Richard Stallman

American software freedom activist, short story writer and computer programmer, founder of the GNU project · United States · Activists · Born 1953 · age 73

Richard Stallman is read about 1,218 times a day, in 108 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.

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He wrote the licenses that let programmers share code without surrender - and spent forty years insisting software freedom is a moral duty, not a convenience. The GNU Project, the Free Software Foundation, the GPL: his architecture for a world where users control the machines.

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A life in dates

2016Doctor Honoris Causa from the Pierre and Marie Curie UniversityAward2015ACM Software System AwardAward2013Internet Hall of FameAward2003Honorary Doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit BrusselAward2001Honorary Doctorate of the University of GlasgowAwardTakeda AwardsAward1999Yuri Rubinsky Memorial AwardAward1998EFF AwardAward1990Grace Murray Hopper AwardAwardMacArthur Fellows ProgramAward1985“What they had in common was mainly love of excellence and programming. They wanted to make their programs that they used be as good as they could.”In their wordsInterview in Hackers - Wizards of the Electronic Age (1985)Read the whole statement

1978“Well, Geoff forwarded me a copy of the DEC message, and I eat my words. I sure would have minded it!”In their words9 May 1978Reaction to the first spam, after receiving a copy of it (9 May 1978) as quoted in "Reaction to the DEC Spam of 1978"Read the whole statement

“I didn't receive the DEC message, but I can't imagine I would have been bothered if I have. I get tons of uninteresting mail, and system announcements about babies born, etc.”In their words8 May 1978First reaction to reports of the first commercial "spam" email, sent by DEC salesman, Gary Thuerk (May 8, 1978), as quoted in "Reaction toRead the whole statement

1953Born16 March 1953

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

Richard Stallman Bologna 2024 abc1

"Copyleft (L)" sticker, from an envelope mailed from Don Hopkins to Richard Stallman in 1984.

Aipua Richard Stallman

Che Stallman with GNU recursive acronym

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In their own words 10

Richard Stallman

10 statements, newest first

What they had in common was mainly love of excellence and programming. They wanted to make their programs that they used be as good as they could.
1985, Interview in Hackers - Wizards of the Electronic Age (1985), Own words
Well, Geoff forwarded me a copy of the DEC message, and I eat my words. I sure would have minded it!
May 9, 1978, Reaction to the first spam, after receiving a copy of it (9 May 1978) as quoted in "Reaction to the DEC Spam of 1978", Own words
I didn't receive the DEC message, but I can't imagine I would have been bothered if I have. I get tons of uninteresting mail, and system announcements about babies born, etc.
May 8, 1978, First reaction to reports of the first commercial "spam" email, sent by DEC salesman, Gary Thuerk (May 8, 1978), as quoted in "Reaction to, Own words

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Awards

Doctor Honoris Causa from the Pierre and Marie Curie University2016

ACM Software System Award2015

Internet Hall of Fame2013

Honorary Doctorate of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel2003

Takeda Awards2001

Honorary Doctorate of the University of Glasgow2001

Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award1999

EFF Award1998

MacArthur Fellows Program1990

Grace Murray Hopper Award1990

Honorary Doctor of the National University of Córdoba

About this person

Richard Matthew Stallman launched the GNU Project in September 1983 to build a Unix-like operating system made entirely of free software, kicking off the free software movement itself. He developed key GNU tools - the C Compiler, Debugger, GNU Emacs - and pioneered copyleft, using copyright law to guarantee users' rights to use, study, modify, and distribute code. In October 1985 he founded the Free Software Foundation and wrote all versions of the GNU General Public License, now the most widely used free software license. Since the mid-1990s he's spent most of his time advocating for software freedom and against patents, digital rights management, and proprietary formats. In September 2019 he resigned as FSF president and left MIT after controversial comments about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, but remained head of the GNU Project and returned to the FSF board in 2021.

Country

United States

In common with Richard

Linus TorvaldsAlso in The Code (2001)

Danger MouseAlso in Alternative Freedom (2006)

Edward SnowdenAlso in HAK_MTL (2019)

Vandana ShivaAlso in Hacking for the Commons (2019)

Miguel de IcazaAlso in The Code (2001)

Eric S. RaymondAlso in Revolution OS (2001)

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