Programming Quotes by Richard Stallman

Programming is not a science. Programming is a craft.

— Richard Stallman

I did write some code in Java once, but that was the island in Indonesia.

— Richard Stallman

Proprietary software is an injustice.

— Richard Stallman

Software patents are dangerous to software developers because they impose monopolies on software ideas.

— Richard Stallman

If you use a proprietary program or somebody else's web server, you're defenceless. You're putty in the hands of whoever developed that…

— Richard Stallman

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

— Richard Stallman

Fighting patents one by one will never eliminate the danger of software patents, any more than swatting mosquitoes will eliminate malaria.

— Richard Stallman

The Adobe flash plug-in is non-free software, and people should not install it, or suggest installing it, or even tell people it…

— Richard Stallman

You know, if you were *really* going to starve, you'd be justified in writing proprietary software.

— Richard Stallman

I have not seen anyone assume that all the citizens of New York are guilty of murder, violence, robbery, perjury, or writing…

— Richard Stallman

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

— Richard Stallman

I consider that the Golden Rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like…

— Richard Stallman

Proprietary software tends to have malicious features. The point is with a proprietary program, when the users dont have the source code,…

— Richard Stallman

Today many people are switching to free software for purely practical reasons. That is good, as far as it goes, but that…

— Richard Stallman

Writing non-free software is not an ethically legitimate activity, so if people who do this run into trouble, that's good! All businesses…

— Richard Stallman

The idea of free software is that users of computing deserve freedom. They deserve in particular to have control over their computing.…

— 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…

— Richard Stallman

Also, because schools must teach the spirit of goodwill, the habit of helping others around you, every class should have this rule:…

— Richard Stallman

A smartphone is a computer - it's not built using a computer - the job it does is the job of being…

— Richard Stallman

A hacker is someone who enjoys playful cleverness—not necessarily with computers. The programmers in the old MIT free software community of the…

— Richard Stallman

EMACS could not have been reached by a process of careful design, because such processes arrive only at goals which are visible…

— Richard Stallman

Every decision a person makes stems from the person's values and goals. People can have many different goals and values; fame, profit,…

— Richard Stallman

Proprietary software keeps users divided and helpless. Divided because each user is forbidden to redistribute it to others, and helpless because the…

— Richard Stallman

Free software is software that respects your freedom and the social solidarity of your community. So it's free as in freedom.

— Richard Stallman

To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a…

— Richard Stallman

Our mailing lists (and their repeater newsgroups) are only for the purpose of promoting proprietary software.

— Richard Stallman

In the free/libre software movement, we develop software that respects users' freedom, so we and you can escape from software that doesn't.

— Richard Stallman

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

— Richard Stallman

Giving the Linus Torvalds Award to the Free Software Foundation is a bit like giving the Han Solo Award to the Rebel…

— Richard Stallman

The most powerful programming language is Lisp. If you don't know Lisp (or its variant, Scheme), you don't appreciate what a powerful…

— Richard Stallman

The principal lesson of Emacs is that a language for extensions should not be a mere "extension language". It should be a…

— Richard Stallman

If the users don't control the program, the program controls the users. With proprietary software, there is always some entity, the "owner"…

— Richard Stallman

My favorite programming languages are Lisp and C. However, since around 1992 I have worked mainly on free software activism, which means…

— Richard Stallman

Paying isn’t wrong, and being paid isn’t wrong. Trampling other people’s freedom and community is wrong, so the free software movement aims…

— Richard Stallman

To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a…

— Richard Stallman

I could have made money this way, and perhaps amused myself writing code. But I knew that at the end of my…

— Richard Stallman

I figure that since proprietary software developers use copyright to stop us from sharing, we cooperators can use copyright to give other…

— Richard Stallman

It's clear that other problems such as [...] the domination of business over government, science, thought, and society, are much bigger than…

— Richard Stallman

If in my lifetime the problem of non-free software is solved, I could perhaps relax and write software again. But I might…

— Richard Stallman

I have met bright students in computer science who have never seen the source code of a large program. They may be…

— Richard Stallman