You really, really should try and make it along to see the President and Founder of the Free Software Foundation, Richard Stallman speaking. He’s also in Edinburgh on August 26th and 28th. You can see more details via Stallman’s schedule on the FSF website.
And if you’re not aware of who he is, just skim through the Wikipedia entry for starters.
Regardless of the opinions that he may be difficult to get along with, or whether we should be calling it Free Software or Open Source etc, the fact is that without his work and inspiration, we might not have any of the amazing software which has been produced under the range of ‘Copyleft’ and similar licences, enabling anyone to work with, change, adapt and modify code and evolve it.
I’m not a developer, but every day I’m thankful for Linux, Ubuntu, Open Office, Gimp, WordPress and more. And I’m still working out if I can jump in a car tonight, especially after reading his biography (available as a free download from the FSF website, updated with copious notes from Stallman himself). There’s a wealth of great quotes about Stallman, and the one chosen by Wikipedia is fairly appropriate from the impression I’ve had:
There’s something comforting about Stallman’s intransigence. Win or lose, Stallman will never give up. He’ll be the stubbornest mule on the farm until the day he dies. Call it fixity of purpose, or just plain cussedness, his single-minded commitment and brutal honesty are refreshing in a world of spin-meisters and multimillion-dollar marketing campaigns.
—Andrew Leonard, Salon.com