Richard Stallman

I never imagined that the Free Software Movement would spawn a watered-down alternative, the Open Source Movement, which would become so well-known…

— 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

Facebook collects a lot of data from people and admits it. And it also collects data which isn't admitted. And Google does…

— Richard Stallman

Now that corporations dominate society and write the laws, each advance or change in technology is an opening for them to further…

— Richard Stallman

Prior art is as effective as US soldiers in Iraq: They control the ground they stand on, and nothing more. I used…

— 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

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

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

— Richard Stallman

In essence, Chrome OS is the GNU/Linux operating system. However, it is delivered without the usual applications, and rigged up to impede…

— 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

The idea of copyright did not exist in ancient times, when authors frequently copied other authors at length in works of non-fiction.…

— Richard Stallman

Android is very different from the GNU/Linux operating system because it contains very little of GNU. Indeed, just about the only component…

— Richard Stallman

People sometimes ask me if it is a sin in the Church of Emacs to use vi. Using a free version of…

— 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

We need to teach people to refuse to install non-free plug-ins; we need to teach people to care more about their long-term…

— Richard Stallman

For personal reasons, I do not browse the web from my computer. (I also have not net connection much of the time.)…

— 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

The reason that a good citizen does not use such destructive means to become wealthier is that, if everyone did so, we…

— Richard Stallman

It doesn't take special talents to reproduce--even plants can do it. On the other hand, contributing to a program like Emacs takes…

— Richard Stallman

CD stores have the disadvantage of an expensive inventory, but digital bookshops would need no such thing: they could write copies at…

— Richard Stallman

Would a dating service on the net be 'frowned upon' . . . ? I hope not. But even if it is,…

— 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

The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this…

— Richard Stallman

If there is a Like button in a page, Facebook knows who visited that page. And it can get IP address of…

— 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

Facebook mistreats its users. Facebook is not your friend; it is a surveillance engine. For instance, if you browse the Web and…

— 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

In terms of effect on the world, it's very good that I've lived. And so I guess, if I could go back…

— Richard Stallman

By the way, I hope you all know about the worldwide boycott of Coca Cola company for things like murdering union organizers…

— Richard Stallman

In the US, you even lose legal rights if you store your data in a company's machines instead of your own. The…

— Richard Stallman

Whether gods exist or not, there is no way to get absolute certainty about ethics. Without absolute certainty, what do we do?…

— Richard Stallman

Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the best we can. Injustice is happening now; suffering is happening now. We…

— 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

If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict…

— Richard Stallman