[ Thanks to Paulo
Henrique B de Oliveira for this link. ]
“OLinux – The computers were always part of your life?”
“RMS: Computers were very expensive in the 1960s and not easy to
find. But I was fascinated with computers, and read the manuals
when I could find them, even though I never saw an actual computer.
Then when I was a senior in high school, an IBM laboratory gave
me a chance to use a real computer. I loved it
immediately.“
“OLinux – When did you realize that you had a very special
mission in the world of free software technology?”
“RMS: Free software is a political philosophy ratherthan a kind
of technology. And this was a decision, not a realization. In the
1970s and the early 80s, I worked in a community where software
sharing was normal. Around 1981/1982 this community died, so I was
faced with the prospect of having to live the user-subjugating way
of life of proprietary software: prevented from studying or
changing the software, and prohibited from sharing it.”