownership4 ,using copyright as a flexible form of license1 an author could give away certain rights in exchange for certain forms of behavior on the part of the user4 ,for example1 an author could give away the right to suppress unauthorized copies just so long as the end user agreed not to create a commercial offshoot4 ,it was this last argument that eventually softened ,stallman's resistance to software copyright notices4 ,looking back on the years leading up to the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman says he began to sense the beneficial nature of copyright sometime around the release of ,emacs #ae4j1 the last significant pre-,,gnu ,project upgrade of ,emacs4 ,i had seen email messages with copyright notices plus simple verbatim copying permitted' licenses1 ,stallman recalls4 ,those definitely were an inspiration4 ,for ,emacs #ae1 ,stallman drafted a copyright that gave users the right to make and distribute copies4 ,it also gave users the right to make modified versions1 but not the right to claim sole ownership of those modified versions1 as in the case of ,,gosmacs4 ,although helpful in codifying the social contract of the ,emacs ,commune1 the ,emacs #ae license remained too informal for the purposes of the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman says4 ,soon after starting work on a ,,gnu version of ,emacs1 ,stallman began consulting with the other members of the ,free ,software ,foundation on how to shore up the license's language4 ,he also consulted with the attorneys who had helped him set up the ,free ,software ,foundation4 ,mark ,fischer1 a ,boston attorney specializing in intellectual-property law1 recalls discussing the license with ,stallman during this period4 ,richard had very strong views about how it should work1 ,fischer says1 ,he had two principles4 ,the first was to make the software absolutely as open as possible4 ,the second was to encourage others to adopt the same licensing practices4 ,encouraging others to adopt the same licensing practices meant closing off the escape hatch that had allowed privately owned versions of ,emacs to emerge4 ,to close that escape hatch1 ,stallman and his free software colleagues came up with a solution3 users would be free to modify ,,gnu ,emacs just so long as they published their modifications4 ,in addition1 the resulting derivative works would also have carry the same ,,gnu ,emacs ,license4 ,the revolutionary nature of this final condition would take a while to sink in4 ,at the time1 ,fischer says1 he simply viewed the ,,gnu ,emacs ,license as a simple contract4 ,it put a price tag on ,,gnu ,emacs' use4 ,instead of money1 ,stallman was charging users access to their own later modifications4 ,that said1 ,fischer does remember the contract terms as unique4 ,i think asking other people to accept the price was1 if not unique1 highly unusual at that time1 he says4 ,the ,,gnu ,emacs ,license made its debut when ,stallman finally released ,,gnu ,emacs in #aihe4 ,following the release1 ,stallman welcomed input from the general hacker community on how to improve the license's language4 ,one hacker to take up the offer was future software activist ,john ,gilmore1 then working as a consultant to ,sun ,microsystems4 ,as part of his consulting work1 ,gilmore had ported ,emacs over to ,sun,o,s1 the company's in-house version of ,unix4 ,in the process of doing so1 ,gilmore had published the changes as per the demands of the ,,gnu ,emacs ,license4 ,instead of viewing the license as a liability1 ,gilmore saw it as clear and concise expression of the hacker ethos4 ,up until then1 most licenses were very informal1 ,gilmore recalls4 ,as an example of this informality1 ,gilmore cites a copyright notice for trn1 a ,unix utility4 ,written by ,larry ,wall1 future creator of the ,perl programming language1 patch made it simple for ,unix programmers to insert source-code fixes- patches in hacker jargon-into any large program4 ,recognizing the utility of this feature1 ,wall put the following copyright notice in the program's accompanying ,,readme file3 ,copyright 7c7 #aihe1 ,larry ,wall ,you may copy the trn kit in whole or in part as long as you don't try to make money off it1 or pretend that you wrote it4,see ,trn ,kit ,,readme4 http3_/_/www4za4debian4org_/doc_/trn_/tr n-readme ,such statements1 while reflective of the hacker ethic1 also reflected the difficulty of translating the loose1 informal nature of that ethic into the rigid1 legal language of copyright4 ,in writing the ,,gnu ,emacs ,license1 ,stallman had done more than close up the escape hatch that permitted proprietary offshoots4 ,he had expressed the hacker ethic in a manner understandable to both lawyer and hacker alike4 ,it wasn't long1 ,gilmore says1 before other hackers began discussing ways to port the ,,gnu ,emacs ,license over to their own programs4 ,prompted by a conversation on ,usenet1 ,gilmore sent an email to ,stallman in ,november1 #aihf1 suggesting modification3 ,you should probably remove ,,emacs from the license and replace it with ,,software or something4 ,soon1 we hope1 ,emacs will not be the biggest part of the ,,gnu system1 and the license applies to all of it4,see ,john ,gilmore1 quoted from email to author4 ,gilmore wasn't the only person suggesting a more general approach4 ,by the end of #aihf1 ,stallman himself was at work with ,,gnu ,project's next major milestone1 a source-code debugger1 and was looking for ways to revamp the ,emacs license so that it might apply to both programs4 ,stallman's solution3 remove all specific references to ,emacs and convert the license into a generic copyright umbrella for ,,gnu ,project software4 ,the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license1 ,,gpl for short1 was born4 ,in fashioning the ,,gpl1 ,stallman followed the software convention of using decimal numbers to indicate prototype versions and whole numbers to indicate mature versions4 ,stallman published ,version #a4j of the ,,gpl in #aihi 7a project ,stallman was developing in #aihe71 almost a full year after the release of the ,,gnu ,debugger1 ,stallman's second major foray into the realm of ,unix programming4 ,the license contained a preamble spelling out its political intentions3 ,the ,general ,public ,license is designed to make sure that you have the freedom to give away or sell copies of free software1 that you receive source code or can get it if you want it1 that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs2 and that you know you can do these things4 ,to protect your rights1 we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights4 ,these restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software1 or if you modify it4,see ,richard ,stallman1 et al41 ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license3 ,version #a1 7,february1 #aihi74 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/copyleft_/copying- #a4j4;html ,in fashioning the ,,gpl1 ,stallman had been forced to make an additional adjustment to the informal tenets of the old ,emacs ,commune4 ,where he had once demanded that ,commune members publish any and all changes1 ,stallman now demanded publication only in instances when programmers circulated their derivative versions in the same public manner as ,stallman4 ,in other words1 programmers who simply modified ,emacs for private use no longer needed to send the source-code changes back to ,stallman4 ,in what would become a rare compromise of free software doctrine1 ,stallman slashed the price tag for free software4 ,users could innovate without ,stallman looking over their shoulders just so long as they didn't bar ,stallman and the rest of the hacker community from future exchanges of the same program4 ,looking back1 ,stallman says the ,,gpl compromise was fueled by his own dissatisfaction with the ,big ,brother aspect of the original ,emacs ,commune social contract4 ,as much as he liked peering into other hackers' systems1 the knowledge that some future source-code maintainer might use that power to ill effect forced him to temper the ,,gpl4 ,it was wrong to require people to publish all changes1 says ,stallman4 ,it was wrong to require them to be sent to one privileged developer4 ,that kind of centralization and privilege for one was not consistent with a society in which all had equal rights4 ,as hacks go1 the ,,gpl stands as one of ,stallman's best4 ,it created a system of communal ownership within the normally proprietary confines of copyright law4 ,more importantly1 it demonstrated the intellectual similarity between legal code and software code4 ,implicit within the ,,gpl's preamble was a profound message3 instead of viewing copyright law with suspicion1 hackers should view it as yet another system begging to be hacked4 ,the ,,gpl developed much like any piece of free software with a large community discussing its structure1 its respect or the opposite in their observation1 needs for tweaking and even to compromise it mildly for greater acceptance1 says ,jerry ,cohen1 another attorney who helped ,stallman with the creation of the license4 ,the process worked very well and ,,gpl in its several versions has gone from widespread skeptical and at times hostile response to widespread acceptance4 ,in a #aihf interview with ,byte magazine1 ,stallman summed up the ,,gpl in colorful terms4 ,in addition to proclaiming hacker values1 ,stallman said1 readers should also see it as a form of intellectual jujitsu1 using the legal system that software hoarders have set up against them4,see ,david ,betz and ,jon ,edwards1 ,richard ,stallman discusses his public-domain sic ,unix-compatible software system with ,,byte editors1 ,,byte 7,july1 #aiif74 7,reprinted on the ,,gnu ,project web site3 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/gnu_/byte-intervie w4html47 ,this interview offers an interesting1 not to mention candid1 glimpse at ,stallman's political attitudes during the earliest days of the ,,gnu ,project4 ,it is also helpful in tracing the evolution of ,stallman's rhetoric4 ,describing the purpose of the ,,gpl1 ,stallman says1 ,i'm trying to change the way people approach knowledge and information in general4 ,i think that to try to own knowledge1 to try to control whether people are allowed to use it1 or to try to stop other people from sharing it1 is sabotage4 ,contrast this with a statement to the author in ,august #bjjj3 ,i urge you not to use the term intellectual property' in your thinking4 ,it will lead you to misunderstand things1 because that term generalizes about copyrights1 patents1 and trademarks4 ,and those things are so different in their effects that it is entirely foolish to try to talk about them at once4 ,if you hear somebody saying something about intellectual property1 without quotes1 then he's not thinking very clearly and you shouldn't join4 ,years later1 ,stallman would describe the ,,gpl's creation in less hostile terms4 ,i was thinking about issues that were in a sense ethical and in a sense political and in a sense legal1 he says4 ,i had to try to do what could be sustained by the legal system that we're in4 ,in spirit the job was that of legislating the basis for a new society1 but since ,i wasn't a government1 ,i couldn't actually change any laws4 ,i had to try to do this by building on top of the existing legal system1 which had not been designed for anything like this4 ,about the time ,stallman was pondering the ethical1 political1 and legal issues associated with free software1 a ,california hacker named ,don ,hopkins mailed him a manual for the #fhjjj microprocessor4 ,hopkins1 a ,unix hacker and fellow science-fiction buff1 had borrowed the manual from ,stallman a while earlier4 ,as a display of gratitude1 ,hopkins decorated the return envelope with a number of stickers obtained at a local science-fiction convention4 ,one sticker in particular caught ,stallman's eye4 ,it read1 ,copyleft 7,l71 ,all ,rights ,reversed4 ,following the release of the first version of ,,gpl1 ,stallman paid tribute to the sticker1 nicknaming the free software license ,copyleft4 ,over time1 the nickname and its shorthand symbol1 a backwards ,c1 would become an official ,free ,software ,foundation synonym for the ,,gpl4 ,the ,german sociologist ,max ,weber once proposed that all great religions are built upon the routinization or institutionalization of charisma4 ,every successful religion1 ,weber argued1 converts the charisma or message of the original religious leader into a social1 political1 and ethical apparatus more easily translatable across cultures and time4 ,while not religious per se1 the ,,gnu ,,gpl certainly qualifies as an interesting example of this routinization process at work in the modern1 decentralized world of software development4 ,since its unveiling1 programmers and companies who have otherwise expressed little loyalty or allegiance to ,stallman have willingly accepted the ,,gpl bargain at face value4 ,a few have even accepted the ,,gpl as a preemptive protective mechanism for their own software programs4 ,even those who reject the ,,gpl contract as too compulsory1 still credit it as influential4 ,one hacker falling into this latter group was ,keith ,bostic1 a ,university of ,california employee at the time of the ,,gpl #a4j release4 ,bostic's department1 the ,computer ,systems ,research ,group 7,,srg71 had been involved in ,unix development since the late #aigjs and was responsible for many key parts of ,unix1 including the ,,tcp_/,,ip networking protocol1 the cornerstone of modern ,internet communications4 ,by the late #aihjs1 ,,at,t1 the original owner of the ,unix brand name1 began to focus on commercializing ,unix and began looking to the ,berkeley ,software ,distribution1 or ,,bsd1 the academic version of ,unix developed by ,bostic and his ,berkeley peers1 as a key source of commercial technology4 ,although the ,berkeley ,,bsd source code was shared among researchers and commercial programmers with a source-code license1 this commercialization presented a problem4 ,the ,berkeley code was intermixed with proprietary ,,at,t code4 ,as a result1 ,berkeley distributions were available only to institutions that already had a ,unix source license from ,,at,t4 ,as ,,at,t raised its license fees1 this arrangement1 which had at first seemed innocuous1 became increasingly burdensome4 ,hired in #aihf1 ,bostic had taken on the personal project of porting ,,bsd over to the ,digital ,equipment ,corporation's ,,pdp-#aa computer4 ,it was during this period1 ,bostic says1 that he came into close interaction with ,stallman during ,stallman's occasional forays out to the west coast4 ,i remember vividly arguing copyright with ,stallman while he sat at borrowed workstations at ,,csrg1 says ,bostic4 ,we'd go to dinner afterward and continue arguing about copyright over dinner4 ,the arguments eventually took hold1 although not in the way ,stallman would have liked4 ,in ,june1 #aihi1 ,berkeley separated its networking code from the rest of the ,,at,t-owned operating system and distributed it under a ,university of ,california license4 ,the contract terms were liberal4 ,all a licensee had to do was give credit to the university in advertisements touting derivative programs4,the ,university of ,california's obnoxious advertising clause would later prove to be a problem4 ,looking for a less restrictive alternative to the ,,gpl1 some hackers used the ,university of ,california1 replacing ,university of ,california with the name of their own instution4 ,the result3 free software programs that borrowed from dozens of other programs would have to cite dozens of institutions in advertisements4 ,in #aiii1 after a decade of lobbying on ,stallman's part1 the ,university of ,california agreed to drop this clause4 ,in contrast to the ,,gpl1 proprietary offshoots were permissible4 ,only one problem hampered the license's rapid adoption3 the ,,bsd ,networking release wasn't a complete operating system4 ,people could study the code1 but it could only be run in conjunction with other proprietary-licensed code4 ,over the next few years1 ,bostic and other ,university of ,california employees worked to replace the missing components and turn ,,bsd into a complete1 freely redistributable operating system4 ,although delayed by a legal challenge from ,unix ,systems ,laboratories-the ,,at,t spin-off that retained ownership of the ,unix brand name-the effort would finally bear fruit in the early #aiijs4 ,even before then1 however1 many of the ,berkeley utilities would make their way into ,stallman's ,,gnu ,project4 ,i think it's highly unlikely that we ever would have gone as strongly as we did without the ,,gnu influence1 says ,bostic1 looking back4 ,it was clearly something where they were pushing hard and we liked the idea4 ,by the end of the #aihjs1 the ,,gpl was beginning to exert a gravitational effect on the free software community4 ,a program didn't have to carry the ,,gpl to qualify as free software-witness the case of the ,,bsd utilities-but putting a program under the ,,gpl sent a definite message4 ,i think the very existence of the ,,gpl inspired people to think through whether they were making free software1 and how they would license it1 says ,bruce ,perens1 creator of ,electric ,fence1 a popular ,unix utility1 and future leader of the ,debian ,,gnu_/,linux development team4 ,a few years after the release of the ,,gpl1 ,perens says he decided to discard ,electric ,fence's homegrown license in favor of ,stallman's lawyer-vetted copyright4 ,it was actually pretty easy to do1 ,perens recalls4 ,rich ,morin1 the programmer who had viewed ,stallman's initial ,,gnu announcement with a degree of skepticism1 recalls being impressed by the software that began to gather under the ,,gpl umbrella4 ,as the leader of a ,sun,o,s user group1 one of ,morin's primary duties during the #aihjs had been to send out distribution tapes containing the best freeware or free software utilities4 ,the job often mandated calling up original program authors to verify whether their programs were copyright protected or whether they had been consigned to the public domain4 ,around #aihi1 ,morin says1 he began to notice that the best software programs typically fell under the ,,gpl license4 ,as a software distributor1 as soon as ,i saw the word ,,gpl1 ,i knew ,i was home free1 recalls ,morin4 ,to compensate for the prior hassles that went into compiling distribution tapes to the ,sun ,user ,group1 ,morin had charged recipients a convenience fee4 ,now1 with programs moving over to the ,,gpl1 ,morin was suddenly getting his tapes put together in half the time1 turning a tidy profit in the process4 ,sensing a commercial opportunity1 ,morin rechristened his hobby as a business3 ,prime ,time ,freeware4 ,such commercial exploitation was completely within the confines of the free software agenda4 ,when we speak of free software1 we are referring to freedom1 not price1 advised ,stallman in the ,,gpl's preamble4 ,by the late #aihjs1 ,stallman had refined it to a more simple mnemonic3 ,don't think free as in free beer2 think free as in free speech4 ,for the most part1 businesses ignored ,stallman's entreaties4 ,still1 for a few entrepreneurs1 the freedom associated with free software was the same freedom associated with free markets4 ,take software ownership out of the commercial equation1 and you had a situation where even the smallest software company was free to compete against the ,i,b,ms and ,d,e,cs of the world4 ,one of the first entrepreneurs to grasp this concept was ,michael ,tiemann1 a software programmer and graduate student at ,stanford ,university4 ,during the #aihjs1 ,tiemann had followed the ,,gnu ,project like an aspiring jazz musician following a favorite artist4 ,it wasn't until the release of the ,,gnu ,c ,compiler in #aihg1 however1 that he began to grasp the full potential of free software4 ,dubbing ,,gcc a bombshell1 ,tiemann says the program's own existence underlined ,stallman's determination as a programmer4 ,just as every writer dreams of writing the great ,american novel1 every programmer back in the #aihjs talked about writing the great ,american compiler1 ,tiemman recalls4 ,suddenly ,stallman had done it4 ,it was very humbling4 ,you talk about single points of failure1 ,,gcc was it1 echoes ,bostic4 ,nobody had a compiler back then1 until ,,gcc came along4 ,rather than compete with ,stallman1 ,tiemann decided to build on top of his work4 ,the original version of ,,gcc weighed in at #aaj1jjj lines of code1 but ,tiemann recalls the program as surprisingly easy to understand4 ,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 platform1 ,national ,semiconductor's #cbjcb microchip4 ,over the next year1 ,tiemann began playing around with the source code1 creating a native compiler for the ,c programming language4 ,one day1 while delivering a lecture on the program at ,bell ,labs1 ,tiemann ran into some ,,at,t developers struggling to pull off the same thing4 ,there were about #dj or #ej people in the room1 and ,i asked how many people were working on the native code compiler1 ,tiemann recalls4 ,my host said the information was confidential but added that if ,i took a look around the room ,i might get a good general idea4 ,it wasn't long after1 ,tiemann says1 that the light bulb went off in his head4 ,i had been working on that project for six months1 ,tiemann says4 ,i just thought to myself1 whether it's me or the code this is a level of efficiency that the free market should be ready to reward4 ,tiemann found added inspiration in the ,,gnu ,manifesto1 which1 while excoriating the greed of some software vendors1 encourages other vendors to consider the advantages of free software from a consumer point of view4 ,by removing the power of monopoly from the commerical software question1 the ,,gpl makes it possible for the smartest vendors to compete on the basis of service and consulting1 the two most profit-rich corners of the software marketplace4 ,in a #aiii essay1 ,tiemann recalls the impact of ,stallman's ,manifesto4 ,it read like a socialist polemic1 but ,i saw something different4 ,i saw a business plan in disguise4#g4 ,see ,michael ,tiemann1 ,future of ,cygnus ,solutions3 ,an ,entrepreneur's ,account1 ,open ,sources 7,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc41 #aiii73 #aci4 ,teaming up with ,john ,gilmore1 another ,,gnu ,project fan1 ,tiemann launched a software consulting service dedicated to customizing ,,gnu programs4 ,dubbed ,cygnus ,support1 the company signed its first development contract in ,february1 #aiij4 ,by the end of the year1 the company had #gbe1jjj worth of support and development contracts4 ,,gnu ,emacs1 ,,gdb1 and ,,gcc were the big three of developer-oriented tools1 but they weren't the only ones developed by ,stallman during the ,,gnu ,project's first half decade4 ,by #aiij1 ,stallman had also generated ,,gnu versions of the ,bourne ,shell 7rechristened the ,bourne ,again ,shell1 or ,,bash71 ,,yacc 7rechristened ,bison71 and awk 7rechristened gawk74 ,like ,,gcc 1 every ,,gnu program had to be designed to run on multiple systems1 not just a single vendor's platform4 ,in the process of making programs more flexible1 ,stallman and his collaborators often made them more useful as well4 ,recalling the ,,gnu universalist approach1 ,prime ,time ,freeware's ,morin points to a critical1 albeit mundane1 software package called hello4 ,it's the hello world program which is five lines of ,c1 packaged up as if it were a ,,gnu distribution1 ,morin says4 ,and so it's got the ,texinfo stuff and the configure stuff4 ,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 smoothly4 ,that's tremendously important work1 and it affects not only all of ,stallman's software1 but also all of the other ,,gnu ,project software4 ,according to ,stallman1 improving software programs was secondary to building them in the first place4 ,with each piece ,i may or may not find a way to improve it1 said ,stallman to ,byte4 ,to some extent ,i am getting the benefit of reimplementation1 which makes many systems much better4 ,to some extent it's because ,i have been in the field a long time and worked on many other systems4 ,i therefore have many ideas to bring to bear4,see ,richard ,stallman1 ,,byte 7#aihf74 ,nevertheless1 as ,,gnu tools made their mark in the late #aihjs1 ,stallman's ,,ai ,lab-honed reputation for design fastidiousness soon became legendary throughout the entire software-development community4 ,jeremy ,allison1 a ,sun user during the late #aihjs and programmer destined to run his own free software project1 ,samba1 in the #aiijs1 recalls that reputation with a laugh4 ,during the late #aihjs1 ,allison began using ,emacs4 ,inspired by the program's community-development model1 ,allison says he sent in a snippet of source code only to have it rejected by ,stallman4 ,it was like the ,onion headline1 ,allison says4 ,child's prayers to ,god answered3 ,no4' ,stallman's growing stature as a software programmer1 however1 was balanced by his struggles as a project manager4 ,although the ,,gnu ,project moved from success to success in creation of developer-oriented tools1 its inability to generate a working kernel-the central traffic cop program in all ,unix systems that determines which devices and applications get access to the microprocessor and when-was starting to elicit grumbles as the #aihjs came to a close4 ,as with most ,,gnu ,project efforts1 ,stallman had started kernel development by looking for an existing program to modify4 ,according to a ,january #aihg ,gnusletter1 ,stallman was already working to overhaul ,,trix1 a ,unix kernel developed at ,,mit4 ,a review of ,,gnu ,project ,g,n,usletters of the late #aihjs reflects the management tension4 ,in ,january1 #aihg1 ,stallman announced to the world that the ,,gnu ,project was working to overhaul ,,trix1 a ,unix kernel developed at ,,mit4 ,a year later1 in ,february of #aihh1 the ,,gnu ,project announced that it had shifted its attentions to ,mach1 a lightweight micro-kernel developed at ,carnegie ,mellon4 ,all told1 however1 official ,,gnu ,project kernel development wouldn't commence until #aiij4,see ,,hurd ,history4 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/software_/hurd_/hi story4html ,the delays in kernel development were just one of many concerns weighing on ,stallman during this period4 ,in #aihi1 ,lotus ,development ,corporation filed suit against rival software company1 ,paperback ,software ,international1 for copying menu commands in ,lotus' popular #a-b-c ,spreadsheet program4 ,lotus' suit1 coupled with the ,apple -,microsoft look and feel battle1 provided a troublesome backdrop for the ,,gnu ,project4 ,although both suits fell outside the scope of the ,,gnu ,project1 both revolved around operating systems and software applications developed for the personal computer1 not ,unix-compatible hardware systems-they threatened to impose a chilling effect on the entire culture of software development4 ,determined to do something1 ,stallman recruited a few programmer friends and composed a magazine ad blasting the lawsuits4 ,he then followed up the ad by helping to organize a group to protest the corporations filing the suit4 ,calling itself the ,league of ,programming ,freedom1 the group held protests outside the offices of ,lotus1 ,inc4 and the ,boston courtroom hosting the ,lotus trial4 ,the protests were notable4,according to a ,league of ,programming ,freedom ,press1 the protests were notable for featuring the first hexadecimal protest chant3 #a-b-c-d1 toss the lawyers out the door2 #e-f-g-h1 innovate don't litigate2 #i-;,a-,b-,c1 #a-b-c is not for me2 ,d-,e-,f-,o1 look and feel have got to go http3_/_/lpf4ai4mit4edu_/,links_/prep4ai 4mit4edu_/demo4final4release ,they document the evolving nature of software industry4 ,applications had quietly replaced operating systems as the primary corporate battleground4 ,in its unfulfilled quest to build a free software operating system1 the ,,gnu ,project seemed hopelessly behind the times4 ,indeed1 the very fact that ,stallman had felt it necessary to put together an entirely new group dedicated to battling the look and feel lawsuits reinforced that obsolescence in the eyes of some observers4 ,in #aiij1 the ,john ,d4 and ,catherine ,t4 ,mac,arthur ,foundation cerified ,stallman's genius status when it granted ,stallman a ,mac,arthur fellowship1 therefore making him a recipient for the organization's so-called genius grant4 ,the grant1 a #bdj1jjj reward for launching the ,,gnu ,project and giving voice to the free software philosophy1 relieved a number of short-term concerns4 ,first and foremost1 it gave ,stallman1 a nonsalaried employee of the ,,fsf who had been supporting himself through consulting contracts1 the ability to devote more time to writing ,,gnu code4,i use the term writing here loosely4 ,about the time of the ,mac,arthur award1 ,stallman began suffering chronic pain in his hands and was dictating his work to ,,fsf-employed typists4 ,although some have speculated that the hand pain was the result of repetitive stress injury1 or ,,rsi1 an injury common among software programmers1 ,stallman is not #ajj sure4 ,it was ,,not carpal tunnel syndrome1 he writes4 ,my hand problem was in the hands themselves1 not in the wrists4 ,stallman has since learned to work without typists after switching to a keyboard with a lighter touch4 ,ironically1 the award also made it possible for ,stallman to vote4 ,months before the award1 a fire in ,stallman's apartment house had consumed his few earthly possessions4 ,by the time of the award1 ,stallman was listing himself as a squatter,see ,reuven ,lerner1 ,stallman wins #bdj1jjj ,mac,arthur award1 ,,mit1 ,the ,tech 7,july #ah1 #aiij74 http3_/_/the-tech4mit4edu_/,v#aaj_/,n#cj _/rms4#cjn4html at #ede ,technology ,square4 ,the registrar of voters didn't want to accept that as my address1 ,stallman would later recall4 ,a newspaper article about the ,mac,arthur grant said that and then they let me register4,see ,michael ,gross1 ,richard ,stallman3 ,high ,school ,misfit1 ,symbol of ,free ,software1 ,mac,arthur-certified ,genius 7#aiii74 ,most importantly1 the ,mac,arthur money gave ,stallman more freedom4 ,already dedicated to the issue of software freedom1 ,stallman chose to use the additional freedom to increase his travels in support of the ,,gnu ,project mission4 ,interestingly1 the ultimate success of the ,,gnu ,project and the free software movement in general would stem from one of these trips4 ,in #aiij1 ,stallman paid a visit to the ,polytechnic ,university in ,helsinki1 ,finland4 ,among the audience members was #ba-year-old ,linus ,torvalds1 future developer of the ,linux kernel-the free software kernel destined to fill the ,,gnu ,project's most sizable gap4 ,a student at the nearby ,university of ,helsinki at the time1 ,torvalds regarded ,stallman with bemusement4 ,i saw1 for the first time in my life1 the stereotypical long-haired1 bearded hacker type1 recalls ,torvalds in his #bjja autobiography ,just for ,fun4 ,we don't have much of them in ,helsinki4,see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #eh-ei4 ,while not exactly attuned to the sociopolitical side of the ,stallman agenda1 ,torvalds nevertheless appreciated the agenda's underlying logic3 no programmer writes error-free code4 ,by sharing software1 hackers put a program's improvement ahead of individual motivations such as greed or ego protection4 ,like many programmers of his generation1 ,torvalds had cut his teeth not on mainframe computers like the ,,ibm #gjid1 but on a motley assortment of home-built computer systems4 ,as university student1 ,torvalds had made the step up from ,c programming to ,unix1 using the university's ,micro,v,a,x4 ,this ladder-like progression had given ,torvalds a different perspective on the barriers to machine access4 ,for ,stallman1 the chief barriers were bureaucracy and privilege4 ,for ,torvalds1 the chief barriers were geography and the harsh ,helsinki winter4 ,forced to trek across the ,university of ,helsinki just to log in to his ,unix account1 ,torvalds quickly began looking for a way to log in from the warm confines of his off-campus apartment4 ,the search led ,torvalds to the operating system ,minix1 a lightweight version of ,unix developed for instructional purposes by ,dutch university professor ,andrew ,tanenbaum4 ,the program fit within the memory confines of a #chf ,,pc1 the most powerful machine ,torvalds could afford1 but still lacked a few necessary features4 ,it most notably lacked terminal emulation1 the feature that allowed ,torvalds' machine to mimic a university terminal1 making it possible to log in to the ,micro,v,a,x from home4 ,during the summer of #aiia1 ,torvalds rewrote ,minix from the ground up1 adding other features as he did so4 ,by the end of the summer1 ,torvalds was referring to his evolving work as the ,,gnu_/,emacs of terminal emulation programs4,see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #gh4 ,feeling confident1 he solicited a ,minix newsgroup for copies of the ,,posix standards1 the software blue prints that determined whether a program was ,unix compatible4 ,a few weeks later1 ,torvalds was posting a message eerily reminiscent of ,stallman's original #aihc ,,gnu posting3 ,hello everybody out there using minix- ,i'm doing a 7free7 operating system 7just a hobby1 won't be big and professional like gnu for #chf 7#dhf7 ,,at clones74 ,this has been brewing since ,april1 and is starting to get ready4 ,i'd like any feedback on things people like_/dislike in minix1 as my ,,os resembles it somewhat 7same physical layout of the file-system 7due to practical reasons7 among other things74,see ,linux #ajth ,anniversary4 http3_/_/www4linux#aj4org_/history_/ ,the posting drew a smattering of responses and within a month1 ,torvalds had posted a #j4ja version of the operating system-i4e41 the earliest possible version fit for outside review-on an ,internet ,,ftp site4 ,in the course of doing so1 ,torvalds had to come up with a name for the new system4 ,on his own ,,pc hard drive1 ,torvalds had saved the program as ,linux1 a name that paid its respects to the software convention of giving each ,unix variant a name that ended with the letter ,x4 ,deeming the name too egotistical1 ,torvalds changed it to ,freax1 only to have the ,,ftp site manager change it back4 ,although ,torvalds had set out build a full operating system1 both he and other developers knew at the time that most of the functional tools needed to do so were already available1 thanks to the work of ,,gnu1 ,,bsd1 and other free software developers4 ,one of the first tools the ,linux development team took advantage of was the ,,gnu ,c ,compiler1 a tool that made it possible to process programs written in the ,c programming language4 ,integrating ,,gcc improved the performance of ,linux4 ,it also raised issues4 ,although the ,,gpl's viral powers didn't apply to the ,linux kernel1 ,torvald's willingness to borrow ,,gcc for the purposes of his own free software operating system indicated a certain obligation to let other users borrow back4 ,as ,torvalds would later put it3 ,i had hoisted myself up on the shoulders of giants4,see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #if-ig4 ,not surprisingly1 he began to think about what would happen when other people looked to him for similar support4 ,a decade after the decision1 ,torvalds echoes the ,free ,software ,foundation's ,robert ,chassel when he sums up his thoughts at the time3 ,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 it1 but you don't want people to take advantage of it4 ,i wanted people to be able to see ,linux1 and to make changes and improvements to their hearts' content4 ,but ,i also wanted to make sure that what ,i got out of it was to see what they were doing4 ,i wanted to always have access to the sources so that if they made improvements1 ,i could make those improvements myself4,see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #id-ie4 ,when it was time to release the #j4ab version of ,linux1 the first to include a fully integrated version of ,,gcc1 ,torvalds decided to voice his allegiance with the free software movement4 ,he discarded the old kernel license and replaced it with the ,,gpl4 ,the decision triggered a porting spree1 as ,torvalds and his collaborators looked to other ,,gnu programs to fold into the growing ,linux stew4 ,within three years1 ,linux developers were offering their first production release1 ,linux #a4j1 including fully modified versions of ,,gcc1 ,,gdb1 and a host of ,,bsd tools4 ,by #aiid1 the amalgamated operating system had earned enough respect in the hacker world to make some observers wonder if ,torvalds hadn't given away the farm by switching to the ,,gpl in the project's initial months4 ,in the first issue of ,linux ,journal1 publisher ,robert ,young sat down with ,torvalds for an interview4 ,when ,young asked the ,finnish programmer if he felt regret at giving up private ownership of the ,linux source code1 ,torvalds said no4 ,even with #bj_/bj hindsight1 ,torvalds said1 he considered the ,,gpl one of the very best design decisions made during the early stages of the ,linux project4,see ,robert ,young1 ,interview with ,linus1 the ,author of ,linux1 ,linux ,journal 7,march #a1 #aiid74 http3_/_/www4linuxjournal4com_/article4p hp8sid#bgcf ,that the decision had been made with zero appeal or deference to ,stallman and the ,free ,software ,foundation speaks to the ,,gpl's growing portability4 ,although it would take a few years to be recognized by ,stallman1 the explosiveness of ,linux development conjured flashbacks of ,emacs4 ,this time around1 however1 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 architecture4 ,the motives may have been different1 but the end result certainly fit the ethical specifications3 a fully functional operating system composed entirely of free software4 ,as his initial email message to the comp4os4minix newsgroup indicates1 it would take a few months before ,torvalds saw ,linux as anything less than a holdover until the ,,gnu developers delivered on the ,,hurd kernel4 ,this initial unwillingness to see ,linux in political terms would represent a major blow to the ,free ,software ,foundation4 ,as far as ,torvalds was concerned1 he was simply the latest in a long line of kids taking apart and reassembling things just for fun4 ,nevertheless1 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 drive1 ,torvalds credits his younger self for having the wisdom to give up control and accept the ,,gpl bargain4 ,i may not have seen the light1 writes ,torvalds1 reflecting on ,stallman's #aiia ,polytechnic ,university speech and his subsequent decision to switch to the ,,gpl4 ,but ,i guess something from his speech sunk in 4,see ,linus ,torvalds and ,david ,diamond1 ,just ,for ,fun3 ,the ,story of an ,accidentaly ,revolutionary 7,harper,collins ,publishers1 ,inc41 #bjja73 #ei4 interview offers an interesting1 not to mention candid1 glimpse at ,stallman's political attitudes during the earliest days of the ,,gnu ,project4 ,it is also helpful in tracing the evolution of ,stallman's rhetoric4 ,describing the purpose of the ,,gpl1 ,stallman says1 ,i'm trying to change the way people approach knowledge and information in general4 ,i think that to try to own knowledge1 to try to control whether people are allowed to use it1 or to try to stop other people from sharing it1 is sabotage4 ,contrast this with a statement to the author in ,august #bjjj3 ,i urge you not to use the term intellectual property' in your thinking4 ,it will lead you to misunderstand things1 because that term generalizes about copyrights1 patents1 and trademarks4 ,and those things are so different in their effects that it is entirely foolish to try to talk about them at once4 ,if you hear somebody saying something about intellectual property1 without quotes1 then he's not thinking very clearly and you shouldn't join4 ,,gnu_/,linux ,by #aiic1 the free software movement was at a crossroads4 ,to the optimistically inclined1 all signs pointed toward success for the hacker cultur4 ,wired magazine1 a funky1 new publication offering stories on data encryption1 ,usenet1 and software freedom1 was flying off magazine racks4 ,the ,internet1 once a slang term used only by hackers and research scientists1 had found its way into mainstream lexicon4 ,even ,president ,clinton was using it4 ,the personal computer1 once a hobbyist's toy1 had grown to full-scale respectability1 giving a whole new generation of computer users access to hacker-built software4 ,and while the ,,gnu ,project had not yet reached its goal of a fully intact1 free software operating system1 curious users could still try ,linux in the interim4 ,any way you sliced it1 the news was good1 or so it seemed4 ,after a decade of struggle1 hackers and hacker values were finally gaining acceptance in mainstream society4 ,people were getting it4 ,or were they8 ,to the pessimistically inclined1 each sign of acceptance carried its own troubling countersign4 ,sure1 being a hacker was suddenly cool1 but was cool good for a community that thrived on alienation8 ,sure1 the ,white ,house was saying all the right things about the ,internet1 even going so far as to register its own domain name1 whitehouse4gov1 but it was also meeting with the companies1 censorship advocates1 and law-enforcement officials looking to tame the ,internet's ,wild ,west culture4 ,sure1 ,p,cs were more powerful1 but in commoditizing the ,,pc marketplace with its chips1 ,intel had created a situation in which proprietary software vendors now held the power4 ,for every new user won over to the free software cause via ,linux1 hundreds1 perhaps thousands1 were booting up ,microsoft ,windows for the first time4 ,finally1 there was the curious nature of ,linux itself4 ,unrestricted by design bugs 7like ,,gnu7 and legal disputes 7like ,,bsd71 ,linux' high-speed evolution had been so unplanned1 its success so accidental1 that programmers closest to the software code itself didn't know what to make of it4 ,more compilation album than operating system1 it was comprised of a hacker medley of greatest hits3 everything from ,,gcc1 ,,gdb1 and glibc 7the ,,gnu ,project's newly developed ,c ,library7 to ,x 7a ,unix-based graphic user interface developed by ,,mit's ,laboratory for ,computer ,science7 to ,,bsd-developed tools such as ,,bind 7the ,berkeley ,internet ,naming ,daemon1 which lets users substitute easy-to-remember ,internet domain names for numeric ,,ip addresses7 and ,,tcp_/,,ip4 ,the arch's capstone1 of course1 was the ,linux kernel-itself a bored-out1 super-charged version of ,minix4 ,rather than building their operating system from scratch1 ,torvalds and his rapidly expanding ,linux development team had followed the old ,picasso adage1 good artists borrow2 great artists steal4 ,or as ,torvalds himself would later translate it when describing the secret of his success3 ,i'm basically a very lazy person who likes to take credit for things other people actually do4,torvalds has offered this quote in many different settings4 ,to date1 however1 the quote's most notable appearance is in the ,eric ,raymond essay1 ,the ,cathedral and the ,bazaar 7,may1 #aiig74 http3_/_/www4tuxedo4org_/esr_/writings_/ cathedral-bazaar_/cathedral-bazaar_/inde x4html ,such laziness1 while admirable from an efficiency perspective1 was troubling from a political perspective4 ,for one thing1 it underlined the lack of an ideological agenda on ,torvalds' part4 ,unlike the ,,gnu developers1 ,torvalds hadn't built an operating system out of a desire to give his fellow hackers something to work with2 he'd built it to have something he himself could play with4 ,like ,tom ,sawyer whitewashing a fence1 ,torvalds' genius lay less in the overall vision and more in his ability to recruit other hackers to speed the process4 ,that ,torvalds and his recruits had succeeded where others had not raised its own troubling question3 what1 exactly1 was ,linux8 ,was it a manifestation of the free software philosophy first articulated by ,stallman in the ,,gnu ,manifesto8 ,or was it simply an amalgamation of nifty software tools that any user1 similarly motivated1 could assemble on his own home system8 ,by late #aiic1 a growing number of ,linux users had begun to lean toward the latter definition and began brewing private variations on the ,linux theme4 ,they even became bold enough to bottle and sell their variations-or distributions-to fellow ,unix aficionados4 ,the results were spotty at best4 ,this was back before ,red ,hat and the other commercial distributions1 remembers ,ian ,murdock1 then a computer science student at ,purdue ,university4 ,you'd flip through ,unix magazines and find all these business card-sized ads proclaiming ,linux4' ,most of the companies were fly-by-night operations that saw nothing wrong with slipping a little of their own source code into the mix4 ,murdock1 a ,unix programmer1 remembers being swept away by ,linux when he first downloaded and installed it on his home ,,pc system4 ,it was just a lot of fun1 he says4 ,it made me want to get involved4 ,the explosion of poorly built distributions began to dampen his early enthusiasm1 however4 ,deciding that the best way to get involved was to build a version of ,linux free of additives1 ,murdock set about putting a list of the best free software tools available with the intention of folding them into his own distribution4 ,i wanted something that would live up to the ,linux name1 ,murdock says4 ,in a bid to stir up some interest1 ,murdock posted his intentions on the ,internet1 including ,usenet's comp4os4linux newsgroup4 ,one of the first responding email messages was from rmsai4mit4edu 4 ,as a hacker1 ,murdock instantly recognized the address4 ,it was ,richard ,m4 ,stallman1 founder of the ,,gnu ,project and a man ,murdock knew even back then as the hacker of hackers4 ,seeing the address in his mail queue1 ,murdock was puzzled4 ,why on ,earth would ,stallman1 a person leading his own operating-system project1 care about ,murdock's gripes over ,linux8 ,murdock opened the message4 ,he said the ,free ,software ,foundation was starting to look closely at ,linux and that the ,,fsf was interested in possibly doing a ,linux system1 too4 ,basically1 it looked to ,stallman like our goals were in line with their philosophy4 ,the message represented a dramatic about-face on ,stallman's part4 ,until #aiic1 ,stallman had been content to keep his nose out of the ,linux community's affairs4 ,in fact1 he had all but shunned the renegade operating system when it first appeared on the ,unix programming landscape in #aiia4 ,after receiving the first notification of a ,unix-like operating system that ran on ,p,cs1 ,stallman says he delegated the task of examining the new operating system to a friend4 ,recalls ,stallman1 ,he reported back that the software was modeled after ,system ,v1 which was the inferior version of ,unix4 ,he also told me it wasn't portable4 ,the friend's report was correct4 ,built to run on #chf-;based machines1 ,linux was firmly rooted to its low-cost hardware platform4 ,what the friend failed to report1 however1 was the sizable advantage ,linux enjoyed as the only freely modifiable operating system in the marketplace4 ,in other words1 while ,stallman spent the next three years listening to bug reports from his ,,hurd team1 ,torvalds was winning over the programmers who would later uproot and replant the operating system onto new platforms4 ,by #aiic1 the ,,gnu ,project's inability to deliver a working kernel was leading to problems both within the ,,gnu ,project and within the free software movement at large4 ,a ,march1 #aiic1 a ,wired magazine article by ,simson ,garfinkel described the ,,gnu ,project as bogged down despite the success of the project's many tools4,see ,simson ,garfinkel1 ,is ,stallman ,stalled8 ,wired 7,march1 #aiic74 ,those within the project and its nonprofit adjunct1 the ,free ,software ,foundation1 remember the mood as being even worse than ,garfinkel's article let on4 ,it was very clear1 at least to me at the time1 that there was a window of opportunity to introduce a new operating system1 says ,chassell4 ,and once that window was closed1 people would become less interested4 ,which is in fact exactly what happened4,chassel's concern about there being a #cf-month window for a new operating system is not unique to the ,,gnu ,project4 ,during the early #aiijs1 free software versions of the ,berkeley ,software ,distribution were held up by ,unix ,system ,laboratories' lawsuit restricting the release of ,,bsd-derived software4 ,while many users consider ,,bsd offshoots such as ,free,b,s,d and ,open,b,s,d to be demonstrably superior to ,,gnu_/,linux both in terms of performance and security1 the number of ,free,b,s,d and ,open,b,s,d users remains a fraction of the total ,,gnu_/,linux user population4 ,to view a sample analysis of the relative success of ,,gnu_/,linux in relation to other free software operating systems1 see the essay by ,new ,zealand hacker1 ,liam ,greenwood1 ,why is ,linux ,successful 7#aiii74 ,much has been made about the ,,gnu ,project's struggles during the #aiij-aiic period4 ,while some place the blame on ,stallman for those struggles1 ,eric ,raymond1 an early member of the ,,gnu ,emacs team and later ,stallman critic1 says the problem was largely institutional4 ,the ,,fsf got arrogant1 ,raymond says4 ,they moved away from the goal of doing a production-ready operating system to doing operating-system research4 ,even worse1 ,they thought nothing outside the ,,fsf could affect them4 ,murdock1 a person less privy to the inner dealings of the ,,gnu ,project1 adopts a more charitable view4 ,i think part of the problem is they were a little too ambitious and they threw good money after bad1 he says4 ,micro-kernels in the late #hjs and early #ijs were a hot topic4 ,unfortunately1 that was about the time that the ,,gnu ,project started to design their kernel4 ,they ended up with alot of baggage and it would have taken a lot of backpedaling to lose it4 ,stallman cites a number of issues when explaining the delay4 ,the ,lotus and ,apple lawsuits had provided political distractions1 which1 coupled with ,stallman's inability to type1 made it difficult for ,stallman to lend a helping hand to the ,,hurd team4 ,stallman also cites poor communication between various portions of the ,,gnu ,project4 ,we had to do a lot of work to get the debugging environment to work1 he recalls4 ,and the people maintaining ,,gdb at the time were not that cooperative4 ,mostly1 however1 ,stallman says he and the other members of the ,,gnu ,project team underestimated the difficulty of expanding the ,mach microkernal into a full-fledged ,unix kernel4 ,i figured1 ,,ok1 the ,mach part that has to talk to the machine has already been debugged1 ,stallman says1 recalling the ,,hurd team's troubles in a #bjjj speech4 ,with that head start1 we should be able to get it done faster4 ,but instead1 it turned out that debugging these asynchronous multithreaded programs was really hard4 ,there were timing books that would clobber the files1 and that's no fun4 ,the end result was that it took many1 many years to produce a test version4,see ,maui ,high ,performance ,computing ,center ,speech4 ,whatever the excuse1 or excuses1 the concurrent success of the ,linux-kernel team created a tense situation4 ,sure1 the ,linux kernel had been licensed under the ,,gpl1 but as ,murdock himself had noted1 the desire to treat ,linux as a purely free software operating system was far from uniform4 ,by late #aiic1 the total ,linux user population had grown from a dozen or so ,minix enthusiasts to somewhere between #bj1jjj and #ajj1jjj4;,,gnu_/,linux user-population numbers are sketchy at best1 which is why ,i've provided such a broad range4 ,the #ajj1jjj total comes from the ,red ,hat ,milestones site1 http3_/_/www4redhat4com_/about_/corporat e_/milestones4html4 ,what had once been a hobby was now a marketplace ripe for exploitation4 ,like ,winston ,churchill watching ,soviet troops sweep into ,berlin1 ,stallman felt an understandable set of mixed emotions when it came time to celebrate the ,linux victory4,i wrote this ,winston ,churchill analogy before ,stallman himself sent me his own unsolicited comment on ,churchill3 ,world ,war ,,ii and the determination needed to win it was a very strong memory as ,i was growing up4 ,statements such as ,churchill's1 ,we will fight them in the landing zones1 we will fight them on the beaches 4 4 4 we will never surrender1 have always resonated for me4 ,although late to the party1 ,stallman still had clout4 ,as soon as the ,,fsf announced that it would lend its money and moral support to ,murdock's software project1 other offers of support began rolling in4 ,murdock dubbed the new project ,debian-a compression of his and his wife1 ,deborah's1 names-and within a few weeks was rolling out the first distribution4 ,richard's support catapulted ,debian almost overnight from this interesting little project to something people within the community had to pay attention to1 ,murdock says4 ,in ,january of #aiid1 ,murdock issued the ,debian ,manifesto4 ,written in the spirit of ,stallman's ,,gnu ,manifesto from a decade before1 it explained the importance of working closely with the ,free ,software ,foundation4 ,murdock wrote3 ,the ,free ,software ,foundation plays an extremely important role in the future of ,debian4 ,by the simple fact that they will be distributing it1 a message is sent to the world that ,linux is not a commercial product and that it never should be1 but that this does not mean that ,linux will never be able to compete commercially4 ,for those of you who disagree1 ,i challenge you to rationalize the success of ,,gnu ,emacs and ,,gcc1 which are not commercial software but which have had quite an impact on the commercial market regardless of that fact4 ,the time has come to concentrate on the future of ,linux rather than on the destructive goal of enriching oneself at the expense of the entire ,linux community and its future4 ,the development and distribution of ,debian may not be the answer to the problems that ,i have outlined in the ,manifesto1 but ,i hope that it will at least attract enough attention to these problems to allow them to be solved4 ,shortly after the ,manifesto's release1 the ,free ,software ,foundation made its first major request4 ,stallman wanted ,murdock to call its distribution ,,gnu_/,linux4 ,at first1 ,murdock says1 ,stallman had wanted to use the term ,lignux-as in ,linux with ,,gnu at the heart of it-but a sample testing of the term on ,usenet and in various impromptu hacker focus groups had merited enough catcalls to convince ,stallman to go with the less awkward ,,gnu_/,linux4 ,although some would dismiss ,stallman's attempt to add the ,,gnu prefix as a belated quest for credit1 ,murdock saw it differently4 ,looking back1 ,murdock saw it as an attempt to counteract the growing tension between ,,gnu ,project and ,linux-kernel developers4 ,there was a split emerging1 ,murdock recalls4 ,richard was concerned4 ,the deepest split1 ,murdock says1 was over glibc4 ,short for ,,gnu ,c ,library1 glibc is the package that lets programmers make system calls directed at the kernel4 ,over the course of #aiic-aiid1 glibc emerged as a troublesome bottleneck in ,linux development4 ,because so many new users were adding new functions to the ,linux kernel1 the ,,gnu ,project's glibc maintainers were soon overwhelmed with suggested changes4 ,frustrated by delays and the ,,gnu ,project's growing reputation for foot-dragging1 some ,linux developers suggested creating a fork-i4e41 a ,linux-specific ,c ,library parallel to glibc4 ,in the hacker world1 forks are an interesting phenomenon4 ,although the hacker ethic permits a programmer to do anything he wants with a given program's source code1 most hackers prefer to pour their innovations into a central source-code file or tree to ensure compatibility with other people's programs4 ,to fork glibc this early in the development of ,linux would have meant losing the potential input of hundreds1 even thousands1 of ,linux developers4 ,it would also mean growing incompatibility between ,linux and the ,,gnu system that ,stallman and the ,,gnu team still hoped to develop4 ,as leader of the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman had already experienced the negative effects of a software fork in #aiia4 ,a group of ,emacs developers working for a software company named ,lucid had a falling out over ,stallman's unwillingness to fold changes back into the ,,gnu ,emacs code base4 ,the fork had given birth to a parallel version1 ,lucid ,emacs1 and hard feelings all around4,jamie ,zawinski1 a former ,lucid programmer who would go on to head the ,mozilla development team1 has a web site that documents the ,lucid_/,,gnu ,emacs fork1 titled1 ,the ,lemacs_/,f,s,fmacs ,schism4 http3_/_/www4jwz4org_/doc_/lemacs4html ,murdock says ,debian was mounting work on a similar fork in glibc source code that motivated ,stallman to insist on adding the ,,gnu prefix when ,debian rolled out its software distribution4 ,the fork has since converged4 ,still1 at the time1 there was a concern that if the ,linux community saw itself as a different thing as the ,,gnu community1 it might be a force for disunity4 ,stallman seconds ,murdock's recollection4 ,in fact1 he says there were nascent forks appearing in relation to every major ,,gnu component4 ,at first1 ,stallman says he considered the forks to be a product of sour grapes4 ,in contrast to the fast and informal dynamics of the ,linux-kernel team1 ,,gnu source-code maintainers tended to be slower and more circumspect in making changes that might affect a program's long-term viability4 ,they also were unafraid of harshly critiquing other people's code4 ,over time1 however1 ,stallman began to sense that there was an underlying lack of awareness of the ,,gnu ,project and its objectives when reading ,linux developers' emails4 ,we discovered that the people who considered themselves ,linux users didn't care about the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman says4 ,they said1 ,why should ,i bother doing these things8 ,i don't care about the ,,gnu ,project4 ,it's working for me4 ,it's working for us ,linux users1 and nothing else matters to us4' ,and that was quite surprising given that people were essentially using a variant of the ,,gnu system1 and they cared so little4 ,they cared less than anybody else about ,,gnu4 ,while some viewed descriptions of ,linux as a variant of the ,,gnu ,project as politically grasping1 ,murdock1 already sympathetic to the free software cause1 saw ,stallman's request to call ,debian's version ,,gnu_/,linux as reasonable4 ,it was more for unity than for credit1 he says4 ,requests of a more technical nature quickly followed4 ,although ,murdock had been accommodating on political issues1 he struck a firmer pose when it came to the design and development model of the actual software4 ,what had begun as a show of solidarity soon became of model of other ,,gnu projects4 ,i can tell you that ,i've had my share of disagreements with him1 says ,murdock with a laugh4 ,in all honesty ,richard can be a fairly difficult person to work with4 ,in #aiif1 ,murdock1 following his graduation from ,purdue1 decided to hand over the reins of the growing ,debian project4 ,he had already been ceding management duties to ,bruce ,perens1 the hacker best known for his work on ,electric ,fence1 a ,unix utility released under the ,,gpl4 ,perens1 like ,murdock1 was a ,unix programmer who had become enamored of ,,gnu_/,linux as soon as the program's ,unix-like abilities became manifest4 ,like ,murdock1 ,perens sympathized with the political agenda of ,stallman and the ,free ,software ,foundation1 albeit from afar4 ,i remember after ,stallman had already come out with the ,,gnu ,manifesto1 ,,gnu ,emacs1 and ,,gcc1 ,i read an article that said he was working as a consultant for ,intel1 says ,perens1 recalling his first brush with ,stallman in the late #aihjs4 ,i wrote him asking how he could be advocating free software on the one hand and working for ,intel on the other4 ,he wrote back saying1 ,i work as a consultant to produce free software4' ,he was perfectly polite about it1 and ,i thought his answer made perfect sense4 ,as a prominent ,debian developer1 however1 ,perens regarded ,murdock's design battles with ,stallman with dismay4 ,upon assuming leadership of the development team1 ,perens says he made the command decision to distance ,debian from the ,free ,software ,foundation4 ,i decided we did not want ,richard's style of micro-management1 he says4 ,according to ,perens1 ,stallman was taken aback by the decision but had the wisdom to roll with it4 ,he gave it some time to cool off and sent a message that we really needed a relationship4 ,he requested that we call it ,,gnu_/,linux and left it at that4 ,i decided that was fine4 ,i made the decision unilaterally4 ,everybody breathed a sigh of relief4 ,over time1 ,debian would develop a reputation as the hacker's version of ,linux1 alongside ,slackware1 another popular distribution founded during the same #aiic-aiid period4 ,outside the realm of hacker-oriented systems1 however1 ,linux was picking up steam in the commercial ,unix marketplace4 ,in ,north ,carolina1 a ,unix company billing itself as ,red ,hat was revamping its business to focus on ,linux4 ,the chief executive officer was ,robert ,young1 the former ,linux ,journal editor who in #aiid had put the question to ,linus ,torvalds1 asking whether he had any regrets about putting the kernel under the ,,gpl4 ,to ,young1 ,torvalds' response had a profound impact on his own view toward ,linux4 ,instead of looking for a way to corner the ,,gnu_/,linux market via traditional software tactics1 ,young began to consider what might happen if a company adopted the same approach as ,debian-i4e41 building an operating system completely out of free software parts4 ,cygnus ,solutions1 the company founded by ,michael ,tiemann and ,john ,gilmore in #aiij1 was already demonstrating the ability to sell free software based on quality and customizability4 ,what if ,red ,hat took the same approach with ,,gnu_/,linux8 ,in the western scientific tradition we stand on the shoulders of giants1 says ,young1 echoing both ,torvalds and ,sir ,isaac ,newton before him4 ,in business1 this translates to not having to reinvent wheels as we go along4 ,the beauty of the ,,gpl model is you put your code into the public domain4,young uses the term public domain incorrectly here4 ,public domain means not protected by copyright4 ,,gpl-protected programs are by definition protected by copyright4 ,if you're an independent software vendor and you're trying to build some application and you need a modem-dialer1 well1 why reinvent modem dialers8 ,you can just steal ,,ppp off of ,red ,hat ,linux and use that as the core of your modem-dialing tool4 ,if you need a graphic tool set1 you don't have to write your own graphic library4 ,just download ,,gtk4 ,suddenly you have the ability to reuse the best of what went before4 ,and suddenly your focus as an application vendor is less on software management and more on writing the applications specific to your customer's needs4 ,young wasn't the only software executive intrigued by the business efficiencies of free software4 ,by late #aiif1 most ,unix companies were starting to wake up and smell the brewing source code4 ,the ,linux sector was still a good year or two away from full commercial breakout mode1 but those close enough to the hacker community could feel it3 something big was happening4 ,the ,intel #chf chip1 the ,internet1 and the ,world ,wide ,web had hit the marketplace like a set of monster waves1 and ,linux-and the host of software programs that echoed it in terms of source-code accessibility and permissive licensing-seemed like the largest wave yet4 ,for ,ian ,murdock1 the programmer courted by ,stallman and then later turned off by ,stallman's micromanagement style1 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 identity4 ,like many ,linux aficionados1 ,murdock had seen the original postings4 ,he'd seen ,torvalds's original admonition that ,linux was just a hobby4 ,he'd also seen ,torvalds's admission to ,minix creator ,andrew ,tanenbaum3 ,if the ,,gnu kernel had been ready last spring1 ,i'd not have bothered to even start my project4,this quote is taken from the much-publicized ,torvalds-,tanenbaum flame war following the initial release of ,linux4 ,in the process of defending his choice of a nonportable monolithic kernel design1 ,torvalds says he started working on ,linux as a way to learn more about his new #chf ,,pc4 ,if the ,,gnu kernel had been ready last spring1 ,i'd not have bothered to even start my project4 ,see ,chris ,di,bona et al41 ,open ,sources 7,o',reilly ,associates1 ,inc41 #aiii73 #bbd4 ,like many1 ,murdock knew the opportunities that had been squandered4 ,he also knew the excitement of watching new opportunities come seeping out of the very fabric of the ,internet4 ,being involved with ,linux in those early days was fun1 recalls ,murdock4 ,at the same time1 it was something to do1 something to pass the time4 ,if you go back and read those old comp4os4minix exchanges1 you'll see the sentiment3 this is something we can play with until the ,,hurd is ready4 ,people were anxious4 ,it's funny1 but in a lot of ways1 ,i suspect that ,linux would never have happened if the ,,hurd had come along more quickly4 ,by the end of #aiif1 however1 such what if questions were already moot4 ,call it ,linux1 call it ,,gnu_/,linux2 the users had spoken4 ,the #cf-month window had closed1 meaning that even if the ,,gnu ,project had rolled out its ,,hurd kernel1 chances were slim anybody outside the hard-core hacker community would have noticed4 ,the first ,unix-like free software operating system was here1 and it had momentum4 ,all hackers had left to do was sit back and wait for the next major wave to come crashing down on their heads4 ,even the shaggy-haired head of one ,richard ,m4 ,stallman4 ,ready or not4 ,open ,source ,in ,november 1 #aiie1 ,peter ,salus1 a member of the ,free ,software ,foundation and author of the #aiid book1 ,a ,quarter ,century of ,unix 1 issued a call for papers to members of the ,,gnu ,project's system-discuss mailing list4 ,salus1 the conference's scheduled chairman1 wanted to tip off fellow hackers about the upcoming ,conference on ,freely ,redistributable ,software in ,cambridge1 ,massachusetts4 ,slated for ,february1 #aiif and sponsored by the ,free ,software ,foundation1 the event promised to be the first engineering conference solely dedicated to free software and1 in a show of unity with other free software programmers1 welcomed papers on any aspect of ,,gnu1 ,linux1 ,net,b,s,d1 #chf;,,bsd1 ,free,b,s,d1 ,perl1 ,tcl_/tk1 and other tools for which the code is accessible and redistributable4 ,salus wrote3 ,over the past #ae years1 free and low-cost software has become ubiquitous4 ,this conference will bring together implementers of several different types of freely redistributable software and publishers of such software 7on various media74 ,there will be tutorials and refereed papers1 as well as keynotes by ,linus ,torvalds and ,richard ,stallman4,see ,peter ,salus1 ,,fyi-,conference on ,freely ,redistributable ,software1 #b_/b1 ,cambridge 7#aiie7 7archived by ,terry ,winograd74 http3_/_/hci4stanford4edu_/pcd-archives_ /pcd-fyi_/#aiie_/jjgh4;html ,one of the first people to receive ,salus' email was conference committee member ,eric ,s4 ,raymond4 ,although not the leader of a project or company like the various other members of the list1 ,raymond had built a tidy reputation within the hacker community as a major contributor to ,,gnu ,emacs and as editor of ,the ,new ,hacker ,dictionary1 a book version of the hacking community's decade-old ,jargon ,file4 ,for ,raymond1 the #aiif conference was a welcome event4 ,active in the ,,gnu ,project during the #aihjs1 ,raymond had distanced himself from the project in #aiib1 citing1 like many others before him1 ,stallman's micro-management style4 ,richard kicked up a fuss about my making unauthorized modifications when ,i was cleaning up the ,emacs ,,lisp libraries1 ,raymond recalls4 ,it frustrated me so much that ,i decided ,i didn't want to work with him anymore4 ,despite the falling out1 ,raymond remained active in the free software community4 ,so much so that when ,salus suggested a conference pairing ,stallman and ,torvalds as keynote speakers1 ,raymond eagerly seconded the idea4 ,with ,stallman representing the older1 wiser contingent of ,,its_/,unix hackers and ,torvalds representing the younger1 more energetic crop of ,linux hackers1 the pairing indicated a symbolic show of unity that could only be beneficial1 especially to ambitious younger 7i4e41 below #dj7 hackers such as ,raymond4 ,i sort of had a foot in both camps1 ,raymond says4 ,by the time of the conference1 the tension between those two camps had become palpable4 ,both groups had one thing in common1 though3 the conference was their first chance to meet the ,finnish wunderkind in the flesh4 ,surprisingly1 ,torvalds proved himself to be a charming1 affable speaker4 ,possessing only a slight ,swedish accent1 ,torvalds surprised audience members with his quick1 self-effacing wit4,although ,linus ,torvalds is ,finnish1 his mother tongue is ,swedish4 ,the ,rampantly ,unofficial ,linus ,,faq offers a brief explanation3 ,finland has a significant 7about #f7 ,swedish-speaking minority population4 ,they call themselves finlandssvensk or finlandssvenskar and consider themselves ,finns2 many of their families have lived in ,finland for centuries4 ,swedish is one of ,finland's two official languages4 http3_/_/tuxedo4org_/esr_/faqs_/linus_/ ,even more surprising1 says ,raymond1 was ,torvalds' equal willingness to take potshots at other prominent hackers1 including the most prominent hacker of all1 ,richard ,stallman4 ,by the end of the conference1 ,torvalds' half-hacker1 half-slacker manner was winning over older and younger conference-goers alike4 ,it was a pivotal moment1 recalls ,raymond4 ,before #aiif1 ,richard was the only credible claimant to being the ideological leader of the entire culture4 ,people who dissented didn't do so in public4 ,the person who broke that taboo was ,torvalds4 ,the ultimate breach of taboo would come near the end of the show4 ,during a discussion on the growing market dominance of ,microsoft ,windows or some similar topic1 ,torvalds admitted to being a fan of ,microsoft's ,power,point slideshow software program4 ,from the perspective of old-line software purists1 it was like a ,mormon bragging in church about his fondness of whiskey4 ,from the perspective of ,torvalds and his growing band of followers1 it was simply common sense4 ,why shun worthy proprietary software programs just to make a point8 ,being a hacker wasn't about suffering1 it was about getting the job done4 ,that was a pretty shocking thing to say1 ,raymond remembers4 ,then again1 he was able to do that1 because by #aiie and #aiif1 he was rapidly acquiring clout4 ,stallman1 for his part1 doesn't remember any tension at the #aiif conference1 but he does remember later feeling the sting of ,torvalds' celebrated cheekiness4 ,there was a thing in the ,linux documentation which says print out the ,,gnu coding standards and then tear them up1 says ,stallman1 recalling one example4 ,,ok1 so he disagrees with some of our conventions4 ,that's fine1 but he picked a singularly nasty way of saying so4 ,he could have just said ,here's the way ,i think you should indent your code4' ,fine4 ,there should be no hostility there4 ,for ,raymond1 the warm reception other hackers gave to ,torvalds' comments merely confirmed his suspicions4 ,the dividing line separating ,linux developers from ,,gnu_/,linux developers was largely generational4 ,many ,linux hackers1 like ,torvalds1 had grown up in a world of proprietary software4 ,unless a program was clearly inferior1 most saw little reason to rail against a program on licensing issues alone4 ,somewhere in the universe of free software systems lurked a program that hackers might someday turn into a free software alternative to ,power,point4 ,until then1 why begrudge ,microsoft the initiative of developing the program and reserving the rights to it8 ,as a former ,,gnu ,project member1 ,raymond sensed an added dynamic to the tension between ,stallman and ,torvalds4 ,in the decade since launching the ,,gnu ,project1 ,stallman had built up a fearsome reputation as a programmer4 ,he had also built up a reputation for intransigence both in terms of software design and people management4 ,shortly before the #aiif conference1 the ,free ,software ,foundation would experience a full-scale staff defection1 blamed in large part on ,stallman4 ,brian ,youmans1 a current ,,fsf staffer hired by ,salus in the wake of the resignations1 recalls the scene3 ,at one point1 ,peter ,salus was the only staff member working in the office4 ,for ,raymond1 the defection merely confirmed a growing suspicion3 recent delays such as the ,,hurd and recent troubles such as the ,lucid-,emacs schism reflected problems normally associated with software project management1 not software code development4 ,shortly after the ,freely ,redistributable ,software ,conference1 ,raymond began working on his own pet software project1 a popmail utility called fetchmail4 ,taking a cue from ,torvalds1 ,raymond issued his program with a tacked-on promise to update the source code as early and as often as possible4 ,when users began sending in bug reports and feature suggestions1 ,raymond1 at first anticipating a tangled mess1 found the resulting software surprisingly sturdy4 ,analyzing the success of the ,torvalds approach1 ,raymond issued a quick analysis3 using the ,internet as his petri dish and the harsh scrutiny of the hacker community as a form of natural selection1 ,torvalds had created an evolutionary model free of central planning4 ,what's more1 ,raymond decided1 ,torvalds had found a way around ,brooks' ,law4 ,first articulated by ,fred ,p4 ,brooks1 manager of ,,ibm's ,,os_/#cfj project and author of the #aige book1 ,the ,mythical ,man-,month 1 ,brooks' ,law held that adding developers to a project only resulted in further project delays4 ,believing as most hackers that software1 like soup1 benefits from a limited number of cooks1 ,raymond sensed something revolutionary at work4 ,in inviting more and more cooks into the kitchen1 ,torvalds had actually found away to make the resulting software better4,brooks' ,law is the shorthand summary of the following quote taken from ,brooks' book3 ,since software construction is inherently a systems effort-an exercise in complex interrelationships-communication effort is great1 and it quickly dominates the decrease in individual task time brought about by partitioning4 ,adding more men then lengthens1 not shortens1 the schedule4 ,see ,fred ,p4 ,brooks1 ,the ,mythical ,man-,month 7,addison ,wesley ,publishing1 #aiie7 ,raymond put his observations on paper4 ,he crafted them into a speech1 which he promptly delivered before a group of friends and neighbors in ,chester ,county1 ,pennsylvania4 ,dubbed ,the ,cathedral and the ,bazaar1 the speech contrasted the management styles of the ,,gnu ,project with the management style of ,torvalds and the kernel hackers4 ,raymond says the response was enthusiastic1 but not nearly as enthusiastic as the one he received during the #aiig ,linux ,kongress1 a gathering of ,linux users in ,germany the next spring4 ,at the ,kongress1 they gave me a standing ovation at the end of the speech1 ,raymond recalls4 ,i took that as significant for two reasons4 ,for one thing1 it meant they were excited by what they were hearing4 ,for another thing1 it meant they were excited even after hearing the speech delivered through a language barrier4 ,eventually1 ,raymond would convert the speech into a paper1 also titled ,the ,cathedral and the ,bazaar4 ,the paper drew its name from ,raymond's central analogy4 ,,gnu programs were cathedrals1 impressive1 centrally planned monuments to the hacker ethic1 built to stand the test of time4 ,linux1 on the other hand1 was more like a great babbling bazaar1 a software program developed through the loose decentralizing dynamics of the ,internet4 ,implicit within each analogy was a comparison of ,stallman and ,torvalds4 ,where ,stallman served as the classic model of the cathedral architect-i4e41 a programming wizard who could disappear for #ah months and return with something like the ,,gnu ,c ,compiler-,torvalds was more like a genial dinner-party host4 ,in letting others lead the ,linux design discussion and stepping in only when the entire table needed a referee1 ,torvalds had created a development model very much reflective of his own laid-back personality4 ,from the ,torvalds' perspective1 the most important managerial task was not imposing control but keeping the ideas flowing4 ,summarized ,raymond1 ,i think ,linus's cleverest and most consequential hack was not the construction of the ,linux kernel itself1 but rather his invention of the ,linux development model4,see ,eric ,raymond1 ,the ,cathredral and the ,bazaar 7#aiig74 ,in summarizing the secrets of ,torvalds' managerial success1 ,raymond himself had pulled off a coup4 ,one of the audience members at the ,linux ,kongress was ,tim ,o',reilly1 publisher of ,o',reilly ,associates1 a company specializing in software manuals and software-related books 7and the publisher of this book74 ,after hearing ,raymond's ,kongress speech1 ,o',reilly promptly invited ,raymond to deliver it again at the company's inaugural ,perl ,conference later that year in ,monterey1 ,california4 ,although the conference was supposed to focus on ,perl1 a scripting language created by ,unix hacker ,larry ,wall1 ,o',reilly assured ,raymond that the conference would address other free software technologies4 ,given the growing commercial interest in ,linux and ,apache1 a popular free software web server1 ,o',reilly hoped to use the event to publicize the role of free software in creating the entire infrastructure of the ,internet4 ,from web-friendly languages such as ,perl and ,python to back-room programs such as ,,bind 7the ,berkeley ,internet ,naming ,daemon71 a software tool that lets users replace arcane ,,ip numbers with the easy-to-remember domain-name addresses 7e4g41 amazon4com71 and sendmail1 the most popular mail program on the ,internet1 free software had become an emergent phenomenon4 ,like a colony of ants creating a beautiful nest one grain of sand at a time1 the only thing missing was the communal self-awareness4 ,o',reilly saw ,raymond's speech as a good way to inspire that self-awareness1 to drive home the point that free software development didn't start and end with the ,,gnu ,project4 ,programming languages1 such as ,perl and ,python1 and ,internet software1 such as ,,bind1 sendmail1 and ,apache1 demonstrated that free software was already ubiquitous and influential4 ,he also assured ,raymond an even warmer reception than the one at ,linux ,kongress4 ,o',reilly was right4 ,this time1 ,i got the standing ovation before the speech1 says ,raymond1 laughing4 ,as predicted1 the audience was stocked not only with hackers1 but with other people interested in the growing power of the free software movement4 ,one contingent included a group from ,netscape1 the ,mountain ,view1 ,california startup then nearing the end game of its three-year battle with ,microsoft for control of the web-browser market4 ,intrigued by ,raymond's speech and anxious to win back lost market share1 ,netscape executives took the message back to corporate headquarters4 ,a few months later1 in ,january1 #aiih1 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 development4 ,when ,netscape ,,ceo ,jim ,barksdale cited ,raymond's ,cathedral and the ,bazaar essay as a major influence upon the company's decision1 the company instantly elevated ,raymond to the level of hacker celebrity4 ,determined not to squander the opportunity1 ,raymond traveled west to deliver interviews1 advise ,netscape executives1 and take part in the eventual party celebrating the publication of ,netscape ,navigator's source code4 ,the code name for ,navigator's source code was ,mozilla3 a reference both to the program's gargantuan size-#cj million lines of code-and to its heritage4 ,developed as a proprietary offshoot of ,mosaic1 the web browser created by ,marc ,andreessen at the ,university of ,illinois1 ,mozilla was proof1 yet again1 that when it came to building new programs1 most programmers preferred to borrow on older1 modifiable programs4 ,while in ,california1 ,raymond also managed to squeeze in a visit to ,,va ,research1 a ,santa ,clara-based company selling workstations with the ,,gnu_/,linux operating system preinstalled4 ,convened by ,raymond1 the meeting was small4 ,the invite list included ,,va founder ,larry ,augustin1 a few ,,va employees1 and ,christine ,peterson1 president of the ,foresight ,institute1 a ,silicon ,valley think tank specializing in nanotechnology4 ,the meeting's agenda boiled down to one item3 how to take advantage of ,netscape's decision so that other companies might follow suit8 ,raymond doesn't recall the conversation that took place1 but he does remember the first complaint addressed4 ,despite the best efforts of ,stallman and other hackers to remind people that the word free in free software stood for freedom and not price1 the message still wasn't getting through4 ,most business executives1 upon hearing the term for the first time1 interpreted the word as synonymous with zero cost1 tuning out any follow up messages in short order4 ,until hackers found a way to get past this cognitive dissonance1 the free software movement faced an uphill climb1 even after ,netscape4 ,peterson1 whose organization had taken an active interest in advancing the free software cause1 offered an alternative3 open source4 ,looking back1 ,peterson says she came up with the open source term while discussing ,netscape's decision with a friend in the public relations industry4 ,she doesn't remember where she came upon the term or if she borrowed it from another field1 but she does remember her friend disliking the term4#e ,at the meeting1 ,peterson says1 the response was dramatically different4 ,i was hesitant about suggesting it1 ,peterson recalls4 ,i had no standing with the group1 so started using it casually1 not highlighting it as a new term4 ,to ,peterson's surprise1 the term caught on4 ,by the end of the meeting1 most of the attendees1 including ,raymond1 seemed pleased by it4 ,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 party1 when ,o',reilly had scheduled a meeting to talk about free software4 ,calling his meeting the ,freeware ,summit1 ,o',reilly says he wanted to direct media and community attention to the other deserving projects that had also encouraged ,netscape to release ,mozilla4 ,all these guys had so much in common1 and ,i was surprised they didn't all know each other1 says ,o',reilly4 ,i also wanted to let the world know just how great an impact the free software culture had already made4 ,people were missing out on a large part of the free software tradition4 ,in putting together the invite list1 however1 ,o',reilly made a decision that would have long-term political consequences4 ,he decided to limit the list to west-coast developers such as ,wall1 ,eric ,allman1 creator of sendmail1 and ,paul ,vixie1 creator of ,,bind4 ,there were exceptions1 of course3 ,pennsylvania-resident ,raymond1 who was already in town thanks to the ,mozilla launch1 earned a quick invite4 ,so did ,virginia-resident ,guido van ,rossum1 creator of ,python4 ,frank ,willison1 my editor in chief and champion of ,python within the company1 invited him without first checking in with me1 ,o',reilly recalls4 ,i was happy to have him there1 but when ,i started1 it really was just a local gathering4 ,for some observers1 the unwillingness to include ,stallman's name on the list qualified as a snub4 ,i decided not to go to the event because of it1 says ,perens1 remembering the summit4 ,raymond1 who did go1 says he argued for ,stallman's inclusion to no avail4 ,the snub rumor gained additional strength from the fact that ,o',reilly1 the event's host1 had feuded publicly with ,stallman over the issue of software-manual copyrights4 ,prior to the meeting1 ,stallman had argued that free software manuals should be as freely copyable and modifiable as free software programs4 ,o',reilly1 meanwhile1 argued that a value-added market for nonfree books increased the utility of free software by making it more accessible to a wider community4 ,the two had also disputed the title of the event1 with ,stallman insisting on ,free ,software over the less politically laden ,freeware4 ,looking back1 ,o',reilly doesn't see the decision to leave ,stallman's name off the invite list as a snub4 ,at that time1 ,i had never met ,richard in person1 but in our email interactions1 he'd been inflexible and unwilling to engage in dialogue4 ,i wanted to make sure the ,,gnu tradition was represented at the meeting1 so ,i invited ,john ,gilmore and ,michael ,tiemann1 whom ,i knew personally1 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 traditions4 ,given all the later brouhaha1 ,i do wish ,i'd invited ,richard as well1 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 personally4 ,snub or no snub1 both ,o',reilly and ,raymond say the term open source won over just enough summit-goers to qualify as a success4 ,the attendees shared ideas and experiences and brainstormed on how to improve free software's image4 ,of key concern was how to point out the successes of free software1 particularly in the realm of ,internet infrastructure1 as opposed to playing up the ,,gnu_/,linux challenge to ,microsoft ,windows4 ,but like the earlier meeting at ,,va1 the discussion soon turned to the problems associated with the term free software4 ,o',reilly1 the summit host1 remembers a particularly insightful comment from ,torvalds1 a summit attendee4 ,linus had just moved to ,silicon ,valley at that point1 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 ,english4 ,michael ,tiemann1 founder of ,cygnus1 proposed an alternative to the troublesome free software term3 sourceware4 ,nobody got too excited about it1 ,o',reilly recalls4 ,that's when ,eric threw out the term open source4' ,although the term appealed to some1 support for a change in official terminology was far from unanimous4 ,at the end of the one-day conference1 attendees put the three terms-free software1 open source1 or sourceware-to a vote4 ,according to ,o',reilly1 #i out of the #ae attendees voted for open source4 ,although some still quibbled with the term1 all attendees agreed to use it in future discussions with the press4 ,we wanted to go out with a solidarity message1 ,o',reilly says4 ,the term didn't take long to enter the national lexicon4 ,shortly after the summit1 ,o',reilly shepherded summit attendees to a press conference attended by reporters from the ,new ,york ,times1 the ,wall ,street ,journal1 and other prominent publications4 ,within a few months1 ,torvalds' face was appearing on the cover of ,forbes magazine1 with the faces of ,stallman1 ,perl creator ,larry ,wall1 and ,apache team leader ,brian ,behlendorf featured in the interior spread4 ,open source was open for business4 ,for summit attendees such as ,tiemann1 the solidarity message was the most important thing4 ,although his company had achieved a fair amount of success selling free software tools and services1 he sensed the difficulty other programmers and entrepreneurs faced4 ,there's no question that the use of the word free was confusing in a lot of situations1 ,tiemann says4 ,open source positioned itself as being business friendly and business sensible4 ,free software positioned itself as morally righteous4 ,for better or worse we figured it was more advantageous to align with the open source crowd4 ,for ,stallman1 the response to the new open source term was slow in coming4 ,raymond says ,stallman briefly considered adopting the term1 only to discard it4 ,i know because ,i had direct personal conversations about it1 ,raymond says4 ,by the end of #aiih1 ,stallman had formulated a position3 open source1 while helpful in communicating the technical advantages of free software1 also encouraged speakers to soft-pedal the issue of software freedom4 ,given this drawback1 ,stallman would stick with the term free software4 ,summing up his position at the #aiii ,linux,world ,convention and ,expo1 an event billed by ,torvalds himself as a coming out party for the ,linux community1 ,stallman implored his fellow hackers to resist the lure of easy compromise4 ,because we've shown how much we can do1 we don't have to be desperate to work with companies or compromise our goals1 ,stallman said during a panel discussion4 ,let them offer and we'll accept4 ,we don't have to change what we're doing to get them to help us4 ,you can take a single step towards a goal1 then another and then more and more and you'll actually reach your goal4 ,or1 you can take a half measure that means you don't ever take another step and you'll never get there4 ,even before the ,linux,world show1 however1 ,stallman was showing an increased willingness to alienate his more conciliatory peers4 ,a few months after the ,freeware ,summit1 ,o',reilly hosted its second annual ,perl ,conference4 ,this time around1 ,stallman was in attendance4 ,during a panel discussion lauding ,,ibm's decision to employ the free software ,apache web server in its commercial offerings1 ,stallman1 taking advantage of an audience microphone1 disrupted the proceedings with a tirade against panelist ,john ,ousterhout1 creator of the ,tcl scripting language4 ,stallman branded ,ousterhout a parasite on the free software community for marketing a proprietary version of ,tcl via ,ousterhout's startup company1 ,scriptics4 ,i don't think ,scriptics is necessary for the continued existence of ,tcl1 ,stallman said to hisses from the fellow audience members4,see ,malcolm ,maclachlan1 ,profit ,motive ,splits ,open ,source ,movement1 ,tech,web ,news 7,august #bf1 #aiih74 http3_/_/content4techweb4com_/wire_/stor y_/,,twb#aiihjhbd,s#jjab ,it was a pretty ugly scene1 recalls ,prime ,time ,freeware's ,rich ,morin4 ,john's done some pretty respectable things3 ,tcl1 ,tk1 ,sprite4 ,he's a real contributor4 ,despite his sympathies for ,stallman and ,stallman's position1 ,morin felt empathy for those troubled by ,stallman's discordant behavior4 ,stallman's ,perl ,conference outburst would momentarily chase off another potential sympathizer1 ,bruce ,perens4 ,in #aiih1 ,eric ,raymond proposed launching the ,open ,source ,initiative1 or ,,osi1 an organization that would police the use of the term open source and provide a definition for companies interested in making their own programs4 ,raymond recruited ,perens to draft the definition4,see ,bruce ,perens et al41 ,the ,open ,source ,definition1 ,the ,open ,source ,initiative 7#aiih74 http3_/_/www4opensource4org_/docs_/defin ition4html ,perens would later resign from the ,,osi1 expressing regret that the organization had set itself up in opposition to ,stallman and the ,,fsf4 ,still1 looking back on the need for a free software definition outside the ,free ,software ,foundation's auspices1 ,perens understands why other hackers might still feel the need for distance4 ,i really like and admire ,richard1 says ,perens4 ,i do think ,richard would do his job better if ,richard had more balance4 ,that includes going away from free software for a couple of months4 ,stallman's monomaniacal energies would do little to counteract the public-relations momentum of open source proponents4 ,in ,august of #aiih1 when chip-maker ,intel purchased a stake in ,,gnu_/,linux vendor ,red ,hat1 an accompanying ,new ,york ,times article described the company as the product of a movement known alternatively as free software and open source4,see ,amy ,harmon1 ,for ,sale3 ,free ,operating ,system1 ,new ,york ,times 7,september #bh1 #aiih74 http3_/_/www4nytimes4com_/library_/tech_ /#ih_/ji_/;biztech_/articles_/#bhlinux4h tml ,six months later1 a ,john ,markoff article on ,apple ,computer was proclaiming the company's adoption of the open source ,apache server in the article headline4,see ,john ,markoff1 ,apple ,adopts ,open ,source' for its ,server ,computers1 ,new ,york ,times 7,march #ag1 #aiii74 http3_/_/www4nytimes4com_/library_/tech_ /#ii_/jc_/;biztech_/articles_/#ag;apple4 html ,such momentum would coincide with the growing momentum of companies that actively embraced the open source term4 ,by ,august of #aiii1 ,red ,hat1 a company that now eagerly billed itself as open source1 was selling shares on ,nasdaq4 ,in ,december1 ,,va ,linux-formerly ,,va ,research-was floating its own ,,ipo to historical effect4 ,opening at #cj per share1 the company's stock price exploded past the #cjj mark in initial trading only to settle back down to the #bci level4 ,shareholders lucky enough to get in at the bottom and stay until the end experienced a #fih increase in paper wealth1 a ,nasdaq record4 ,among those lucky shareholders was ,eric ,raymond1 who1 as a company board member since the ,mozilla launch1 had received #aej1jjj shares of ,,va ,linux stock4 ,stunned by the realization that his essay contrasting the ,stallman-,torvalds managerial styles had netted him #cf million in potential wealth1 ,raymond penned a follow-up essay4 ,in it1 ,raymond mused on the relationship between the hacker ethic and monetary wealth3 ,reporters often ask me these days if ,i think the open-source community will be corrupted by the influx of big money4 ,i tell them what ,i believe1 which is this3 commercial demand for programmers has been so intense for so long that anyone who can be seriously distracted by money is already gone4 ,our community has been self-selected for caring about other things-accomplishment1 pride1 artistic passion1 and each other4,see ,eric ,raymond1 ,surprised by ,wealth1 ,linux ,today 7,december #aj1 #aiii74 http3_/_/linuxtoday4com_/newsstory4php#c 8ltsn#aiii-ab-aj-jja-je-,,nw-,,lf ,whether or not such comments allayed suspicions that ,raymond and other open source proponents had simply been in it for the money1 they drove home the open source community's ultimate message3 all you needed to sell the free software concept is a friendly face and a sensible message4 ,instead of fighting the marketplace head-on as ,stallman had done1 ,raymond1 ,torvalds1 and other new leaders of the hacker community had adopted a more relaxed approach-ignoring the marketplace in some areas1 leveraging it in others4 ,instead of playing the role of high-school outcasts1 they had played the game of celebrity1 magnifying their power in the process4 ,on his worst days ,richard believes that ,linus ,torvalds and ,i conspired to hijack his revolution1 ,raymond says4 ,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 territoriality4 ,there are people out there who think it's all ,richard's personal ego4 ,i don't believe that4 ,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 himself4 ,ironically1 the success of open source and open source advocates such as ,raymond would not diminish ,stallman's role as a leader4 ,if anything1 it gave ,stallman new followers to convert4 ,still1 the ,raymond territoriality charge is a damning one4 ,there are numerous instances of ,stallman sticking to his guns more out of habit than out of principle3 his initial dismissal of the ,linux kernel1 for example1 and his current unwillingness as a political figure to venture outside the realm of software issues4 ,then again1 as the recent debate over open source also shows1 in instances when ,stallman has stuck to his guns1 he's usually found a way to gain ground because of it4 ,one of ,stallman's primary character traits is the fact he doesn't budge1 says ,ian ,murdock4 ,he'll wait up to a decade for people to come around to his point of view if that's what it takes4 ,murdock1 for one1 finds that unbudgeable nature both refreshing and valuable4 ,stallman may no longer be the solitary leader of the free software movement1 but he is still the polestar of the free software community4 ,you always know that he's going to be consistent in his views1 ,murdock says4 ,most people aren't like that4 ,whether you agree with him or not1 you really have to respect that4 ,a ,brief ,journey ,through ,hacker ,hell ,richard ,stallman stares1 unblinking1 through the windshield of a rental car1 waiting for the light to change as we make our way through downtown ,kihei4 ,the two of us are headed to the nearby town of ,pa'ia1 where we are scheduled to meet up with some software programmers and their wives for dinner in about an hour or so4 ,it's about two hours after ,stallman's speech at the ,maui ,high ,performance ,center1 and ,kihei1 a town that seemed so inviting before the speech1 now seems profoundly uncooperative4 ,like most beach cities1 ,kihei is a one-dimensional exercise in suburban sprawl4 ,driving down its main drag1 with its endless succession of burger stands1 realty agencies1 and bikini shops1 it's hard not to feel like a steel-coated morsel passing through the alimentary canal of a giant commercial tapeworm4 ,the feeling is exacerbated by the lack of side roads4 ,with nowhere to go but forward1 traffic moves in spring-like lurches4 #bjj yards ahead1 a light turns green4 ,by the time we are moving1 the light is yellow again4 ,for ,stallman1 a lifetime resident of the east coast1 the prospect of spending the better part of a sunny ,hawaiian afternoon trapped in slow traffic is enough to trigger an embolism4 ,even worse is the knowledge that1 with just a few quick right turns a quarter mile back1 this whole situation easily could have been avoided4 ,unfortunately1 we are at the mercy of the driver ahead of us1 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 ,highway4 ,this is terrible1 says ,stallman between frustrated sighs4 ,why didn't we take the other route8 ,again1 the light a quarter mile ahead of us turns green4 ,again1 we creep forward a few more car lengths4 ,this process continues for another #aj minutes1 until we finally reach a major crossroad promising access to the adjacent highway4 ,the driver ahead of us ignores it and continues through the intersection4 ,why isn't he turning8 moans ,stallman1 throwing up his hands in frustration4 ,can you believe this8 ,i decide not to answer either4 ,i find the fact that ,i am sitting in a car with ,stallman in the driver seat1 in ,maui no less1 unbelievable enough4 ,until two hours ago1 ,i didn't even know ,stallman knew how to drive4 ,now1 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 left1 ,i do my best to fade into the upholstery4 ,when the next opportunity to turn finally comes up1 ,stallman hits his right turn signal in an attempt to cue the driver ahead of us4 ,no such luck4 ,once again1 we creep slowly through the intersection1 coming to a stop a good #bjj yards before the next light4 ,by now1 ,stallman is livid4 ,it's like he's deliberately ignoring us1 he says1 gesturing and pantomiming like an air craft carrier landing-signals officer in a futile attempt to catch our guide's eye4 ,the guide appears unfazed1 and for the next five minutes all we see is a small portion of his head in the rearview mirror4 ,i look out ,stallman's window4 ,nearby ,kahoolawe and ,lanai ,islands provide an ideal frame for the setting sun4 ,it's a breathtaking view1 the kind that makes moments like this a bit more bearable if you're a ,hawaiian native1 ,i suppose4 ,i try to direct ,stallman's attention to it1 but ,stallman1 by now obsessed by the inattentiveness of the driver ahead of us1 blows me off4 ,when the driver passes through another green light1 completely ignoring a ,pilani ,highway ,next ,right1 ,i grit my teeth4 ,i remember an early warning relayed to me by ,,bsd programmer ,keith ,bostic4 ,stallman does not suffer fools gladly1 ,bostic warned me4 ,if somebody says or does something stupid1 he'll look them in the eye and say1 ,that's stupid4' ,looking at the oblivious driver ahead of us1 ,i realize that it's the stupidity1 not the inconvenience1 that's killing ,stallman right now4 ,it's as if he picked this route with absolutely no thought on how to get there efficiently1 ,stallman says4 ,the word efficiently hangs in the air like a bad odor4 ,few things irritate the hacker mind more than inefficiency4 ,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 code4 ,it was the inefficiency of rewriting software tools hijacked by commercial software vendors that led ,stallman to battle ,symbolics and to launch the ,,gnu ,project4 ,if1 as ,jean ,paul ,sartre once opined1 hell is other people1 hacker hell is duplicating other people's stupid mistakes1 and it's no exaggeration to say that ,stallman's entire life has been an attempt to save mankind from these fiery depths4 ,this hell metaphor becomes all the more apparent as we take in the slowly passing scenery4 ,with its multitude of shops1 parking lots1 and poorly timed street lights1 ,kihei seems less like a city and more like a poorly designed software program writ large4 ,instead of rerouting traffic and distributing vehicles through side streets and expressways1 city planners have elected to run everything through a single main drag4 ,from a hacker perspective1 sitting in a car amidst all this mess is like listening to a ,,cd rendition of nails on a chalkboard at full volume4 ,imperfect systems infuriate hackers1 observes ,steven ,levy1 another warning ,i should have listened to before climbing into the car with ,stallman4 ,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 signs1 open up traffic-light control boxes 4 4 4 redesign the entire system4,see ,steven ,levy1 ,hackers 7,penguin ,,usa paperback1 #aihd73 #dj4 ,more frustrating1 however1 is the duplicity of our trusted guide4 ,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' game4 ,like ,virgil in ,dante's ,inferno1 our guide is determined to give us the full guided tour of this hacker hell whether we want it or not4 ,before ,i can make this observation to ,stallman1 the driver finally hits his right turn signal4 ,stallman's hunched shoulders relax slightly1 and for a moment the air of tension within the car dissipates4 ,the tension comes back1 however1 as the driver in front of us slows down4 ,construction ,ahead signs line both sides of the street1 and even though the ,pilani ,highway lies less than a quarter mile off in the distance1 the two-lane road between us and the highway is blocked by a dormant bulldozer and two large mounds of dirt4 ,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 us4 ,when he catches a glimpse of the bulldozer and the ,no ,through ,access signs just beyond1 ,stallman finally boils over4 ,why1 why1 why8 he whines1 throwing his head back4 ,you should have known the road was blocked4 ,you should have known this way wouldn't work4 ,you did this deliberately4 ,the driver finishes the turn and passes us on the way back toward the main drag4 ,as he does so1 he shakes his head and gives us an apologetic shrug4 ,coupled with a toothy grin1 the driver's gesture reveals a touch of mainlander frustration but is tempered with a protective dose of islander fatalism4 ,coming through the sealed windows of our rental car1 it spells out a succinct message3 ,hey1 it's ,maui2 what are you gonna do8 ,stallman can take it no longer4 ,don't you fucking smile6 he shouts1 fogging up the glass as he does so4 ,it's your fucking fault4 ,this all could have been so much easier if we had just done it my way4 ,stallman accents the words my way by gripping the steering wheel and pulling himself towards it twice4 ,the image of ,stallman's lurching frame is like that of a child throwing a temper tantrum in a car seat1 an image further underlined by the tone of ,stallman's voice4 ,halfway between anger and anguish1 ,stallman seems to be on the verge of tears4 ,fortunately1 the tears do not arrive4 ,like a summer cloudburst1 the tantrum ends almost as soon as it begins4 ,after a few whiny gasps1 ,stallman shifts the car into reverse and begins executing his own ,u-turn4 ,by the time we are back on the main drag1 his face is as impassive as it was when we left the hotel #cj minutes earlier4 ,it takes less than five minutes to reach the next cross-street4 ,this one offers easy highway access1 and within seconds1 we are soon speeding off toward ,pa'ia at a relaxing rate of speed4 ,the sun that once loomed bright and yellow over ,stallman's left shoulder is now burning a cool orange-red in our rearview mirror4 ,it lends its color to the gauntlet wili wili trees flying past us on both sides of the highway4 ,for the next #bj minutes1 the only sound in our vehicle1 aside from the ambient hum of the car's engine and tires1 is the sound of a cello and a violin trio playing the mournful strains of an ,appalachian folk tune4 ,endnote ,continuing the ,fight ,for ,richard ,stallman1 time may not heal all wounds1 but it does provide a convenient ally4 ,four years after ,the ,cathedral and the ,bazaar1 ,stallman still chafes over the ,raymond critique4 ,he also grumbles over ,linus ,torvalds' elevation to the role of world's most famous hacker4 ,he recalls a popular ,t-shirt that began showing at ,linux tradeshows around #aiii4 ,designed to mimic the original promotional poster for ,star ,wars1 the shirt depicted ,torvalds brandishing a lightsaber like ,luke ,skywalker1 while ,stallman's face rides atop ,r#b;,d#b4 ,the shirt still grates on ,stallmans nerves not only because it depicts him as a ,torvalds' sidekick1 but also because it elevates ,torvalds to the leadership role in the free software_/open source community1 a role even ,torvalds himself is loath to accept4 ,it's ironic1 says ,stallman mournfully4 ,picking up that sword is exactly what ,linus refuses to do4 ,he gets everybody focusing on him as the symbol of the movement1 and then he won't fight4 ,what good is it8 ,then again1 it is that same unwillingness to pick up the sword1 on ,torvalds part1 that has left the door open for ,stallman to bolster his reputation as the hacker community's ethical arbiter4 ,despite his grievances1 ,stallman has to admit that the last few years have been quite good1 both to himself and to his organization4 ,relegated to the periphery by the unforeseen success of ,,gnu_/,linux1 ,stallman has nonetheless successfully recaptured the initiative4 ,his speaking schedule between ,january #bjjj and ,december #bjja included stops on six continents and visits to countries where the notion of software freedom carries heavy overtones-,china and ,india1 for example4 ,outside the bully pulpit1 ,stallman has also learned how to leverage his power as costeward of the ,,gnu ,general ,public ,license 7,,gpl74 ,during the summer of #bjjj1 while the air was rapidly leaking out of the #aiii ,linux ,,ipo bubble1 ,stallman and the ,free ,software ,foundation scored two major victories4 ,in ,july1 #bjjj1 ,troll ,tech1 a ,norwegian software company and developer of ,qt1 a valuable suite of graphics tools for the ,,gnu_/,linux operating system1 announced it was licensing its software under the ,,gpl4 ,a few weeks later1 ,sun ,microsystems1 a company that1 until then1 had been warily trying to ride the open source bandwagon without giving up total control of its software properties1 finally relented and announced that it1 too1 was dual licensing its new ,open,office application suite under the ,lesser ,,gnu ,public ,license 7,,lgpl7 and the ,sun ,industry ,standards ,source ,license 7,,sissl74 ,underlining each victory was the fact that ,stallman had done little to fight for them4 ,in the case of ,troll ,tech1 ,stallman had simply played the role of free software pontiff4 ,in #aiii1 the company had come up with a license that met the conditions laid out by the ,free ,software ,foundation1 but in examining the license further1 ,stallman detected legal incompatibles that would make it impossible to bundle ,qt with ,,gpl-protected software programs4 ,tired of battling ,stallman1 ,troll ,tech management finally decided to split the ,qt into two versions1 one ,,gpl-protected and one ,,qpl-protected1 giving developers a way around the compatibility issues cited by ,stallman4 ,in the case of ,sun1 they desired to play according to the ,free ,software ,foundation's conditions4 ,at the #aiii ,o',reilly ,open ,source ,conference1 ,sun ,microsystems cofounder and chief scientist ,bill ,joy defended his company's community source license1 essentially a watered-down compromise letting users copy and modify ,sun-owned software but not charge a fee for said software without negotiating a royalty agreement with ,sun4 ,a year after ,joy's speech1 ,sun ,microsystems vice president ,marco ,boerries was appearing on the same stage spelling out the company's new licensing compromise in the case of ,open,office1 an office-application suite designed specifically for the ,,gnu_/,linux operating system4 ,i can spell it out in three letters1 said ,boerries4 ,,gpl4 ,at the time1 ,boerries said his company's decision had little to do with ,stallman and more to do with the momentum of ,,gpl-protected programs4 ,what basically happened was the recognition that different products attracted different communities1 and the license you use depends on what type of community you want to attract1 said ,boerries4 ,with ,open,office1 it was clear we had the highest correlation with the ,,gpl community4,see ,marco ,boerries1 interview with author 7,july1 #bjjj74 ,such comments point out the under-recognized strength of the ,,gpl and1 indirectly1 the political genius of man who played the largest role in creating it4 ,there isn't a lawyer on earth who would have drafted the ,,gpl the way it is1 says ,eben ,moglen1 ,columbia ,university law professor and ,free ,software ,foundation general counsel4 ,but it works4 ,and it works because of ,richard's philosophy of design4 ,a former professional programmer1 ,moglen traces his pro bono work with ,stallman back to #aiij when ,stallman requested ,moglen's legal assistance on a private affair4 ,moglen1 then working with encryption expert ,phillip ,zimmerman during ,zimmerman's legal battles with the ,national ,security ,administration1 says he was honored by the request4 ,i told him ,i used ,emacs every day of my life1 and it would take an awful lot of lawyering on my part to pay off the debt4 ,since then1 ,moglen1 perhaps more than any other individual1 has had the best chance to observe the crossover of ,stallman's hacker philosophies into the legal realm4 ,moglen says the difference between ,stallman's approach to legal code and software code are largely the same4 ,i have to say1 as a lawyer1 the idea that what you should do with a legal document is to take out all the bugs doesn't make much sense1 ,moglen says4 ,there is uncertainty in every legal process1 and what most lawyers want to do is to capture the benefits of uncertainty for their client4 ,richard's goal is the complete opposite4 ,his goal is to remove uncertainty1 which is inherently impossible4 ,it is inherently impossible to draft one license to control all circumstances in all legal systems all over the world4 ,but if you were to go at it1 you would have to go at it his way4 ,and the resulting elegance1 the resulting simplicity in design almost achieves what it has to achieve4 ,and from there a little lawyering will carry you quite far4 ,as the person charged with pushing the ,stallman agenda1 ,moglen understands the frustration of would-be allies4 ,richard is a man who does not want to compromise over matters that he thinks of as fundamental1 ,moglen says1 and he does not take easily the twisting of words or even just the seeking of artful ambiguity1 which human society often requires from a lot of people4 ,because of the ,free ,software ,foundation's unwillingness to weigh in on issues outside the purview of ,,gnu development and ,,gpl enforcement1 ,moglen has taken to devoting his excess energies to assisting the ,electronic ,frontier ,foundation1 the organization providing legal aid to recent copyright defendants such as ,dmitri ,skylarov4 ,in #bjjj1 ,moglen also served as direct counsel to a collection of hackers that were joined together from circulating the ,,dvd decryption program de,c,s,s4 ,despite the silence of his main client in both cases1 ,moglen has learned to appreciate the value of ,stallman's stubbornness4 ,there have been times over the years where ,i've gone to ,richard and said1 ,we have to do this4 ,we have to do that4 ,here's the strategic situation4 ,here's the next move4 ,here's what he have to do4' ,and ,richard's response has always been1 ,we don't have to do anything4' ,just wait4 ,what needs doing will get done4 ,and you know what8 ,moglen adds4 ,generally1 he's been right4 ,such comments disavow ,stallman's own self-assessment3 ,i'm not good at playing games1 ,stallman says1 addressing the many unseen critics who see him as a shrewd strategist4 ,i'm not good at looking ahead and anticipating what somebody else might do4 ,my approach has always been to focus on the foundation1 to say ,let's make the foundation as strong as we can make it4' ,the ,,gpl's expanding popularity and continuing gravitational strength are the best tributes to the foundation laid by ,stallman and his ,,gnu colleagues4 ,while no longer capable of billing himself as the last true hacker1 ,stallman nevertheless can take sole credit for building the free software movement's ethical framework4 ,whether or not other modern programmers feel comfortable working inside that framework is immaterial4 ,the fact that they even have a choice at all is ,stallman's greatest legacy4 ,discussing ,stallman's legacy at this point seems a bit premature4 ,stallman1 #dh at the time of this writing1 still has a few years left to add to or subtract from that legacy4 ,still1 the autopilot nature 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 august1 historical setting4 ,to his credit1 ,stallman refuses all opportunities to speculate4 ,i've never been able to work out detailed plans of what the future was going to be like1 says ,stallman1 offering his own premature epitaph4 ,i just said ,i'm going to fight4 ,who knows where ,i'll get8' ,there's no question that in picking his fights1 ,stallman has alienated the very people who might otherwise have been his greatest champions4 ,it is also a testament to his forthright1 ethical nature that many of ,stallman's erstwhile political opponents still manage to put in a few good words for him when pressed4 ,the tension between ,stallman the ideologue and ,stallman the hacker genius1 however1 leads a biographer to wonder3 how will people view ,stallman when ,stallman's own personality is no longer there to get in the way8 ,in early drafts of this book1 ,i dubbed this question the #ajj year question4 ,hoping to stimulate an objective view of ,stallman and his work1 ,i asked various software-industry luminaries to take themselves out of the current timeframe and put themselves in a position of a historian looking back on the free software movement #ajj years in the future4 ,from the current vantage point1 it is easy to see similarities between ,stallman and past ,americans who1 while somewhat marginal during their lifetime1 have attained heightened historical importance in relation to their age4 ,easy comparisons include ,henry ,david ,thoreau1 transcendentalist philosopher and author of ,on ,civil ,disobedience1 and ,john ,muir1 founder of the ,sierra ,club and progenitor of the modern environmental movement4 ,it is also easy to see similarities in men like ,william ,jennings ,bryan1 a4k4a4 ,the ,great ,commoner1 leader of the populist movement1 enemy of monopolies1 and a man who1 though powerful1 seems to have faded into historical insignificance4 ,although not the first person to view software as public property1 ,stallman is guaranteed a footnote in future history books thanks to the ,,gpl4 ,given that fact1 it seems worthwhile to step back and examine ,richard ,stallman's legacy outside the current time frame4 ,will the ,,gpl still be something software programmers use in the year #bajb1 or will it have long since fallen by the wayside8 ,will the term free software seem as politically quaint as free silver does today1 or will it seem eerily prescient in light of later political events8 ,predicting the future is risky sport1 but most people1 when presented with the question1 seemed eager to bite4 ,one hundred years from now1 ,richard and a couple of other people are going to deserve more than a footnote1 says ,moglen4 ,they're going to be viewed as the main line of the story4 ,the couple other people ,moglen nominates for future textbook chapters include ,john ,gilmore1 ,stallman's ,,gpl advisor and future founder of the ,electronic ,frontier ,foundation1 and ,theodor ,holm ,nelson1 a4k4a4 ,ted ,nelson1 author of the #aihb book1 ,literary ,machines 4 ,moglen says ,stallman1 ,nelson1 and ,gilmore each stand out in historically significant1 nonoverlapping ways4 ,he credits ,nelson1 commonly considered to have coined the term hypertext1 for identifying the predicament of information ownership in the digital age4 ,gilmore and ,stallman1 meanwhile1 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 effects4 ,of the two1 however1 ,moglen sees ,stallman's activities as more personal and less political in nature4 ,richard was unique in that the ethical implications of unfree software were particularly clear to him at an early moment1 says ,moglen4 ,this has a lot to do with ,richard's personality1 which lots of people will1 when writing about him1 try to depict as epiphenomenal or even a drawback in ,richard ,stallman's own life work4 ,gilmore1 who describes his inclusion between the erratic ,nelson and the irascible ,stallman as something of a mixed honor1 nevertheless seconds the ,moglen argument4 ,writes ,gilmore3 ,my guess is that ,stallman's writings will stand up as well as ,thomas ,jefferson's have2 he's a pretty clear writer and also clear on his principles 4 4 4 ,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 restrictions4 ,another element of the ,stallman legacy not to be overlooked1 ,gilmore writes1 is the collaborative software-development model pioneered by the ,,gnu ,project4 ,although flawed at times1 the model has nevertheless evolved into a standard within the software-development industry4 ,all told1 ,gilmore says1 this collaborative software-development model may end up being even more influential than the ,,gnu ,project1 the ,,gpl ,license1 or any particular software program developed by ,stallman3 ,before the ,internet1 it was quite hard to collaborate over distance on software1 even among teams that know and trust each other4 ,richard pioneered collaborative development of software1 particularly by disorganized volunteers who seldom meet each other4 ,richard didn't build any of the basic tools for doing this 7the ,,tcp protocol1 email lists1 diff and patch1 tar files1 ,,rcs or ,,cvs or remote-,,cvs71 but he used the ones that were available to form social groups of programmers who could effectively collaborate4 ,lawrence ,lessig1 ,stanford law professor and author of the #bjja book1 ,the ,future of ,ideas 1 is similarly bullish4 ,like many legal scholars1 ,lessig sees the ,,gpl as a major bulwark of the current so-called digital commons1 the vast agglomeration of community-owned software programs1 network and telecommunication standards that have triggered the ,internet's exponential growth over the last three decades4 ,rather than connect ,stallman with other ,internet pioneers1 men such as ,vannevar ,bush1 ,vinton ,cerf1 and ,j4 ,c4 ,r4 ,licklider who convinced others to see computer technology on a wider scale1 ,lessig sees ,stallman's impact as more personal1 introspective1 and1 ultimately1 unique3 ,stallman changed the debate from is to ought4 ,he made people see how much was at stake1 and he built a device to carry these ideals forward 4 4 4 ,that said1 ,i don't quite know how to place him in the context of ,cerf or ,licklider4 ,the innovation is different4 ,it is not just about a certain kind of code1 or enabling the ,internet4 ,it's much more about getting people to see the value in a certain kind of ,internet4 ,i don't think there is anyone else in that class1 before or after4 ,not everybody sees the ,stallman legacy as set in stone1 of course4 ,eric ,raymond1 the open source proponent who feels that ,stallman's leadership role has diminished significantly since #aiif1 sees mixed signals when looking into the #bajb crystal ball3 ,i think ,stallman's artifacts 7,,gpl1 ,emacs1 ,,gcc7 will be seen as revolutionary works1 as foundation-stones of the information world4 ,i think history will be less kind to some of the theories from which ,,rms operated1 and not kind at all to his personal tendency towards territorial1 cult-leader behavior4 ,as for ,stallman himself1 he1 too1 sees mixed signals3 ,what history says about the ,,gnu ,project1 twenty years from now1 will depend on who wins the battle of freedom to use public knowledge4 ,if we lose1 we will be just a footnote4 ,if we win1 it is uncertain whether people will know the role of the ,,gnu operating system-if they think the system is ,linux1 they will build a false picture of what happened and why4 ,but even if we win1 what history people learn a hundred years from now is likely to depend on who dominates politically4 ,searching for his own #aith-century historical analogy1 ,stallman summons the figure of ,john ,brown1 the militant abolitionist regarded as a hero on one side of the ,mason ,dixon line and a madman on the other4 ,john ,brown's slave revolt never got going1 but during his subsequent trial he effectively roused national demand for abolition4 ,during the ,civil ,war1 ,john ,brown was a hero2 #ajj years after1 and for much of the #aijjs1 history textbooks taught that he was crazy4 ,during the era of legal segregation1 while bigotry was shameless1 the ,,us partly accepted the story that the ,south wanted to tell about itself1 and history textbooks said many untrue things about the ,civil ,war and related events4 ,such comparisons document both the self-perceived peripheral nature of ,stallman's current work and the binary nature of his current reputation4 ,although it's hard to see ,stallman's reputation falling to the level of infamy as ,brown's did during the post-,reconstruction period-,stallman1 despite his occasional war-like analogies1 has done little to inspire violence-it's easy to envision a future in which ,stallman's ideas wind up on the ash-heap4 ,in fashioning the free software cause not as a mass movement but as a collection of private battles against the forces of proprietary temptation1 ,stallman seems to have created a unwinnable situation1 especially for the many acolytes with the same stubborn will4 ,then again1 it is that very will that may someday prove to be ,stallman's greatest lasting legacy4 ,moglen1 a close observer over the last decade1 warns those who mistake the ,stallman personality as counter-productive or epiphenomenal to the artifacts of ,stalllman's life4 ,without that personality1 ,moglen says1 there would be precious few artifiacts to discuss4 ,says ,moglen1 a former ,supreme ,court clerk3 ,look1 the greatest man ,i ever worked for was ,thurgood ,marshall4 ,i knew what made him a great man4 ,i knew why he had been able to change the world in his possible way4 ,i would be going out on a limb a little bit if ,i were to make a comparison1 because they could not be more different4 ,thurgood ,marshall was a man in society1 representing an outcast society to the society that enclosed it1 but still a man in society4 ,his skill was social skills4 ,but he was all of a piece1 too4 ,different as they were in every other respect1 that the person ,i most now compare him to in that sense1 all of a piece1 compact1 made of the substance that makes stars1 all the way through1 is ,stallman4 ,in an effort to drive that image home1 ,moglen reflects on a shared moment in the spring of #bjjj4 ,the success of the ,,va ,linux ,,ipo was still resonating in the business media1 and a half dozen free software-related issues were swimming through the news4 ,surrounded by a swirling hurricane of issues and stories each begging for comment1 ,moglen recalls sitting down for lunch with ,stallman and feeling like a castaway dropped into the eye of the storm4 ,for the next hour1 he says1 the conversation calmly revolved around a single topic3 strengthening the ,,gpl4 ,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 software1 ,moglen recalls4 ,as we were talking1 ,i briefly thought about how we must have looked to people passing by4 ,here we are1 these two little bearded anarchists1 plotting and planning the next steps4 ,and1 of course1 ,richard is plucking the knots from his hair and dropping them in the soup and behaving in his usual way4 ,anybody listening in on our conversation would have thought we were crazy1 but ,i knew3 ,i knew the revolution's right here at this table4 ,this is what's making it happen4 ,and this man is the person making it happen4 ,moglen says that moment1 more than any other1 drove home the elemental simplicity of the ,stallman style4 ,it was funny1 recalls ,moglen4 ,i said to him1 ,richard1 you know1 you and ,i are the two guys who didn't make any money out of this revolution4' ,and then ,i paid for the lunch1 because ,i knew he didn't have the money to pay for it 4' ,endnote ,epilogue3 ,crushing ,loneliness ,writing the biography of a living person is a bit like producing a play4 ,the drama in front of the curtain often pales in comparison to the drama backstage4 ,in ,the ,autobiography of ,malcolm ,x1 ,alex ,haley gives readers a rare glimpse of that backstage drama4 ,stepping out of the ghostwriter role1 ,haley delivers the book's epilogue in his own voice4 ,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 paper4 ,while ,i hesitate to compare this book with ,the ,autobiography of ,malcolm ,x1 ,i do owe a debt of gratitude to ,haley for his candid epilogue4 ,over the last #ab months1 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 disagreeable4 ,from the outset1 ,i envisioned closing this biography with a similar epilogue1 both as an homage to ,haley and as a way to let readers know how this book came to be4 ,the story behind this story starts in an ,oakland apartment1 winding its way through the various locales mentioned in the book-,silicon ,valley1 ,maui1 ,boston1 and ,cambridge4 ,ultimately1 however1 it is a tale of two cities3 ,new ,york1 ,new ,york1 the book-publishing capital of the world1 and ,sebastopol1 ,california1 the book-publishing capital of ,sonoma ,county4 ,the story starts in ,april1 #bjjj4 ,at the time1 ,i was writing stories for the ill-fated ,be,open web site 7http3_/_/www4beopen4com_/74 ,one of my first assignments was a phone interview with ,richard ,m4 ,stallman4 ,the interview went well1 so well that ,slashdot 7http3_/_/www4slashdot4org_/71 the popular news for nerds site owned by ,,va ,software1 ,inc4 7formerly ,,va ,linux ,systems and before that1 ,,va ,research71 gave it a link in its daily list of feature stories4 ,within hours1 the web servers at ,be,open were heating up as readers clicked over to the site4 ,for all intents and purposes1 the story should have ended there4 ,three months after the interview1 while attending the ,o',reilly ,open ,source ,conference in ,monterey1 ,california1 ,i received the following email message from ,tracy ,pattison1 foreign-rights manager at a large ,new ,york publishing house3 ,to3 sam,be,open4com ,subject3 ,,rms ,interview,date3 ,mon1 #aj ,jul #bjjj #ae3ef3cg -#jdjj;,dear ,mr4 ,williams1 ,i read your interview with ,richard ,stallman on ,be,open with great interest4 ,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 ,foundation4 ,what ,i'd love to do1 however1 is read more - and ,i don't think ,i'm alone4 ,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 ,stallman8 ,perhaps including some more anecdotal information about his personality and background that might really interest and enlighten readers outside the more hardcore programming scene8 ,the email asked that ,i give ,tracy a call to discuss the idea further4 ,i did just that4 ,tracy told me her company was launching a new electronic book line1 and it wanted stories that appealed to an early-adopter audience4 ,the e-book format was #cj1jjj words1 about #ajj pages1 and she had pitched her bosses on the idea of profiling a major figure in the hacker community4 ,her bosses liked the idea1 and in the process of searching for interesting people to profile1 she had come across my ,be,open interview with ,stallman4 ,hence her email to me4 ,that's when ,tracy asked me3 would ,i be willing to expand the interview into a full-length feature profile8 ,my answer was instant3 yes4 ,before accepting it1 ,tracy suggested ,i put together a story proposal she could show her superiors4 ,two days later1 ,i sent her a polished proposal4 ,a week later1 ,tracy sent me a follow up email4 ,her bosses had given it the green light4 ,i have to admit1 getting ,stallman to participate in an e-book project was an afterthought on my part4 ,as a reporter who covered the open source beat1 ,i knew ,stallman was a stickler4 ,i'd already received a half dozen emails at that point upbraiding me for the use of ,linux instead of ,,gnu_/,linux4 ,then again1 ,i also knew ,stallman was looking for ways to get his message out to the general public4 ,perhaps if ,i presented the project to him that way1 he would be more receptive4 ,if not1 ,i could always rely upon the copious amounts of documents1 interviews1 and recorded online conversations ,stallman had left lying around the ,internet and do an unauthorized biography4 ,during my research1 ,i came across an essay titled ,freedom-,or ,copyright8 ,written by ,stallman and published in the ,june1 #bjjj1 edition of the ,,mit ,technology ,review1 the essay blasted e-books for an assortment of software sins4 ,not only did readers have to use proprietary software programs to read them1 ,stallman lamented1 but the methods used to prevent unauthorized copying were overly harsh4 ,instead of downloading a transferable ,,html or ,,pdf file1 readers downloaded an encrypted file4 ,in essence1 purchasing an e-book meant purchasing a nontransferable key to unscramble the encrypted content4 ,any attempt to open a book's content without an authorized key constituted a criminal violation of the ,digital ,millennium ,copyright ,act1 the #aiih law designed to bolster copyright enforcement on the ,internet4 ,similar penalties held for readers who converted a book's content into an open file format1 even if their only intention was to read the book on a different computer in their home4 ,unlike a normal book1 the reader no longer held the right to lend1 copy1 or resell an e-book4 ,they only had the right to read it on an authorized machine1 warned ,stallman3 ,we still have the same old freedoms in using paper books4 ,but if e-books replace printed books1 that exception will do little good4 ,with electronic ink1 which makes it possible to download new text onto an apparently printed piece of paper1 even newspapers could become ephemeral4 ,imagine3 no more used book stores2 no more lending a book to your friend2 no more borrowing one from the public library-no more leaks that might give someone a chance to read without paying4 7,and judging from the ads for ,microsoft ,reader1 no more anonymous purchasing of books either47 ,this is the world publishers have in mind for us4,see ,safari ,tech ,books ,online2 ,subscriber ,agreement3 ,terms of ,service4 http3_/_/safari4oreilly4com_/mainhlp4asp 8helpservice ,needless to say1 the essay caused some concern4 ,neither ,tracy nor ,i had discussed the software her company would use nor had we discussed the type of copyright that would govern the e-book's usage4 ,i mentioned the ,technology ,review article and asked if she could give me information on her company's e-book policies4 ,tracy promised to get back to me4 ,eager to get started1 ,i decided to call ,stallman anyway and mention the book idea to him4 ,when ,i did1 he expressed immediate interest and immediate concern4 ,did you read my essay on e-books8 he asked4 ,when ,i told him1 yes1 ,i had read the essay and was waiting to hear back from the publisher1 ,stallman laid out two conditions3 he didn't want to lend support to an e-book licensing mechanism he fundamentally opposed1 and he didn't want to come off as lending support4 ,i don't want to participate in anything that makes me look like a hypocrite1 he said4 ,for ,stallman1 the software issue was secondary to the copyright issue4 ,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 content4 ,stallman pointed to ,stephen ,king's ,the ,plant as a possible model4 ,in ,june1 #bjjj1 ,king announced on his official web site that he was self-publishing ,the ,plant in serial form4 ,according to the announcement1 the book's total cost would be #ac1 spread out over a series of #a installments4 ,as long as at least #ge of the readers paid for each chapter1 ,king promised to continue releasing new installments4 ,by ,august1 the plan seemed to be working1 as ,king had published the first two chapters with a third on the way4 ,i'd be willing to accept something like that1 ,stallman said4 ,as long as it also permitted verbatim copying4 ,i forwarded the information to ,tracy4 ,feeling confident that she and ,i might be able to work out an equitable arrangement1 ,i called up ,stallman and set up the first interview for the book4 ,stallman agreed to the interview without making a second inquiry into the status issue4 ,shortly after the first interview1 ,i raced to set up a second interview 7this one in ,kihei71 squeezing it in before ,stallman headed off on a #ad-;day vacation to ,tahiti4 ,it was during ,stallman's vacation that the bad news came from ,tracy4 ,her company's legal department didn't want to adjust its copyright notice on the e-books4 ,readers who wanted to make their books transferable would either have to crack the encryption code or convert the book to an open format such as ,,html4 ,either way1 the would be breaking the law and facing criminal penalties4 ,with two fresh interviews under my belt1 ,i didn't see any way to write the book without resorting to the new material4 ,i quickly set up a trip to ,new ,york to meet with my agent and with ,tracy to see if there was a compromise solution4 ,when ,i flew to ,new ,york1 ,i met my agent1 ,henning ,guttman4 ,it was our first face-to-face meeting1 and ,henning seemed pessimistic about our chances of forcing a compromise1 at least on the publisher's end4 ,the large1 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 payment4 ,as an agent who specialized in technology books1 however1 ,henning was intrigued by the novel nature of my predicament4 ,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 hypocrite4 ,agreeing that ,i was in an ethical bind1 ,henning suggested we make that our negotiating point4 ,barring that1 ,henning said1 we could always take the carrot-and-stick approach4 ,the carrot would be the publicity that came with publishing an e-book that honored the hacker community's internal ethics4 ,the stick would be the risks associated with publishing an e-book that didn't4 ,nine months before ,dmitri ,skylarov became an ,internet cause celebre1 we knew it was only a matter of time before an enterprising programmer revealed how to hack e-books4 ,we also knew that a major publishing house releasing an encryption-protected e-book on ,richard ,m4 ,stallman was the software equivalent of putting ,steal ,this ,e-,book on the cover4 ,after my meeting with ,henning1 ,i put a call into ,stallman4 ,hoping to make the carrot more enticing1 ,i discussed a number of potential compromises4 ,what if the publisher released the book's content under a split license1 something similar to what ,sun ,microsystems had done with ,open ,office1 the free software desktop applications suite8 ,the publisher could then release commercial versions of the e-book under a normal format1 taking advantage of all the bells and whistles that went with the e-book software1 while releasing the copyable version under a less aesthetically pleasing ,,html format4 ,stallman told me he didn't mind the split-license idea1 but he did dislike the idea of making the freely copyable version inferior to the restricted version4 ,besides1 he said1 the idea was too cumbersome4 ,split licenses worked in the case of ,sun's ,open ,office only because he had no control over the decision making4 ,in this case1 ,stallman said1 he did have a way to control the outcome4 ,he could refuse to cooperate4 ,i made a few more suggestions with little effect4 ,about the only thing ,i could get out of ,stallman was a concession that the e-book's copyright restrict all forms of file sharing to noncommercial redistribution4 ,before ,i signed off1 ,stallman suggested ,i tell the publisher that ,i'd promised ,stallman that the work would be free4 ,i told ,stallman ,i couldn't agree to that statement but that ,i did view the book as unfinishable without his cooperation4 ,seemingly satisfied1 ,stallman hung up with his usual sign-off line3 ,happy hacking4 ,henning and ,i met with ,tracy the next day4 ,tracy said her company was willing to publish copyable excerpts in a unencrypted format but would limit the excerpts to #ejj words4 ,henning informed her that this wouldn't be enough for me to get around my ethical obligation to ,stallman4 ,tracy mentioned her own company's contractual obligation to online vendors such as ,amazon4com4 ,even if the company decided to open up its e-book content this one time1 it faced the risk of its partners calling it a breach of contract4 ,barring a change of heart in the executive suite or on the part of ,stallman1 the decision was up to me4 ,i could use the interviews and go against my earlier agreement with ,stallman1 or ,i could plead journalistic ethics and back out of the verbal agreement to do the book4 ,following the meeting1 my agent and ,i relocated to a pub on ,third ,ave4 ,i used his cell phone to call ,stallman1 leaving a message when nobody answered4 ,henning left for a moment1 giving me time to collect my thoughts4 ,when he returned1 he was holding up the cell phone4 ,it's ,stallman1 ,henning said4 ,the conversation got off badly from the start4 ,i relayed ,tracy's comment about the publisher's contractual obligations4 ,so1 ,stallman said bluntly4 ,why should ,i give a damn about their contractual obligations8 ,because asking a major publishing house to risk a legal battle with its vendors over a #cj1jjj word e-book is a tall order1 ,i suggested4 ,don't you see8 ,stallman said4 ,that's exactly why ,i'm doing this4 ,i want a signal victory4 ,i want them to make a choice between freedom and business as usual4 ,as the words signal victory echoed in my head1 ,i felt my attention wander momentarily to the passing foot traffic on the sidewalk4 ,coming into the bar1 ,i had been pleased to notice that the location was less than half a block away from the street corner memorialized in the #aigf ,ramones song1 #ecrd and #crd1 a song ,i always enjoyed playing in my days as a musician4 ,like the perpetually frustrated street hustler depicted in that song1 ,i could feel things falling apart as quickly as they had come together4 ,the irony was palpable4 ,after weeks of gleefully recording other people's laments1 ,i found myself in the position of trying to pull off the rarest of feats3 a ,richard ,stallman compromise4 ,when ,i continued hemming and hawing1 pleading the publisher's position and revealing my growing sympathy for it1 ,stallman1 like an animal smelling blood1 attacked4 ,so that's it8 ,you're just going to screw me8 ,you're just going to bend to their will8 ,i brought up the issue of a dual-copyright again4 ,you mean license1 ,stallman said curtly4 ,yeah1 license4 ,copyright4 ,whatever1 ,i said1 feeling suddenly like a wounded tuna trailing a rich plume of plasma in the water4 ,aw1 why didn't you just fucking do what ,i told you to do6 he shouted4 ,i must have been arguing on behalf of the publisher to the very end1 because in my notes ,i managed to save a final ,stallman chestnut3 ,i don't care4 ,what they're doing is evil4 ,i can't support evil4 ,good-bye4 ,as soon as ,i put the phone down1 my agent slid a freshly poured ,guinness to me4 ,i figured you might need this1 he said with a laugh4 ,i could see you shaking there towards the end4 ,i was indeed shaking4 ,the shaking wouldn't stop until the ,guinness was more than halfway gone4 ,it felt weird1 hearing myself characterized as an emissary of evil4 ,it felt weirder still1 knowing that three months before1 ,i was sitting in an ,oakland apartment trying to come up with my next story idea4 ,now1 ,i was sitting in a part of the world ,i'd only known through rock songs1 taking meetings with publishing executives and drinking beer with an agent ,i'd never even laid eyes on until the day before4 ,it was all too surreal1 like watching my life reflected back as a movie montage4 ,about that time1 my internal absurdity meter kicked in4 ,the initial shaking gave way to convulsions of laughter4 ,to my agent1 ,i must have looked like a another fragile author undergoing an untimely emotional breakdown4 ,to me1 ,i was just starting to appreciate the cynical beauty of my situation4 ,deal or no deal1 ,i already had the makings of a pretty good story4 ,it was only a matter of finding a place to tell it4 ,when my laughing convulsions finally subsided1 ,i held up my drink in a toast4 ,welcome to the front lines1 my friend1 ,i said1 clinking pints with my agent4 ,might as well enjoy it4 ,if this story really were a play1 here's where it would take a momentary1 romantic interlude4 ,disheartened by the tense nature of our meeting1 ,tracy invited ,henning and ,i to go out for drinks with her and some of her coworkers4 ,we left the bar on ,third ,ave41 headed down to the ,east ,village1 and caught up with ,tracy and her friends4 ,once there1 ,i spoke with ,tracy1 careful to avoid shop talk4 ,our conversation was pleasant1 relaxed4 ,before parting1 we agreed to meet the next night4 ,once again1 the conversation was pleasant1 so pleasant that the ,stallman e-book became almost a distant memory4 ,when ,i got back to ,oakland1 ,i called around to various journalist friends and acquaintances4 ,i recounted my predicament4 ,most upbraided me for giving up too much ground to ,stallman in the preinterview negotiation4 ,a former j-school professor suggested ,i ignore ,stallman's hypocrite comment and just write the story4 ,reporters who knew of ,stallman's media-savviness expressed sympathy but uniformly offered the same response3 it's your call4 ,i decided to put the book on the back burner4 ,even with the interviews1 ,i wasn't making much progress4 ,besides1 it gave me a chance to speak with ,tracy without running things past ,henning first4 ,by ,christmas we had traded visits3 she flying out to the west coast once1 me flying out to ,new ,york a second time4 ,the day before ,new ,year's ,eve1 ,i proposed4 ,deciding which coast to live on1 ,i picked ,new ,york4 ,by ,february1 ,i packed up my laptop computer and all my research notes related to the ,stallman biography1 and we winged our way to ,,jfk ,airport4 ,tracy and ,i were married on ,may #aa4 ,so much for failed book deals4 ,during the summer1 ,i began to contemplate turning my interview notes into a magazine article4 ,ethically1 ,i felt in the clear doing so1 since the original interview terms said nothing about traditional print media4 ,to be honest1 ,i also felt a bit more comfortable writing about ,stallman after eight months of radio silence4 ,since our telephone conversation in ,september1 ,i'd only received two emails from ,stallman4 ,both chastised me for using ,linux instead of ,,gnu_/,linux in a pair of articles for the web magazine ,upside ,today4 ,aside from that1 ,i had enjoyed the silence4 ,in ,june1 about a week after the ,new ,york ,university speech1 ,i took a crack at writing a #e1jjj-word magazine-length story about ,stallman4 ,this time1 the words flowed4 ,the distance had helped restore my lost sense of emotional perspective1 ,i suppose4 ,in ,july1 a full year after the original email from ,tracy1 ,i got a call from ,henning4 ,he told me that ,o',reilly ,associates1 a publishing house out of ,sebastopol1 ,california1 was interested in the running the ,stallman story as a biography4 ,the news pleased me4 ,of all the publishing houses in the world1 ,o',reilly1 the same company that had published ,eric ,raymond's ,the ,cathedral and the ,bazaar1 seemed the most sensitive to the issues that had killed the earlier e-book4 ,as a reporter1 ,i had relied heavily on the ,o',reilly book ,open ,sources as a historical reference4 ,i also knew that various chapters of the book1 including a chapter written by ,stallman1 had been published with copyright notices that permitted redistribution4 ,such knowledge would come in handy if the issue of electronic publication ever came up again4 ,sure enough1 the issue did come up4 ,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 service4 ,the ,safari user license would involve special restrictions1#a ,henning warned1 but ,o',reilly was willing to allow for a copyright that permitted users to copy and share and the book's text regardless of medium4 ,basically1 as author1 ,i had the choice between two licenses3 the ,open ,publication ,license or the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license4 ,i checked out the contents and background of each license4 ,the ,open ,publication ,license 7,,opl7,see ,the ,open ,publication ,license3 ,draft v#a4j 7,june #h1 #aiii74 http3_/_/opencontent4org_/openpub_/ gives readers the right to reproduce and distribute a work1 in whole or in part1 in any medium physical or electronic1 provided the copied work retains the ,open ,publication ,license4 ,it also permits modification of a work1 provided certain conditions are met4 ,finally1 the ,open ,publication ,license includes a number of options1 which1 if selected by the author1 can limit the creation of substantively modified versions or book-form derivatives without prior author approval4 ,the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license 7,,gfdl71,see ,the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license3 ,version #a4a 7,march1 #bjjj74 http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/copyleft_/fdl4html meanwhile1 permits the copying and distribution of a document in any medium1 provided the resulting work carries the same license4 ,it also permits the modification of a document provided certain conditions4 ,unlike the ,,opl1 however1 it does not give authors the option to restrict certain modifications4 ,it also does not give authors the right to reject modifications that might result in a competitive book product4 ,it does require certain forms of front- and back-cover information if a party other than the copyright holder wishes to publish more than #ajj copies of a protected work1 however4 ,in the course of researching the licenses1 ,i also made sure to visit the ,,gnu ,project web page titled ,various ,licenses and ,comments ,about ,them4,see http3_/_/www4gnu4org_/philosophy_/licens e-list4html ,on that page1 ,i found a ,stallman critique of the ,open ,publication ,license4 ,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 modification4 ,if an author didn't want to select either option1 it was better to use the ,,gfdl instead1 ,stallman noted1 since it minimized the risk of the nonselected options popping up in modified versions of a document4 ,the importance of modification in both licenses was a reflection of their original purpose-namely1 to give software-manual owners a chance to improve their manuals and publicize those improvements to the rest of the community4 ,since my book wasn't a manual1 ,i had little concern about the modification clause in either license4 ,my only concern was giving users the freedom to exchange copies of the book or make copies of the content1 the same freedom they would have enjoyed if they purchased a hardcover book4 ,deeming either license suitable for this purpose1 ,i signed the ,o',reilly contract when it came to me4 ,still1 the notion of unrestricted modification intrigued me4 ,in my early negotiations with ,tracy1 ,i had pitched the merits of a ,,gpl-style license for the e-book's content4 ,at worst1 ,i said1 the license would guarantee a lot of positive publicity for the e-book4 ,at best1 it would encourage readers to participate in the book-writing process4 ,as an author1 ,i was willing to let other people amend my work just so long as my name always got top billing4 ,besides1 it might even be interesting to watch the book evolve4 ,i pictured later editions looking much like online versions of the ,talmud1 my original text in a central column surrounded by illuminating1 third-party commentary in the margins4 ,my idea drew inspiration from ,project ,xanadu 7http3_/_/www4xanadu4com_/71 the legendary software concept originally conceived by ,ted ,nelson in #aifj4 ,during the ,o',reilly ,open ,source ,conference in #aiii1 ,i had seen the first demonstration of the project's open source offshoot ,udanax and had been wowed by the result4 ,in one demonstration sequence1 ,udanax displayed a parent document and a derivative work in a similar two-column1 plain-text format4 ,with a click of the button1 the program introduced lines linking each sentence in the parent to its conceptual offshoot in the derivative4 ,an e-book biography of ,richard ,m4 ,stallman didn't have to be ,udanax-enabled1 but given such technological possibilities1 why not give users a chance to play around8,anybody willing to port this book over to ,udanax1 the free software version of ,xanadu1 will receive enthusiastic support from me4 ,to find out more about this intriguing technology1 visit http3_/_/www4udanax4com_/4 ,when ,laurie ,petrycki1 my editor at ,o',reilly1 gave me a choice between the ,,opl or the ,,gfdl1 ,i indulged the fantasy once again4 ,by ,september of #bjja1 the month ,i signed the contract1 e-books had become almost a dead topic4 ,many publishing houses1 ,tracy's included1 were shutting down their e-book imprints for lack of interest4 ,i had to wonder4 ,if these companies had treated e-books not as a form of publication but as a form of community building1 would those imprints have survived8 ,after ,i signed the contract1 ,i notified ,stallman that the book project was back on4 ,i mentioned the choice ,o',reilly was giving me between the ,open ,publication ,license and the ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license4 ,i told him ,i was leaning toward the ,,opl1 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 cover4 ,stallman wrote back1 arguing in favor of the ,,gfdl1 noting that ,o',reilly had already used it several times in the past4 ,despite the events of the past year1 ,i suggested a deal4 ,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 book4 ,stallman agreed to participate in more interviews but said that his participation in publicity-related events would depend on the content of the book4 ,viewing this as only fair1 ,i set up an interview for ,december #ag1 #bjja in ,cambridge4 ,i set up the interview to coincide with a business trip my wife ,tracy was taking to ,boston4 ,two days before leaving1 ,tracy suggested ,i invite ,stallman out to dinner4 ,after all1 she said1 he is the one who brought us together4 ,i sent an email to ,stallman1 who promptly sent a return email accepting the offer4 ,when ,i drove up to ,boston the next day1 ,i met ,tracy at her hotel and hopped the ,t to head over to ,,mit4 ,when we got to ,tech ,square1 ,i found ,stallman in the middle of a conversation just as we knocked on the door4 ,i hope you don't mind1 he said1 pulling the door open far enough so that ,tracy and ,i could just barely hear ,stallman's conversational counterpart4 ,it was a youngish woman1 mid-#bjs ,i'd say1 named ,sarah4 ,i took the liberty of inviting somebody else to have dinner with us1 ,stallman said1 matter-of-factly1 giving me the same cat-like smile he gave me back in that ,palo ,alto restaurant4 ,to be honest1 ,i wasn't too surprised4 ,the news that ,stallman had a new female friend had reached me a few weeks before1 courtesy of ,stallman's mother4 ,in fact1 they both went to ,japan last month when ,richard went over to accept the ,takeda ,award1 ,lippman told me at the time4,alas1 ,i didn't find out about the ,takeda ,foundation's decision to award ,stallman1 along with ,linus ,torvalds and ,ken ,sakamura1 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 award4 ,for more information about the award and its accompanying #a million prize1 visit the ,takeda site1 http3_/_/www4takeda-foundation4jp_/4 ,on the way over to the restaurant1 ,i learned the circumstances of ,sarah and ,richard's first meeting4 ,interestingly1 the circumstances were very familiar4 ,working on her own fictional book1 ,sarah said she heard about ,stallman and what an interesting character he was4 ,she promptly decided to create a character in her book on ,stallman and1 in the interests of researching the character1 set up an interview with ,stallman4 ,things quickly went from there4 ,the two had been dating since the beginning of #bjja1 she said4 ,i really admired the way ,richard built up an entire political movement to address an issue of profound personal concern1 ,sarah said1 explaining her attraction to ,stallman4 ,my wife immediately threw back the question3 ,what was the issue8 ,crushing loneliness4 ,during dinner1 ,i let the women do the talking and spent most of the time trying to detect clues as to whether the last #ab months had softened ,stallman in any significant way4 ,i didn't see anything to suggest they had4 ,although more flirtatious than ,i remembered-a flirtatiousness spoiled somewhat by the number of times ,stallman's eyes seemed to fixate on my wife's chest-,stallman retained the same general level of prickliness4 ,at one point1 my wife uttered an emphatic ,god forbid only to receive a typical ,stallman rebuke4 ,i hate to break it to you1 but there is no ,god1 ,stallman said4 ,afterwards1 when the dinner was complete and ,sarah had departed1 ,stallman seemed to let his guard down a little4 ,as we walked to a nearby bookstore1 he admitted that the last #ab months had dramatically changed his outlook on life4 ,i thought ,i was going to be alone forever1 he said4 ,i'm glad ,i was wrong4 ,before parting1 ,stallman handed me his pleasure card1 a business card listing ,stallman's address1 phone number1 and favorite pastimes 7sharing good books1 good food and exotic music and dance7 so that ,i might set up a final interview4 ,graphic file3_/home_/craigm_/books_/freeep#aj4pn g ,stallman's pleasure card1 handed to me the night of our dinner4 ,the next day1 over another meal of dim sum1 ,stallman seemed even more lovestruck than the night before4 ,recalling his debates with ,currier ,house dorm maters over the benefits and drawbacks of an immortality serum1 ,stallman expressed hope that scientists might some day come up with the key to immortality4 ,now that ,i'm finally starting to have happiness in my life1 ,i want to have more1 he said4 ,when ,i mentioned ,sarah's crushing loneliness comment1 ,stallman failed to see a connection between loneliness on a physical or spiritual level and loneliness on a hacker level4 ,the impulse to share code is about friendship but friendship at a much lower level1 he said4 ,later1 however1 when the subject came up again1 ,stallman did admit that loneliness1 or the fear of perpetual loneliness1 had played a major role in fueling his determination during the earliest days of the ,,gnu ,project4 ,my fascination with computers was not a consequence of anything else1 he said4 ,i wouldn't have been less fascinated with computers if ,i had been popular and all the women flocked to me4 ,however1 it's certainly true the experience of feeling ,i didn't have a home1 finding one and losing it1 finding another and having it destroyed1 affected me deeply4 ,the one ,i lost was the dorm4 ,the one that was destroyed was the ,,ai ,lab4 ,the precariousness of not having any kind of home or community was very powerful4 ,it made me want to fight to get it back4 ,after the interview1 ,i couldn't help but feel a certain sense of emotional symmetry4 ,hearing ,sarah describe what attracted her to ,stallman and hearing ,stallman himself describe the emotions that prompted him to take up the free software cause1 ,i was reminded of my own reasons for writing this book4 ,since ,july1 #bjjj1 ,i have learned to appreciate both the seductive and the repellent sides of the ,richard ,stallman persona4 ,like ,eben ,moglen before me1 ,i feel that dismissing that persona as epiphenomenal or distracting in relation to the overall free software movement would be a grievous mistake4 ,in many ways the two are so mutually defining as to be indistinguishable4 ,while ,i'm sure not every reader feels the same level of affinity for ,stallman-indeed1 after reading this book1 some might feel zero affinity-,i'm sure most will agree4 ,few individuals offer as singular a human portrait as ,richard ,m4 ,stallman4 ,it is my sincere hope that1 with this initial portrait complete and with the help of the ,,gfdl1 others will feel a similar urge to add their own perspective to that portrait4 ,appendix ,a 3 ,terminology ,for the most part1 ,i have chosen to use the term ,,gnu_/,linux in reference to the free software operating system and ,linux when referring specifically to the kernel that drives the operating system4 ,the most notable exception to this rule comes in ,chapter #i 4 ,in the final part of that chapter1 ,i describe the early evolution of ,linux as an offshoot of ,minix4 ,it is safe to say that during the first two years of the project's development1 the operating system ,torvalds and his colleagues were working on bore little similarity to the ,,gnu system envisioned by ,stallman1 even though it gradually began to share key components1 such as the ,,gnu ,c ,compiler and the ,,gnu ,debugger4 ,this decision further benefits from the fact that1 prior to #aiic1 ,stallman saw little need to insist on credit4 ,some might view the decision to use ,,gnu_/,linux for later versions of the same operating system as arbitrary4 ,i would like to point out that it was in no way a prerequisite for gaining ,stallman's cooperation in the making of this book4 ,i came to it of my own accord1 partly because of the operating system's modular nature and the community surrounding it1 and partly because of the apolitical nature of the ,linux name4 ,given that this is a biography of ,richard ,stallman1 it seemed inappropriate to define the operating system in apolitical terms4 ,in the final phases of the book1 when it became clear that ,o',reilly ,associates would be the book's publisher1 ,stallman did make it a condition that ,i use ,,gnu_/,linux instead of ,linux if ,o',reilly expected him to provide promotional support for the book after publication4 ,when informed of this1 ,i relayed my earlier decision and left it up to ,stallman to judge whether the resulting book met this condition or not4 ,at the time of this writing1 ,i have no idea what ,stallman's judgment will be4 ,a similar situation surrounds the terms free software and open source4 ,again1 ,i have opted for the more politically laden free software term when describing software programs that come with freely copyable and freely modifiable source code4 ,although more popular1 ,i have chosen to use the term open source only when referring to groups and businesses that have championed its usage4 ,but for a few instances1 the terms are completely interchangeable1 and in making this decision ,i have followed the advice of ,christine ,peterson1 the person generally credited with coining the term4 ,the free software' term should still be used in circumstances where it works better1 ,peterson writes4 ,open source' caught on mainly because a new term was greatly needed1 not because it's ideal4 ,appendix ,b ,hack1 ,hackers1 and ,hacking ,to understand the full meaning of the word hacker1 it helps to examine the word's etymology over the years4 ,the ,new ,hacker ,dictionary 1 an online compendium of software-programmer jargon1 officially lists nine different connotations of the word hack and a similar number for hacker4 ,then again1 the same publication also includes an accompanying essay that quotes ,phil ,agre1 an ,,mit hacker who warns readers not to be fooled by the word's perceived flexibility4 ,hack has only one meaning1 argues ,agre4 ,an extremely subtle and profound one which defies articulation4 ,regardless of the width or narrowness of the definition1 most modern hackers trace the word back to ,,mit1 where the term bubbled up as popular item of student jargon in the early #aiejs4 ,in #aiij the ,,mit ,museum put together a journal documenting the hacking phenomenon4 ,according to the journal1 students who attended the institute during the fifties used the word hack the way a modern student might use the word goof4 ,hanging a jalopy out a dormitory window was a hack1 but anything harsh or malicious-e4g41 egging a rival dorm's windows or defacing a campus statue-fell outside the bounds4 ,implicit within the definition of hack was a spirit of harmless1 creative fun4 ,this spirit would inspire the word's gerund form3 hacking4 ,a #aiejs student who spent the better part of the afternoon talking on the phone or dismantling a radio might describe the activity as hacking4 ,again1 a modern speaker would substitute the verb form of goof-goofing or goofing off-to describe the same activity4 ,as the #aiejs progressed1 the word hack acquired a sharper1 more rebellious edge4 ,the ,,mit of the #aiejs was overly competitive1 and hacking emerged as both a reaction to and extension of that competitive culture4 ,goofs and pranks suddenly became a way to blow off steam1 thumb one's nose at campus administration1 and indulge creative thinking and behavior stifled by the ,institute's rigorous undergraduate curriculum4 ,with its myriad hallways and underground steam tunnels1 the ,institute offered plenty of exploration opportunities for the student undaunted by locked doors and ,no ,trespassing signs4 ,students began to refer to their off-limits explorations as tunnel hacking4 ,above ground1 the campus phone system offered similar opportunities4 ,through casual experimentation and due diligence1 students learned how to perform humorous tricks4 ,drawing inspiration from the more traditional pursuit of tunnel hacking1 students quickly dubbed this new activity phone hacking4 ,the combined emphasis on creative play and restriction-free exploration would serve as the basis for the future mutations of the hacking term4 ,the first self-described computer hackers of the #aifjs ,,mit campus originated from a late #aiejs student group called the ,tech ,model ,railroad ,club4 ,a tight clique within the club was the ,signals and ,power 7,s,p7 ,committee-the group behind the railroad club's electrical circuitry system4 ,the system was a sophisticated assortment of relays and switches similar to the kind that controlled the local campus phone system4 ,to control it1 a member of the group simply dialed in commands via a connected phone and watched the trains do his bidding4 ,the nascent electrical engineers responsible for building and maintaining this system saw their activity as similar in spirit to phone hacking4 ,adopting the hacking term1 they began refining it even further4 ,from the ,s,p hacker point of view1 using one less relay to operate a particular stretch of track meant having one more relay for future play4 ,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 time4 ,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 hackers4 ,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 campus4 ,dubbed the ,,tx-#j1 the machine was one of the first commercially marketed computers4 ,by the end of the #aiejs1 the entire ,s,p clique had migrated en masse over to the ,,tx-#j control room1 bringing the spirit of creative play with them4 ,the wide-open realm of computer programming would encourage yet another mutation in etymology4 ,to hack no longer meant soldering unusual looking circuits1 but cobbling together software programs with little regard to official methods or software-writing procedures4 ,it also meant improving the efficiency and speed of already-existing programs that tended to hog up machine resources4 ,true to the word's roots1 it also meant writing programs that served no other purpose than to amuse or entertain4 ,a classic example of this expanded hacking definition is the game ,spacewar1 the first interactive video game4 ,developed by ,,mit hackers in the early #aifjs1 ,spacewar had all the traditional hacking definitions3 it was goofy and random1 serving little useful purpose other than providing a nightly distraction for the dozen or so hackers who delighted in playing it4 ,from a software perspective1 however1 it was a monumental testament to innovation of programming skill4 ,it was also completely free4 ,because hackers had built it for fun1 they saw no reason to guard their creation1 sharing it extensively with other programmers4 ,by the end of the #aifjs1 ,spacewar had become a favorite diversion for mainframe programmers around the world4 ,this notion of collective innovation and communal software ownership distanced the act of computer hacking in the #aifjs from the tunnel hacking and phone hacking of the #aiejs4 ,the latter pursuits tended to be solo or small-group activities4 ,tunnel and phone hackers relied heavily on campus lore1 but the off-limits nature of their activity discouraged the open circulation of new discoveries4 ,computer hackers1 on the other hand1 did their work amid a scientific field biased toward collaboration and the rewarding of innovation4 ,hackers and official computer scientists weren't always the best of allies1 but in the rapid evolution of the field1 the two species of computer programmer evolved a cooperative-some might say symbiotic-relationship4 ,it is a testament to the original computer hackers' prodigious skill that later programmers1 including ,richard ,m4 ,stallman1 aspired to wear the same hacker mantle4 ,by the mid to late #aigjs1 the term hacker had acquired elite connotations4 ,in a general sense1 a computer hacker was any person who wrote software code for the sake of writing software code4 ,in the particular sense1 however1 it was a testament to programming skill4 ,like the term artist1 the meaning carried tribal overtones4 ,to describe a fellow programmer as hacker was a sign of respect4 ,to describe oneself as a hacker was a sign of immense personal confidence4 ,either way1 the original looseness of the computer-hacker appellation diminished as computers became more common4 ,as the definition tightened1 computer hacking acquired additional semantic overtones4 ,to be a hacker1 a person had to do more than write interesting software2 a person had to belong to the hacker culture and honor its traditions the same way a medieval wine maker might pledge membership to a vintners' guild4 ,the social structure wasn't as rigidly outlined as that of a guild1 but hackers at elite institutions such as ,,mit1 ,stanford1 and ,carnegie ,mellon began to speak openly of a hacker ethic3 the yet-unwritten rules that governed a hacker's day-to-day behavior4 ,in the #aihd book ,hackers1 author ,steven ,levy1 after much research and consultation1 codified the hacker ethic as five core hacker tenets4 ,in many ways1 the core tenets listed by ,levy continue to define the culture of computer hacking4 ,still1 the guild-like image of the hacker community was undermined by the overwhelmingly populist bias of the software industry4 ,by the early #aihjs1 computers were popping up everywhere1 and programmers who once would have had to travel to top-rank institutions or businesses just to gain access to a machine suddenly had the ability to rub elbows with major-league hackers via the ,a,r,p,anet4 ,the more these programmers rubbed elbows1 the more they began to appropriate the anarchic philosophies of the hacker culture in places like ,,mit4 ,lost within the cultural transfer1 however1 was the native ,,mit cultural taboo against malicious behavior4 ,as younger programmers began employing their computer skills to harmful ends-creating and disseminating computer viruses1 breaking into military computer systems1 deliberately causing machines such as ,,mit ,oz1 a popular ,a,r,p,anet gateway1 to crash-the term hacker acquired a punk1 nihilistic edge4 ,when police and businesses began tracing computer-related crimes back to a few renegade programmers who cited convenient portions of the hacking ethic in defense of their activities1 the word hacker began appearing in newspapers and magazine stories in a negative light4 ,although books like ,hackers did much to document the original spirit of exploration that gave rise to the hacking culture1 for most news reporters1 computer hacker became a synonym for electronic burglar4 ,although hackers have railed against this perceived misusage for nearly two decades1 the term's rebellious connotations dating back to the #aiejs make it hard to discern the #ae-year-old writing software programs that circumvent modern encryption programs from the #aifjs college student1 picking locks and battering down doors to gain access to the lone1 office computer terminal4 ,one person's creative subversion of authority is another person's security headache1 after all4 ,even so1 the central taboo against malicious or deliberately harmful behavior remains strong enough that most hackers prefer to use the term cracker-i4e41 a person who deliberately cracks a computer security system to steal or vandalize data-to describe the subset of hackers who apply their computing skills maliciously4 ,this central taboo against maliciousness remains the primary cultural link between the notion of hacking in the early #bast century and hacking in the #aiejs4 ,it is important to note that1 as the idea of computer hacking has evolved over the last four decades1 the original notion of hacking-i4e41 performing pranks or exploring underground tunnels-remains intact4 ,in the fall of #bjjj1 the ,,mit ,museum paid tradition to the ,institute's age-old hacking tradition with a dedicated exhibit1 the ,hall of ,hacks4 ,the exhibit includes a number of photographs dating back to the #aibjs1 including one involving a mock police cruiser4 ,in #aiic1 students paid homage to the original ,,mit notion of hacking by placing the same police cruiser1 lights flashing1 atop the ,institute's main dome4 ,the cruiser's vanity license plate read ,,ihtfp1 a popular ,,mit acronym with many meanings4 ,the most noteworthy version1 itself dating back to the pressure-filled world of ,,mit student life in the #aiejs1 is ,i hate this fucking place4 ,in #aiij1 however1 the ,museum used the acronym as a basis for a journal on the history of hacks4 ,titled1 ,the ,institute for ,hacks ,tomfoolery and ,pranks1 the journal offers an adept summary of the hacking4 ,in the culture of hacking1 an elegant1 simple creation is as highly valued as it is in pure science1 writes ,boston ,globe reporter ,randolph ,ryan in a #aiic article attached to the police car exhibit4 ,a ,hack differs from the ordinary college prank in that the event usually requires careful planning1 engineering and finesse1 and has an underlying wit and inventiveness1 ,ryan writes4 ,the unwritten rule holds that a hack should be good-natured1 non-destructive and safe4 ,in fact1 hackers sometimes assist in dismantling their own handiwork4 ,the urge to confine the culture of computer hacking within the same ethical boundaries is well-meaning but impossible4 ,although most software hacks aspire to the same spirit of elegance and simplicity1 the software medium offers less chance for reversibility4 ,dismantling a police cruiser is easy compared with dismantling an idea1 especially an idea whose time has come4 ,hence the growing distinction between black hat and white hat-i4e41 hackers who turn new ideas toward destructive1 malicious ends versus hackers who turn new ideas toward positive or1 at the very least1 informative ends4 ,once a vague item of obscure student jargon1 the word hacker has become a linguistic billiard ball1 subject to political spin and ethical nuances4 ,perhaps this is why so many hackers and journalists enjoy using it4 ,where that ball bounces next1 however1 is anybody's guess4 ,appendix ,c ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license 7,,gfdl7 ,,gnu ,free ,documentation ,license ,version #a4a1 ,march #bjjj ,copyright 7,c7 #bjjj ,free ,software ,foundation1 ,inc4 #ei ,temple ,place1 ,suite #ccj1 ,boston1 ,,ma #jbaaa-acjg ,,usa ,everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document1 but changing it is not allowed4 ,,preamble ,the purpose of this ,license is to make a manual1 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