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







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 * La educación y el conocimiento libres (2008)

Copyright © 2008 Richard M. Stallman
License:  Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 3.0 (CC BY-ND 3.0)

In this six-min video Richard Stallman explains briefly and to the point the principles of Free Software and how they connect to education.


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 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 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 Freedom in Practice at the Irimpanam School (2010)

License:  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 (CC BY-SA 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 Entrevista Stallman en Canal 2 Andalucía, en el programa Tesis (2008)

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

  • Video 320x240 Ogg Theora/Vorbis (21.2 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 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 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.