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Attended Harvard University and excelled in his studies. Performed strongly in Algebra related classes. Image from:
https://www.harvard.edu/about-harvard/harvard-glance/history -
Became a programmer and a regular hacker, known as RMS. Programmed at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
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Graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in physics. Image from:
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Attended graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Image from:
http://web.mit.edu/graphicidentity/logo-do-dont.html -
Dropped out of graduate school to focus his efforts on the MIT AI Laboratory.
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Worked as a research assistant to Her Sussman. Together, the two introduced what has long been considered the most powerful form of intelligent backtracking for use with AI information systems.
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As a hacker, he was a part of many software projects including TECO, ITS, Emacs, and the operating system for the Lisp machine. These developments continued over the next few years. He also advocated for accessibility to labs instead of password use. Image of the MIT AI Lab - 1981 Image and information from:
https://conversations.e-flux.com/t/every-non-free-program-is-an-injustice-richard-stallman-on-the-free-software-movement/8474 -
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Stallman announced his plans for the GNU operating system that would be compatible with Unix. https://www.gnu.org/home.en.html Image from:
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Stallman published the GNU Manifesto; this was an outline for the reasoning behind developing a free operating system (GNU) that would be Unix compatible.
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Founded the Free Software Foundation. The foundation employed free software programmers and provided a legal backing for the free software movement. https://www.fsf.org Image from:
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/f/fsf.htm -
This concept of copyleft was popularized by Stallman. It provided a legal guidelines that protected modifications and the redistribution rights of free software, for which Stallman was a strong advocate. https://conversations.e-flux.com/t/every-non-free-program-is-an-injustice-richard-stallman-on-the-free-software-movement/8474 Image from:
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GNU project members utilized Carnegie Mellon's Mach microkernel as a means to fill in the software gap in GNU, the kernel.
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Linus Torvalds utilized the development tools of GNU in order to create the monolithic Linux kernel. Image from:
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From 2006 to 2007, Stallman was a public consultant in the drafting of version 3 of the General Public License (GNU) https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html
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Over the years, Stallman has been an activist for the free software movement. He speaks out against policies and business practices that discourage or hinder the free software. He also opposes modern surveillance tactics and advocates for the further inclusion of STEM education in schools. https://youtu.be/Gnw_K5DPkbc
