Recordings about GNU Philosophy and History

We only list here recordings that are hosted on audio-video.gnu.org. Introductory videos explaining basic notions come first, and are marked with an asterisk. The other recordings are in reverse chronological order. Associated resources (transcripts, subtitles, etc., if any) are also listed.

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* Introduction to Free Software and the Liberation of Cyberspace (Geneva, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

Download links:

Play * Software libre en la educación (2009)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 720x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (134 MB)

Play * Software libre: aspectos éticos, sociales y prácticos (2009)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 720x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (113 MB)

Play * Free Software: Ethical, Social and Practical Aspects (2009)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 424x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (142 MB)

Play Software Libre: Libertad, Autonomı́a, Soberanı́a (Parlamento Centroamericano, Guatemala, 2023)

Copyright © 2023 Alexandre Oliva (speech)
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Inmediatamente nosotros nos comunicamos con Alexandre Oliva, él estuvo positivo en compartir sus conocimientos, pero cuando le expresamos que había que utilizar un software privativo, inmediatamente ahí puso un llamado de atención. Y desde ahí comenzó a enseñarnos cómo no debemos depender de este software privativo.

Alexandre no utiliza software privativo, está utilizando un software libre. El sistema lo está interconectando con la plataforma que estamos utilizando. Nos enseña que debemos priorizar la libertad, la autonomía y la soberanía.

--Diputado Luis Coronado


Play Solutions to the Software Patent Problem (Santa Clara, 2012)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play Welcome to Software Freedom Day (for Iran event, 2012)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play The Free Software Movement (Singapore, 2012)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 480x272 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (106 MB)
Subjects of the interview
  • Inception of the free software movement
  • Evolution of principles of free software movement
  • Clarification on free software
  • Suggestion to start Wikipedia in '99
  • Wikipedia 10 years from now
  • About not carrying mobile phones
  • Advice to the future software developers.

Play Richard Stallman invité au magazine Microméga, sur RFI (Marseille, 2009)

License:  La reproduction et la distribution à l'identique de cet enregistrement sont permises pourvu que le présent avis soit conservé.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (17.7 MB)

Play Pizza party for the FSF and their friends (San Francisco, 2008)

Copyright © 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 384x288 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (126 MB)

Play Introduction to the Ideas of Free Software (2007)

Copyright © 2007 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 United States (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play Software for Development: Is Free/Open Source Software the Answer? (Tunis, 2005)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 320x240 WebM Theora/Vorbis (66.4 MB)
  • Subtitles (SubRip format): 
    • English (not checked for accuracy; by Longbow4u, CC BY-SA);
    • suomi (by Uusijani, proofread by Mikko Viinamäki, CC BY-SA);
    • Deutsch (by Longbow4u, proofread by www-de, CC BY-SA);
    • українська (by Samerhil, proofread by Андрій Бандура, CC BY-SA).
Program of the WSIS
  • Richard Stallman, Founder, Free Software Foundation (Keynote, 15-20min)
  • Bruce Perens, Vice President, Sourcelabs, Inc. (Keynote, 15-20min)
  • Louis Dominique Ouedraogo, Inspector, UN Joint Inspection Unit (Panelist, 5-7min)
  • Mark Shuttleworth, President, Ubuntu Foundation (Panelist, 5-7min)
  • Shane Wall, General Manager, Channel Software Operation, Intel Corporation (Panelist, 5-7min)
  • Robert Kramer, Vice President of Public Policy, CompTIA (Panelist, 5-7min)
  • Kenneth Cukier, Technology Correspondent, The Economist (Moderator)

Play Free Software and Education (Taipei City, Taiwan, 2005)

Copyright © 2005 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (162 MB)

Play La libertad de actuar con solidaridad social (interview Bogota, 2005)

Copyright © 2004 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Free Software, Free Society! (interview Edinburgh, 2004)

Copyright © 2004 Richard Stallman, anarchobabe (IMC Scotland)
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play What Should it Mean to Promote Free Software? (recorded for Curitiba event, 2003)

Copyright © 2003 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (35.6 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (4.6 MB)

This is a speech that I recorded so it could be played at a free software event in Curitiba, Brazil (the state of Parana), in November, 2003. A few points in the speech will not be clear without some background.

The event was actually a corporate trade show, but its title gave the impression of being more of an activist event. The organizers recruited a free software activist to run the speeches track, and he convinced me to attend. Between the title and the fact that my friend was the one asking me, and the fact that the state government of Parana was sponsoring the event, I assumed it was bona-fide free software activism. I agreed to go.

A scandal broke in Brazil when it became known that the event had accepted Microsoft as a major sponsor. My friend tried to defend this as “spending the enemy's money”; he didn't realize that Microsoft knows what it is doing when it buys its way into such events. Then he told me, “Besides, the other major sponsor was Oracle.”

Most of our community is not sufficiently politically aware to recognize that Oracle's sponsorship ought to be just as scandalous as Microsoft's. Regardless of who the owner is, nonfree software tramples your freedom.

I was not sure whether to attend the conference or boycott it. Ultimately I was unable to go to Brazil because of my broken arm. I decided that any harm my participation might do was already done through the use of my name, and that it was better for me to give a speech about what had gone wrong than not to do so.

In this speech, I sought to educate rather than attack the free software activists who participated in the event, as well as the state government of Parana, which I hope will continue promoting free software in the future, but next time will get better guidance in how to do so.

--Richard Stallman


Play Entretien avec Richard Stallman (Paris, 2002)

Copyright © 2002 Richard M. Stallman
License:  La reproduction et la distribution à l'identique de cet enregistrement sont permises pourvu que le présent avis soit conservé.


Play Richard Stallman répond aux questions du public (Paris, 2001)

Copyright © 2001 Richard Stallman
License:  La reproduction et la distribution à l'identique de cet enregistrement sont permises pourvu que le présent avis soit conservé.

Cet enregistrement ne contient que les réponses de Richard Stallman, les questions elles-mêmes étant probablement inaudibles. L'archive Tar contient des clips correspondant à chacune des questions (les deux premières sont fusionnées).

Voici les 29 questions rassemblées par Marianne Ciaudo, Antonin Billet, Pierre Fontaine et Christophe Guillemin, ainsi que leur position dans l'enregistrement :

  1. [00:00] Le pourquoi et l'historique de l'appellation Gnu/Linux
  2. [01:39] Linus Torvalds et le travail de la FSF
  3. [04:00] La philosophie de la FSF
  4. [05:16] Le fonctionnement de l'open source
  5. [06:22] Le problème SourceForge
  6. [07:01] La licence GPL n'est pas la seule licence libre
  7. [07:13] IBM et Eclipse : un projet libre
  8. [08:39] « Le logiciel propriétaire est immoral »
  9. [09:47] Le propriétaire, une option pas forcément meilleure mais plus évidente
  10. [11:11] « Beaucoup d'utilisateurs ne recherchent pas la liberté »
  11. [12:09] Les enjeux du libre
  12. [13:06] Il ne faut pas laisser le choix du libre aux développeurs
  13. [13:54] « Imposer votre préférence n'est pas la liberté, c'est le pouvoir »
  14. [15:51] La question de fond du débat selon RMS
  15. [16:07] RMS n'est pas contre la propriété en général
  16. [16:40] « C'est erreur de parler en termes de propriété intellectuelle »
  17. [18:04] Protection des droits : un abus de langage ?
  18. [18:45] La copie n'endommage pas le programme
  19. [19:07] La conception de la création selon RMS
  20. [19:53] RMS s'emporte un peu contre un journaliste
  21. [21:47] RMS et ses projets ?
  22. [22:25] Quel choix : Vi ou Emacs ?
  23. [22:30] L'arrivée de RMS chez Debian
  24. [23:08] RMS manque de diplomatie ?
  25. [23:57] Les passe-temps de RMS
  26. [24:13] RMS et la musique
  27. [24:50] RMS, cordon bleu ?
  28. [25:18] Le regard de RMS sur la France et le libre
  29. [25:58] À quand une ambassade de la FSF en France ?