techTALK

High-profile entrepreneurs rapidly come and go. Many fall victims to market trends, failed speculation or a man named Bill.

In the highly volatile, high-stakes computer software industry, it's tough to stick around. That's what makes a man named Richard Stallman remarkable.

Unless you are well acquainted with net culture or the Unix environment, you've probably never heard of him.

Ten years ago, he left MIT to go into the business of computer software. Today, his organization is still flourishing. Stallman is in the business of giving his software away for free.

Immediately after leaving MIT, Stallman started his organization--the Free Software Foundation (FSF)--by publishing his GNU Manifesto, a statement of purpose and of philosophy. The organization distributes all of its software for free with source code.

People are free to look at and edit the source code on one condition: modified FSF software must be distributed under the same license agreement as the original software--in other words, for free and with source.

Even without the name recognition of a Microsoft or an IBM, computer companies are very aware of Stallman's presence.

Steve Ballmer, senior vice president of Microsoft, (speaking at a meeting of the Harvard Computer Society two years ago) freely admitted that its employees watched FSF, its products and its leader. Other companies have followed suit.

Stallman is a difficult person not to watch. With his long hair, beard and his disheveled '60s appearance, Stallman--known affectionately as "rms" by his followers--is not so much a computer visionary as a cultural icon for computer enthusiasts worldwide.

From his roost at MIT, he preaches about software, business, intellectual property, law and life. His software goals are large and 10 years ago seemed unattainable. He opened his original manifesto with the line, "GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give it away free to every one who can use it."

While his ultimate goal of a complete, improved and free Unix-compatible system is in danger of becoming permanent vaporware, FSF and its GNU project have produced several useful (arguably the best) software tools in the business over the past several years. Its GNU C compiler (gcc) is now provided standard on most Unix systems, and emacs--a powerful text editor--is the editor of choice for many computer programmers and enthusiasts.

While FSF's software is very good, Stallman's philosophy is even more powerful.

For the computer old timer, a man who preaches the old spirit of sharing in a world which has become increasingly obsessed with property rights brings tears of nostalgia to the eye.

To the bold idealist and naive college student, the idea of working only to benefit one's neighbor is frighteningly seductive.

How does an FSF programmer survive if he or she is not making money from his product? Free distribution of quality software brings name recognition, and many FSF programmers are hired contractually or permanently by commercial companies.

Clearly, altruism must play a role as giving away software is no where near as lucrative as charging $500 for it, as common sense and Stallman will tell. People are still writing free software, however, and FSF continues to grow.

It's difficult to assess FSF's overall effect on the industry over the last year, but one thing is certain. Sometimes, there is such a thing as a free lunch.

Eugene E. Kim '96 is former president of the Harvard Computer Society. His column appears every Wednesday. He may be reached on-line at "ekim@fas.harvard.edu."