preview

Why Software Should Be Free By Richard Stallman

Good Essays

Vincent Jonany
Term Paper
INFO 450
06/06/15

In the paper “Why Software Should Be Free” written by Richard Stallman, he argued that developers should develop free software. In the paper, Stallman justified his belief of the “free software” movement. Stallman believes that free software can be defined with the four essential freedoms: the freedom to run the program however the users like, the freedom to modify the source code so that it does different computing, the freedom to distribute copies of the program, and the freedom to distribute the modified copies to others. In his justifications of his stand on free software, he argues that people will still have the initiative to develop software even though they know that it will be freely distributed. Hence, Stallman believes that one of the main goals for the …show more content…

Stallman first reminded the readers that institutions do not have to be software houses to be able to pay programmers. Stallman then brought out his own experience of making a living for six years as a free software developer. Stallman talked about his experience of him being hired from other institutions to make improvements for free software. He explained that these institutions are able to fund programmers by using the money from donations from computer manufacturers. Lastly, Stallman justified that although free software developer realized that they are getting paid at least half of what they could make elsewhere, they do this because they will be free from bureaucracy, and they feel good about themselves. They feel good about themselves because they know their works are for the greater good for humanity. Hence, Stallman once again confirmed that we do not have to worry that no one will program, since programming is the most fascinating of all fields according to

Get Access