Without Richard Matthew Stallman (RMS), there would be no GNU, and without GNU, there would be no Linux distributions as we know them, and without Linux, there would be no Linux Format. So here we are, 300 issues on, celebrating the very thing that enables us to exist: the free software movement.
RMS started the GNU’s Not Unix Project in 1983 to create a totally free operating system, and later he established the General Public License to guarantee its software freedom. By 1991, much of GNU was finished, but it lacked a kernel – which is where Linus Torvalds and his Linux kernel came in. Combining the collaborative nature of online open source development, the benefits of the GPL licence and the pulling-as-one community that builds around projects, GNU/Linux took off beyond anything that could have been expected. But despite this success – indeed, perhaps because of it – the issues of software freedom persist and are perhaps more pressing than ever.
Bill Gates’s 1976 Open Letter to Hobbyists, (https:// bit.ly/lxf300gates), besides making people feel bad for pirating BASIC, engendered the idea that all software should be paid for, and its source code kept from prying eyes. The burgeoning microcomputer industry shared Gates’s sentiment and proprietary software quickly became the norm. Meanwhile, communications giant AT&T, which had hitherto provided the Unix OS to governments and universities for free, was forced by deregulation proceedings to commercialise it.
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Esta historia es de la edición April 2023 de Linux Format.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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Create your first WebSocket service
Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.
Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.
Jump to a federated social network
Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.
Free our SOFTWARE!
Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!
Master RPI.GPIO
Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.
Linux-Mandrake 7
Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.
