Richard Stallman: Founder of Free Software

In Part I of this series, Linus Torvalds and Linux were covered. Not to downplay Mr. Torvalds advancements, but without Richard Stallman, Linux would not be what it is today. In fact, Richard Stallman's contributions allowed all of this software/programing to come about:

Linux: is an operating system, as Microsoft Windows is an operating system

Apache Web Server: is the most popular web server used. A web server facilitates the exchange of computer connections via the internet. Most web sites use Apache.

Perl Programming Language: a programming language is what software is made of. Perl is one type. Python Programming Language: another type of programming language. OpenOffice: is an office suite, like Microsoft Office is an office suite.

...and many, many others that are in a continuously growing list of software. 

Richard Stallman's contribution to all these programs is that he founded the GNU Project and wrote the GNU general public license. To give the reader an idea of what the GNU General Public License is, here is an excerpt:

The licenses for most software are designed to take away your
freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public
License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free
software - to make sure the software is free for all its users.

This small part of the GNU license gives a good general perspective of Richard Stallman's philosophy and his views. He is also the founder of the Free Software Foundation, co-founder of several other free software organizations and an extensive author. To say that Richard Stallman feels strongly that all software should be free is like saying that there is a little water in Niagara Falls. Stallman is passionate about his pursuit and to this day goes to great lengths to perpetuate his perspective.