The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has just released in tandem the second edition of its president and founder Richard Stallman's selected essays, Free Software, Free Society, and his semi-autobiography, Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman and the Free Software Revolution.

"In February of last year, Richard M. Stallman, founder and president of the Free Software Foundation, spoke at the International Conference on Communication and Technologies in Havana about what he strongly believes are the merits of non-proprietary software. I recently learned directly from Stallman what that experience was like.

"When Richard Stallman announced the GNU Project back in 1983, he launched a movement that would, in time, transform the software industry. The Free Software Foundation, also created by Stallman and now sponsor of the GNU Project, has become a driving force behind the adoption of the widely used GNU GPL software license.

We discussed some of the more recent developments with Richard Stallman, whose passion for freedom in computing remains intense. The following Q & A explores the goals of free software, progress that has been made, and ways to maintain or instill freedom in software that we use..."

Richard M. Stallman is an American software freedom activist and computer programmer. In September 1983, he launched the GNU Project to create a free Unix-like operating system; he initiated the Free Software Movement; in October 1985 he founded the Free Software Foundation.

I have interviewed Richard Stallman and other members of the Free Software Foundation often enough that he remembers my name (no small feat, I’m sure, considering the hundreds he meets each year). Once or twice, I think, in talking about parrots and folk music, I may have caught a personal glimpse of him. But, even if I haven’t, I generally support the Free Software Foundation.

"We are holding our first public presentation and Richard Stallman will be our guest! [..] The Founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman, is stopping in Ottawa for meetings with government and non-governmental officials. He is enroute back to MIT after receiving an honorary degree from Lakehead University, Thunder Bay.

Richard Stallman raised more than a few eyebrows when he signed the letter objecting to the MySQL purchase. Endorsing, or seeming to endorse, the practice of selling proprietary exceptions to GPL'ed software seemed entirely out of character with Stallman's comments on Free Software up to that point.

"EFF-Austin invites you to a talk by the Free Software Foundation Activist - Richard Stallman on 23rd April 2009 [...] The GNU General Public License (GPL) was the outcome of the need for a principal right to free software. What does the freedom mean, what are the foundations of the GNU GPL philosophy and how has it evolved since Richard Stallman wrote the first GNU GPL in 1989?

"SAN ANTONIO – Richard Stallman, from the Free Software Foundation, will discuss “Free Software in Ethics and in Practice” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 20, in Chapman Auditorium..."