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Richard Stallman's Early life
Born on March 16, 1953 in New York City. -
Highschool Programming
Learned programming in high school, developing an early interest in computers. -
Hacker culture at MIT
Became immersed in the "hacker culture" at MIT, contributing to software projects. -
MIT AI Lab
Began working at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab while still a student. -
Conflict over propriety software
Experienced frustrations with proprietary software after Symbolics Inc. restricted access to their code. -
GNU Tool Developments
Oversaw the development of tools like GCC and GDB. -
Richard Stallman's GNU project
Launched the GNU project to create free software. -
Development of GNU Emacs
Released GNU Emacs, one of the first components of the GNU operating system. -
Founding of free software foundations
Established the Free Software Foundation (FSF) to support the free software movement. -
Introduction to Copyleft
Introduced the concept of "copyleft," ensuring software remains free for all users. -
Creation of the GNU General Public License
Released the GNU GPL, the first license to formalize the rights to use, modify, and share software. -
Award and Recognitions
Received the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award and MacArthur Fellowship for his work. -
Advocacy for Digital Rights
campaigned against DRM and other restrictions on software. -
Induction into the internet Hall of Fame
Honored for his contributions to the development and promotion of free software.