Richard Stallman: The Last Hacker and the Story of the GNU Free‑Software Movement

Richard Stallman is portrayed as a fervent advocate of software freedom who rejects proprietary hardware and phones, uses only fully free Loongson computers, and insists that software freedom is essential to human liberty.

The MIT AI Lab of the 1970s is described as a haven for hackers who lived, worked, and experimented on computers around the clock, creating most of the lab's software and embracing a culture of open collaboration.

In the 1980s, reduced defense funding pushed many researchers toward commercial ventures; Bill Gates emerged, promoting proprietary software and accusing the hacker community of theft, forcing Stallman to choose between wealth and his principles.

Stallman’s response was to articulate the philosophy of free software, emphasizing the GNU General Public License (GPL) and copyleft, arguing that software must be freely distributable, modifiable, and that derived works remain free.

The GNU project began with the creation of essential tools such as Emacs and GCC, later expanding to libraries, shells, and the ambitious Hurd kernel, which struggled for years while Linux emerged as a practical alternative.

Stallman criticized the conflation of GNU with Linux, insisting that the operating system should be called GNU/Linux because the majority of its components were developed by GNU volunteers, not by Linus Torvalds.

As the open‑source movement grew, commercial companies, including Microsoft, began supporting open‑source projects, diluting the distinction between free software and open source; Stallman remained steadfast, rejecting any compromise that would sacrifice software freedom.

The article concludes that Stallman's unwavering commitment to free software has left an indelible legacy, inspiring the open‑source era while positioning him as a solitary, principled figure in the history of computing.