Richard Stallman Short Quotes

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Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement.

Richard Stallman
Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air.

Richard Stallman
Creativity can be a social contribution, but only in so far as society is free to use the results.

Richard Stallman
Odious ideas are not entitled to hide from criticism behind the human shield of their believers' feelings.

Richard Stallman
I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like it.

Richard Stallman
Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free.

Richard Stallman
Value your freedom or you will lose it, teaches history. "Don't bother us with politics," respond those who don't want to learn.

Richard Stallman
The desire to be rewarded for one's creativity does not justify depriving the world in general of all or part of that creativity.

Richard Stallman
If you want to accomplish something in the world, idealism is not enough - you need to choose a method that works to achieve the goal.

Richard Stallman
Free software' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech,' not as in 'free beer'.

Richard Stallman
Control over the use of one's ideas really constitutes control over other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more difficult.

Richard Stallman
While free software by any other name would give you the same freedom, it makes a big difference which name we use: different words convey different ideas.

Richard Stallman
If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs.

Richard Stallman
GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give it away free to everyone who can use it.

Richard Stallman
I figure that since proprietary software developers use copyright to stop us from sharing, we cooperators can use copyright to give other cooperators an advantage of their own: they can use our code.

Richard Stallman
So, make a real effort to avoid getting sucked into all the expensive lifestyle habits of typical Americans. Because if you do that, then people with the money will dictate what you do with your life.

Richard Stallman