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.

Select recordings







* 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 * What is GNU+Linux? (2013)

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


Play * Free Software and the Four Freedoms (2010)

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

  • Video 480x270 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (29 MB)

An address by Richard Stallman to Software Freedom Day events.


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 Freedom in computing, forty years after starting to really protect it (Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, 2023)

Copyright © 2023 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play Working for the public. Universities, software and freedom (Pisa, Italy, 2023)

Copyright © 2023 Richard Stallman (speech)
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

00:00:10 TEDx talk
00:13:47 Maria Chiara Pievatolo (Introduction)
00:17:33 Speech
00:58:40 Marco Calamari (Machine learning systems)
01:04:00 Francesco Potortì (Software in universities)
01:15:48 Q&A
02:24:10 Maria Chiara Pievatolo (Concluding remarks)
02:27:10 Auction

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Opus (1.51 GB)

It is giving me a bittersweet feeling to have Richard Stallman here today. Sweet, because this time the conference is organized by a couple of political philosophers working at the Department of Political Science. And this is a recognition that software is a kind of language organizing and shaping our world, and not just a technical and business issue. It is about free culture. It is about free speech. And it is a freedom that deserves to be understood and protected, even to the point of hacking copyright like Richard Stallman did. The bitterness comes from the fact that most Italian universities are no longer the cradle of free thinking, because they are using—or they are being used by—proprietary clouds and software, to the point that when we had to switch to remote teaching during the pandemics we were recommended as teachers to use Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom. Now we are using Big Blue Button, that is free software, and as you can see it's working perfectly.

--Maria Chiara Pievatolo


Play The State of the Free Software Movement (2022)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

Due to unforeseen technical difficulties, RMS gave his talk over audio only.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (47.2 MB)

Play Intro to Free Software and Online Dis-Services (2022)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

TEDx video followed by Stallman's speech.

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis (1.29 GB)

Stallman covered many topics about free software that were not included in the TEDx talk, but forgot that it didn't cover copyleft, so he did not speak about that. To learn about copyleft, the license technique he developed in 1985, see What is Copyleft?


Play Free Software and the GNU General Public License (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Vorbis (1.8 GB)

Play Free software, distribution of information and methods (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP8/Vorbis (396 MB)

Play Monday's Live #80 – A conversation with Richard Stallman (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis (624 MB)

Play Free Software: The Foundation of Freedom in Your Computing (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

TEDx video followed by Q&A session.

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Vorbis (1.13 GB)

Play On Cash and Monero (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

TEDx video followed by the interview.

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Vorbis (920 MB)

Play A Free Digital Society (2021)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Vorbis (334 MB)

Play Why Operating Systems and Other Software Should Be Free (Waterloo, Canada, 2020)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis (741 MB)

Play Resisting Unjust Platforms and Systems (Lisbon, 2019)

Copyright © 2019 Richard Stallman and Juan Paulo Branco Lopez
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

0:00:00 to 0:01:57:  Introduction by Juan Branco, in Portuguese
0:01:57 to 0:51:42:  Speech by Richard Stallman, in English
0:51:42 to 0:57:38:  Auction, in English
0:57:38 to 1:17:42:  Conversation between Juan Branco and RMS, in English


Play Are We Facing Surveillance Like in China? (Frankfurt, 2019)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 854x480 WebM VP9/Opus (353 MB)

Play Free software: Ethics and freedom in a digital age (Zurich, 2019)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 854x480 WebM VP9/Opus (485 MB)

Play Copyright, Freedom, and Privacy (Copenhagen, 2019)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (384 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Bozeman, MT, 2019)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 720x404 WebM VP9/Opus (619 MB)

Play Computing, Freedom and Privacy (Pato Branco, Brazil, 2018)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (148 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Timisoara, 2017)

Copyright © 2017 Valentin Stangaciu, Department of Computer and Information Technology http://www.cs.upt.ro
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1440x1080 WebM VP9/Opus (2.7GB)

Play Free Software: Freedom, Privacy, Sovereignty (Boston, 2017)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play A Free Digital Society (Belo Horizonte, 2017)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play Free Software, Your Freedom, Your Privacy (Cologne, 2017)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (307 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Grand Rapids, 2017)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (561 MB)

Play Computing, Freedom, and Privacy (Kalamazoo, 2017)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (219 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community (Athens, Greece, 2016)

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

  • Video 960x720 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (3 GB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Zurich, 2016)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Vorbis (2.9 GB)

Play Free/Libre/Vrije Software: The Goal and the Path (Brussels, 2016)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 720x576 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (388 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Seattle, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

  • Video 532x300 Ogg Theora/Vorbis:
    1. Speech (339 MB, 1h 14min)
    2. Q&A (215 MB, 47min)

Play A Free Digital Society (Kent, OH, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 640x360 WebM VP8/Vorbis (345 MB)

Play Libre Software (New York, 2015)

Copyright © 2015 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP9/Opus (689 MB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Karlsruhe, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play Copyright vs Community (Frankfurt, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 720x526 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (956 MB)

Play What is Free Software? (Chania, Greece, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis (957.3 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (63.5 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Urbana, 2015)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP8/Vorbis (292 MB)

Play Freedom in Your Computer and in the Net (Hamburg, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Deutschland (CC BY 3.0 DE)


Play Copyright vs Community (Portland, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1080x606 WebM VP8/Vorbis:

Play Libre Software, Libre Education (New York, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 640x360 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (693 MB)

Play Should We Have More Surveillance Than the USSR? (Athens, GA, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play A Free Digital Society (Nantou, Taiwan, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 640x480 WebM VP8/Vorbis (1.66GB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Taipei, Taiwan, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis:

Play A Free Digital Society (Hsinchu, Taiwan, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 720x480 WebM VP8/Vorbis:
    1. Speech (1.15 GB, 2h 7min)
    2. Q&A (411 MB, 45min 55s)

Play A Free Digital Society (Milan, 2014)

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


Play A Free Digital Society (New York, 2014)

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

  • Video 1920x1080 WebM VP8/Vorbis (357 MB)

Play Free Software, Defending Your Digital Freedom (Helsinki, 2014)

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

  • Video 1440x816 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (554 MB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Helsinki, 2014)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP8/Vorbis (1.04 GB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Lincoln, UK, 2013)

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

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (69.1 MB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Dublin, 2013)

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

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (947 MB)

Play John Sullivan interviewed at the Open World Forum (Montrouge, France, 2013)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)

  • Video 854x468 WebM VP8/Vorbis (33.4 MB)

Play GNU 30-year anniversary celebration – Richard Stallman (Cambridge, MA, 2013)

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


Play GNU 30-year anniversary celebration – John Sullivan (Cambridge, MA, 2013)

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

This speech features a presentation of some hackaton projects.


Play A Free Digital Society (Sophia-Antipolis, France, 2013)

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

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (662 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (New York, 2013)

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

  • Video 1280x720 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (1.72 GB)

Play Richard Stallman inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame – his short acceptance speech (Berlin, 2013)

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

The Internet Hall of Fame celebrates Internet visionaries, innovators, and leaders from around the world who believed in the design and potential of an open Internet and, through their work, helped change the way we live and work today.


Play A Free Digital Society (Warsaw, 2013)

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


Play Copyright vs Community (Nottingham, 2013)

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


Play TV Interview at Nasul TV Romania (2013)

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


Play The Free Software Movement (Dublin, 2013)

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


Play A Free Digital Society (Ann Arbor, 2013)

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

The video is cut at 1h 27min 21s; we don't know how much is missing.

  • Video 640x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (273 MB)

Play The Free Software Movement (Curitiba, 2012)

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

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (278 MB)

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

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


Play Copyright vs Community (Reykjavik, 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 Copyright vs Community (Munich, 2012)

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

  • Video 1440x1080 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (2.12 GB)

Play RMS speech at the GNU Cauldron (Prague, 2012)

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

  • Video 960x540 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (188 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community (London, 2012)

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

  • Video 960x540 WebM VP9/Opus (552 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Ljubljana, 2012)

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

  • Video 640x480 WebM VP8/Vorbis (346 MB)

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 Free Software and Your Freedom (Lisbon, 2012)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 1280x720 WebM VP9/Opus (453 MB)

Play What Makes Digital Inclusion Good or Bad? (Paris, 2011)

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

Activities directed at “including” more people in the use of digital technology are predicated on the assumption that such inclusion is invariably a good thing. It appears so, when judged solely by immediate practical convenience. However, if we also judge in terms of human rights, whether digital inclusion is good or bad depends on what kind of digital world we are to be included in. If we wish to work towards digital inclusion as a goal, it behooves us to make sure it is the good kind.


Play A Free Digital Society (Philadelphia, 2011)

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

  • Video 720x540 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (547 MB)

Play A Free Digital Society (Palo Alto, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 640x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (467 MB)

Play Free Software and Your Freedom (Portland, 2011)

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

The video files are broken into segments, and are offered in both Ogg Theora and WebM in both 480p and 720p versions.


Play A Free Digital Society (London, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 448x336 Ogg Theora/Vorbis:

Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Sheffield, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis:
    • Speech (127 MB, 1h 53min)
    • Q&A (57.7 MB, 54min 3s)

Play A Free Digital Society (Preston, UK, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 960x720 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (783 MB)

Play The Danger of Software Patents (Brussels, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 1920x1080 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (615 MB)

Play Introduction to Free Software (Delft, 2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Free Software (2011)

Copyright © 2011 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play Free Software in Ethics and in Practice (Gaithersburg, MD, 2010)

Copyright © 2010 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Digital Free Society (Pristina, 2010)

Copyright © 2010 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Video 720x576 WebM VP9/Opus (590 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Evansdale, WV, 2010)

Copyright © 2010 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Video 720x480 WebM VP9/Opus (335 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (71.4 MB)

Play Copyright vs Public (Bern, 2010)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (70.5 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (New York, 2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis:

Play A Free Digital Society (Christchurch, 2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

To make a digital society worthy of being included in, we must overcome six menaces to freedom: surveillance, censorship, restricted data formats, proprietary software, software as a service, and the war on sharing.

--Richard Stallman


Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Christchurch, 2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play The Danger of Software Patents (Wellington, 2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Richard Stallman was a guest on Pcradioshow2.org (2) (2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman and PCRadio
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (13.3 MB)

Our guest was Richard Stallman, the man behind GNU and the Free Software Foundation. He condems the Amazon Kindle (his term for it is the “swindle”) because it takes away freedoms that readers of hardcopy books enjoy. Freedoms such as the ability to lend a book to a friend, to borrow one from a library, to buy one anonymously by paying cash, to keep a book as long as we like and to give it away. The Amazon Kindle implements DRM—digital rights management [sic]—to restrict your use of books. He is not against eBook readers per se, just the DRM, which in addition to the above also requires you to run proprietary software to read eBooks. He urged listeners to go to Defectivebydesign.org and sign up to participate in his protests.

--PCRadio


Play Copyright vs Community (Philadelphia, 2009)

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


Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Edmonton, 2009)

Copyright © 2009 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 United States License (CC BY-ND 3.0)

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (56.9 MB)

Play Copyright versus Community in the Age of Computer Networks (Calgary, 2009)

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

  • Video 512x288 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (472 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (52 MB)

Copyright developed in the age of the printing press, and was designed to fit with the system of centralized copying imposed by the printing press. But the copyright system does not fit well with computer networks, and only draconian punishments can enforce it. The global corporations that profit from copyright are lobbying for draconian punishments, and to increase their copyright powers, while suppressing public access to technology. But if we seriously hope to serve the only legitimate purpose of copyright—to promote progress, for the benefit of the public—then we must make changes in the other direction.


Play Free Software Movement (New York, 2009)

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

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (602 MB)

Play The Role of Free Knowledge and Free Software in Education and Research (Bengaluru, 2008)

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


Play Introduction to the Free Software Movement (2008)

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

  • Video 720x480 Ogg TheoraVorbis (66.3 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 Free Software in Ethics and in Practice (Manchester, 2008)

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

  • Video 720x576 Ogg TheoraVorbis (996 MB)

Play Free Software in Ethics and in Practice (Richmond, VA, 2008)

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

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (284 MB)

Play How GIMP Changed Mani's Life (2008)

Copyright © 2008 Abhigyan Singh (?)
Copyright © 2008 Ambedkar Community Computer Center AC3 (?)
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 United States (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play Richard Stallman was a guest on Pcradioshow2.org (1) (2007)

Copyright © 2007 Richard Stallman and PCRadio
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (12.4 MB)

Play Copyright vs Community (Mississauga, 2007)

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

  • Video 720x544 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (270 MB)

Play The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System (San Diego, 2007)

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

Corrupted Ogg, but can be played with VLC.

  • Video 640x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (156 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 The Free Software Movement and the Development of the GNU Operating System (2005)

Copyright © 2005 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Video 720x480 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (619 MB)

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 What is Free Software? (Hsinchu City, Taiwan, 2005)

Copyright © 2005 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Video 352x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (139 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (19 MB)

Play The Danger of Software Patents (Calgary, 2005)

Copyright © 2005 University of Calgary Unix Users' Group and Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (201 MB)
  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (79.6 MB)

Play The Dangers of Software Patents (Sydney, 2004)

Copyright © 2004 Richard Stallman (speech)
Copyright © 2004 John Jacobs (recording)
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 Software Freedom and the GNU Generation (Urbana, 2004)

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

BMK's speech starts with a few seconds of background noise. (Possibly the projection screen motor).

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (17.8 MB)

In this speech, Brad Kuhn, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, talks about his beginnings in the free software movement, and gives concrete examples from his experience as being a proprietary software developer as to why free software is a far better way to make and sell software. It should be considered a excellent introduction to free software. In the question and answer segment, Mr. Kuhn discusses with the audience far ranging topics that effect the future of the industry, such as the SCO v. IBM lawsuit, file formats, and the DMCA.

This speech was presented by the Free Software Society, a student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign dedicated to the promotion of free software.


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 The Dangers of Software Patents (London, 2003)

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

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (11.8 MB)

Play Software Patents – Dangers to Development (London, 2002)

Copyright © 2002 Richard Stallman, Nicholas Hill
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (51.1 MB)

Play Software Freedom and the GNU Generation (New York, 2002)

Copyright © 2002 Bradley M. Kuhn
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (18.5 MB)

Play Software Patents – Obstacles to software development (Cambridge, UK, 2002)

Copyright © 2002 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Copyright vs Community in the Age of Computer Networks (London, 2002)

Copyright © 2002 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (14.9 MB)

Play The Danger of Software Patents (Thrikkakara, Kerala, 2001)

Copyright © 2001 Richard Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 United States License (CC BY-ND 3.0)


Play Free Software: Freedom and Cooperation (New York, 2001)

Copyright © 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play Copyright and Globalization in the Age of Computer Networks (Cambridge, MA, 2001)

Copyright © 2001 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System (Cambridge, MA, 2001)

Copyright © 2001 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.


Play The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System (Ljubljana, 2000)

Copyright © 2000 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (20.3 MB)

Play The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System (Stuttgart, 2000)

Copyright © 2000 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

The recording is blank after 1h 57min.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (19.2 MB)

Play The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System (Cincinnati, 2000)

Copyright © 2000 Richard Stallman
License:  Verbatim copying and distribution of the entire speech recording are permitted provided this notice is preserved.

  • Audio Ogg Vorbis (22.1 MB)

Play Richard Stallman calls for the creation of a Free Universal Encyclopedia and Learning Resource (New Orleans, 1999)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)


Play Richard Stallman Interviewed at Radio Popolare (Milan, 1997)

Copyright © 1997 Richard Stallman and Gomma TV
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video 340x240 WebM VP9/Opus (100 MB)

Play Richard Stallman at the First Hackers Conference (1984)

Copyright © 1984 Richard Stallman (speech)
Copyright © 1985 Fabrice Florin (original video)
Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc. (this video)
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0)

  • Video (mixed clips) 540x360 WebM VP8/Vorbis (3.8 MB)

It was at this conference that Richard Stallman first publicly and explicitly stated the idea that all software should be free, and the ethical principles that set the foundations of the free software movement.

The scenes were extracted by the GNU Webmasters Team from the documentary Hackers: Wizards of the Electronic Age, with permission from Fabrice Florin, in May 2022.