My Take
Richard Stallman is one of those figures you either find inspiring or exhausting — and honestly, I find him both, which is probably the right reaction. This Manhattan-born Harvard grad could have cashed in like everyone else, but instead he spent decades fighting for something most people didn't even realize they needed: the freedom to use, study, and modify the software running their lives. He didn't just write manifestos — he built GNU Emacs, the GNU Compiler Collection, the GNU Debugger, and perhaps most consequentially, the GNU General Public License, which turned "copyleft" from a clever pun into a legal force that shaped the entire open-source world. A MacArthur Fellowship, a Grace Hopper Award, the Internet Hall of Fame — the establishment kept handing him trophies while he kept biting its hand, and I respect the consistency. Love him or not, every piece of free software you've ever touched has his fingerprints on it.
Overview
Richard Matthew Stallman ( STAWL-mən; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to use, study, distribute, and modify that software. Software which ensures these freedoms is termed free software.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Richard Stallman
- Name (Japanese)
- リチャード・ストールマン
- Reading
- りちゃーど・すとーるまん
- Born
- March 16, 1953 (age 73)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Snake
- Origin
- Manhattan, New York, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- programmer / blogger / engineer / inventor / activist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Harvard University
Awards & achievements
- 1990 MacArthur Fellows Program
- 1990 Grace Murray Hopper Award
- 1998 EFF Award
- 2001 Takeda Awards
- 2013 Internet Hall of Fame
- 1999 Yuri Rubinsky Memorial Award
- 2015 ACM Software System Award
- 2016 doctor honoris causa from the Pierre and Marie Curie University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | GNU | — | |
| Notable work | GNU Emacs | — | |
| Notable work | Free Software Song | — | |
| Notable work | GNU General Public License | — | |
| Notable work | GNU Compiler Collection | — | |
| Notable work | GNU Debugger | — |
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.