-
Stallman starts his undergraduate studies at Harvard University. -
Stallman completes his bachelor's degree in physics at Harvard. -
Stallman begins his graduate studies in computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). -
Stallman launches the GNU Project, which aims to create a free Unix-like operating system, as well as the GNU General Public License (GPL), which guarantees software freedom. -
Stallman founds the Free Software Foundation to promote the development of free software and advocate for user liberties. -
Stallman releases Emacs, a highly extensible text editor and one of the first examples of free software. -
The GNU General Public License (GPLv1), a cornerstone of free software licensing, is made available [gnu.org]. -
Except for the kernel, the GNU development environment is nearly complete. -
Linus Torvalds created the Linux kernel, which is compatible with the GNU system. The combination creates the GNU/Linux operating system, a popular free and open-source alternative to proprietary systems [Wikipedia: GNU Linux]. -
The FSF introduces the GNU Privacy Guard (GPG), a free software tool for secure communication. -
Stallman advocated for the creation of a free online encyclopedia by asking people to submit articles. -
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) announces the "Respect Your Freedom" campaign to advocate user rights in the digital age [fsf.org]. -
Richard Stallman receives the ACM Software System Award for developing the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). -
Resigns after having some controversial opinions. -
Stallman continued to lead the GNU Project and rejoined the FSF board of directors in 2021.