× ‹ ›
free/open-source quotes

15 Great Quotes from Torvalds and Stallman about Free and Open Source Software

· —
In celebration of Software Freedom Day 2008, I would like to share to you all some of my favorite quotes about Free and Open Source Software from no less than the two pillars of FOSS, Linus Torvalds and Richard M. Stallman. Enjoy and be inspired.



1. "To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master. And in the area of computing, freedom means not using proprietary software."
-Richard M. Stallman

2. “Software is like sex: it's better when it's free.”
-Linus Torvalds

3. “Value your freedom or you will lose it, teaches history. 'Don't bother us with politics', respond those who don't want to learn.”
-Richard M. Stallman

4. “Software patents are a huge potential threat to the ability of people to work together on open source. Making it easier for companies and communities that have patents to make those patents available in a common pool for people to use is one way to try to help developers deal with the threat.”
-Linus Torvalds

5. “If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict the use of these programs.”
-Richard M. Stallman

6. “One of the questions I've always hated answering is how do people make money in open source. And I think that Caldera and Red Hat -- and there are a number of other Linux companies going public -- basically show that yes, you can actually make money in the open-source area.”
-Linus Torvalds

7. “Control over the use of one's ideas really constitutes control over other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more difficult.”
-Richard M. Stallman

8. “It just makes it even harder for people to even approach the (open source) side, when they then end up having to worry about ... public humiliation.”
-Linus Torvalds

9. “I founded the free software movement, a movement for freedom to cooperate. Open source was a reaction against our idealism. We are still here and the open-source people have not wiped us out.”
-Richard M. Stallman

10. "When it comes to software, I much prefer free software, because I have very seldom seen a program that has worked well enough for my needs, and having sources available can be a life-saver."
-Linus Torvalds

11. “If you focus your mind on the freedom and community that you can build by staying firm, you will find the strength to do it.”
-Richard M. Stallman

12. "Anybody who tells me I can't use a program because it's not open source, go suck on rms. I'm not interested. 99% of that I run tends to be open source, but that's _my_ choice, dammit."
-Linus Torvalds

13. “'Free software' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of 'free' as in 'free speech,' not as in 'free beer'.”
-Richard M. Stallman

14. "I'm doing a free operating system just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu for 386 (486) AT clones."
-Linus Torvalds

15. "Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system software free, just like air."
-Richard M. Stallman

If you have other quotes about free and open-source software, please share with us.

Related Post: Top 50 Linux Quotes of all Time
Anonymous #
I would rather use a free operating system (GNU/Linux) than stealing a proprietary operating system (Windows) that is not worth paying for!

SlippJigg
Anonymous #
"Intellectual property" seems like a non-sensical concept to me. Just because you wrote some code, why does that give you the right to control how and when everyone else in the world makes copies of that code? And why does that give you the right to control whether or not people can come up with similiar ideas to your own, or can make improvements to that idea?
Anonymous #
Well said.
B #
The problem with the concept of intellectual property is that it is a first-past-the-post system, and the winner takes all. There is no room for duplication regardless of originality. The assumption is that duplication is theft. As IP is allowed to extend to relatively low-level problem/solution sets, the building blocks of larger solutions are made off-limits, rendering larger solutions impracticable. As the very purpose of low-level patents is frequently to render r&d in a specific area impracticable rather than to create a specific innovation and distribute it for profit, entire solution sets are restricted to a narrow class of patent-holding r&d organizations, with no exemption made for the public good. The creation of intellectual property is the pre-emptive theft of ideas from the human race.
Anonymous #
Bruce,

Please allow me to copy all the stuff you created please thanks.
Unknown #
Wow dude that is some seriously fascinating stuff.

Jiff
www.anonymize.us.tc
Jacob #
OSS is great as far as side projects go but the fact remains sometimes people would like to make money for products rather than services. You don't make money as an open source programmer; you make money servicing your open-source programs. Which is tough for the little guy to do.

I believe in open source on the platform end and for tools that benefit a lot of programmers (and, yes, ordinary people) like Linux, FreeBSD, Apache, MySQL, Python, PHP, Java, Firefox, and all that.

But I think there's nothing wrong with using proprietary as the end result, as the actual product. At least in this capitalist economy you have to pay the bills somehow, even if you're only making something for consumers who aren't going to buy professional support.

My 2¢
Anonymous #
How about this one?

" I think the OpenBSD crowd is a bunch of masturbating monkeys, in
that they make such a big deal about concentrating on security to the
point where they pretty much admit that nothing else matters to them."
-Linus Torvalds

from http://tinyurl.com/5l8439
Anonymous #
Proprietary software limits understanding and investigation of how software works and anything that limits understanding limits progress.
Unknown #
great!

but I want to add that any OS has no much documentation as Linux OS.

---------------------------------
Linux Command Line documentation

http://www.linuxcmd.org
Anonymous #
Hi,
Thanks for providing the list of quotations on Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds. I really enjoyed reading them.

Visually oriented readers could see a 3D-list of the quotations by Stallman and Torvalds on a Project Storyboard at the following web site:

http://projectstoryboard.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2282204%3ABlogPost%3A312

Of course, attribution is given to your web site.

Best,
Rod King.

http://projectstoryboard.ning.com
Anonymous #
“One of the questions I've always hated answering is how do people make money in open source. And I think that Caldera and Red Hat -- and there are a number of other Linux companies going public -- basically show that yes, you can actually make money in the open-source area.”

Caldera is probably not a good example for how to make money on free software anymore... (Caldera changed name to SCO Group)
Anonymous #
Once again Torvalds and Stallman prove that open source is a philosophy to suit life in general not just software, its a shame that only Open Source software enthusiasts are the only ones getting to share this philosophy.
jehoshuah #
Free and Open Source Software is not about a way of using a computer, it is a way of thinking.
← Newer Posts Older Posts →