Rating: 
Summary: Interesting insights into an eccentric scientist
Review: ...Such is the challenge that all biographer's face, and Williams does a good job of sorting out the intricacies of Stallman's inspirations and motivations. In fact, it is Stallman's head that has been both his greatest advantage and detriment. His pure intellect is what enabled him to code for days at a time and develop the concept of free software. It enabled him to execute those ideas in classic pieces of software such as the Emacs editor, EDMA modular development environment, GCC compiler, and much more... But although Stallman's intellectual prowess was clearly genius material, his inability to effectively deal with people and his need to macro-manage alienated many of those around him. Williams cites an incident wherein a dinner guest innocuously uttered the phrase "God forbid," to which Stallman replied, "I hate to break it to you, but there is no God." Such utterances are indicative of Stallman's inner demons, many of which are related to the fact that he likely suffers from Asberger syndrome. (Asberger syndrome is one of the disorders on the autistic spectrum. For a fascinating look at how Asberger syndrome affects an inordinately high number of people in the technology industry, see "The Geek Syndrome".. Whereas Stallman is an acutely individualistic person who, in his early days, simply wanted to be left alone to code, Linus Torvalds is a much more personable and pleasant person. That trait alone is not what made Linux so ubiquitous, but it is a key reason why the operating system is known as Linux, and not GNU/Linux -- much to Stallman's chagrin. Williams describes numerous instances wherein Stallman chastised him for inadvertently using the term Linux and not GNU/Linux. The book's epilogue does indeed decipher what it was that drove Stallman to free software: crushing loneliness. Williams details the connection between loneliness on a physical and spiritual level to loneliness on a hacker level. The impulse to share code is about friendship, albeit on a low level. Stallman admits that loneliness, or the fear of perpetual loneliness, played a major role in fueling his determination during the earliest days of the GNU project. Fortunately for Stallman, he eventually found love and a soul mate in a woman named Sarah. The best biography is in fact an autobiography, but Stallman would likely never pen his own memoirs. Williams has created a well-written and well-researched life history of Richard Stallman. Free as in Freedom is an engrossing look at one of the seminal figures in the Open Source/Free Software movement.
Rating: 
Summary: Carpe Diem! (or don't)
Review: I found Free as in Freedom in the library, Deweyed on the
the same shelf as computer programming methodologies.
Reading it has given me some strength to be more uncompromising
in applying ethical convictions to life.
One of the more interesting aspects of the story is the attitude that when you are in the right, you can wait and the rest of
the world will come around to your point of view.
As a software developer who has several times seen his work
ignored by befuddled friends and family only to a few months
later see similar ideas expressed in full page glossy adverts,
I found this validating.
Rating:
Summary: You don't have to like him but you must respect him
Review: I really didn't have high expectations for this book, I figured it would be nothing more than a historical account of the accomplishments of RMS, I was dead wrong. "Free as in Freedom" looks at RMS from a personal and technical level. From his beginnings as an awkward boy in NYC, all the way to rise of the free software movement. I figured this book would be written from extremely pro-gnu standpoint, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an objective account of Richard's issues with the open source movement.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: If the previous reviewer can criticize the book without having read it, then so can I. I purchased the book and intend to read it, ASAP. If the author, rms, makes a buck on it, this in no way implies he has "sold out". rms has often used his own money to help fund the Free Software Foundation's projects. It is voices like Stallman's that need to resound in our world of software monopolies, unfair marketing, and right-to-privacy abuses. I would urge those with an axe to grind against the Open Source movement, to at least read the book before condemning it.
Rating:
Summary: vapor reviews
Review: If the previous reviewer can criticize the book without having read it, then so can I. I purchased the book and intend to read it, ASAP. If the author, rms, makes a buck on it, this in no way implies he has "sold out". rms has often used his own money to help fund the Free Software Foundation's projects. It is voices like Stallman's that need to resound in our world of software monopolies, unfair marketing, and right-to-privacy abuses. I would urge those with an axe to grind against the Open Source movement, to at least read the book before condemning it.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling profile of an very controversial maverick
Review: It's hard to be neutral about Richard Stallman. Some people love him--others hate him. But he's been the key player in the free software movement. This nicely written book helps us to understand what makes him tick, and why he is what he is. It goes back to his youth and even includes interviews with his mother. The book is by no means a defense of Stallman. Instead, it probes beneath the surface and chronicles the events that have made him such a prominent and sometimes enigmatic figure among free software and open source developers. While Stallman cooperated with the author, he has no financial connections with the book (to address the concerns of one reviewer here).
Rating:
Summary: Good look into a rather unusual fellow
Review: RMS has always been a bit of a compelling figure and one wonders what makes him tick. I learned quite a few interesting things about him but, after reading the book, still didn't have the insight I would have hoped to have had. Perhaps that's a limitation of biographies about people who are still living. In any case, it's interesting to see what the Free Software movement has become and how it has evolved/changed over the past 20 years. And, in my mind, Stallman's greatest accomplishment may not have been any particular piece of software but rather the GNU Public license. The development of that is discussed in much depth. Roger
Rating:
Summary: Good look into a rather unusual fellow
Review: RMS has always been a bit of a compelling figure and one wonders what makes him tick. I learned quite a few interesting things about him but, after reading the book, still didn't have the insight I would have hoped to have had. Perhaps that's a limitation of biographies about people who are still living. In any case, it's interesting to see what the Free Software movement has become and how it has evolved/changed over the past 20 years. And, in my mind, Stallman's greatest accomplishment may not have been any particular piece of software but rather the GNU Public license. The development of that is discussed in much depth. Roger
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated Book, Underrated Genius
Review: Short story: this book deserves 2.5 stars at best. For the longer version, read on. First the good news. Williams takes some pains to understand and accurately portray RMS, which, from all indications, is no easy task. FAIF, in taking this measured look, does supply some perspective to this at times under-appreciated contributor to the "new" computer revolution. I also appreciated the eclectic trajectories of the author. First, Williams publishes FAIF under the Gnu Free Document License (GFDL), thereby making it a "free book". Although a completely natural step considering the subject matter, publishing the book as such is an important extension of the general principle that certain ideas should be freely accessible and modifiable. Second, he borrows from a range of excellent sources, even going so far as to reference "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" in the Epilogue! Furthermore, the abridged history of the roots of hackerdom is particularly well done, if somewhat thickly worded. Attention was also clearly paid to chapter length, making that aspect of the book "readable" and pleasant. Now for the not-so-good news. The writing style is far from fluid: I didn't feel as though I was lead through the events in the book so much as I was thrown into them. To make matters worse, some events were irrelevant (I still can't figure out why the treatment of RMS's mother's politics were given so much attention), others over-quoted (I can read Levy's "Hackers" myself), while still others were just plain inaccurate. The last of these transgressions is certainly the most serious, and merits some detail. As one example, on page 143 Williams describes the Linux kernel as "a bored-out, super-charged version of Minix." He continues, "Rather than building their operating system from scratch, Torvalds and his rapidly expanding Linux development team had followed the old Picasso adage, 'good artists borrow, great artists steal'", alluding to his apparent belief that Linux is some sort of clever rehash of something that came before it. These inaccuracies are not merely an excusable smudging of the facts. In "Just For Fun" (a source to which Williams points frequently enough), Torvalds dedicates *an entire chapter* (Chapter X) to debunking the mythical connections between Minix and Linux (no boring-out, no super-charging). Torvalds also evinces on pp. 77-8 in JFF (paperback edition), the processes involved in writing the operating system. "My terminal emulator grew legs", he says; later "I wrote a disk driver", and finally "I made my filesystem compatible with the Minix system". None of these actions so much as hints at borrowing, not to mention stealing, anything. In fact, at this point *all* of the work appears to be that of Torvalds, and *is* from scratch. (Of course, code reuse isn't a sin anyway, but rather should be-and frequently is-a blessing, as I'm sure RMS himself would readily admit. Regardless, the pejorative tone and inaccurate reporting is no less obnoxious for being subtle.) Other examples of spin doctoring and untruths can also be found in uncomfortable abundance. Much of the combative posturing vis-à-vis the GNU/Linux and Open Source communities-particularly in relation to the personages of Torvalds and ESR, I found wholly unproductive. These egregious gestures on the part of Williams show a blatant bias to RMS, as either shunned hero or undeserved victim. Elements of both of these are likely true, but not likely to the degree expressed by Williams (or felt by RMS??). In any event, the lack of perspective by the author for his subject is journalistically weak. And finally, Williams manages to hit a couple of lesser pet peeves of mine. Neither proofreading nor fact checking is my idea of pleasantly interacting with a book. Not only could FAIF have stood another reading before going to press, a spellchecker could have caught a number of obvious spelling errors. To those who would suggest that the GFDL is employed precisely to improve the book, I would suggest that the license should not be used as a shield to ward off criticism of sloppy work. Anyway, if you want something concise, this will do. Fwiw, I'd advise checking out the site of the book online first, paying attention to the sources that sound interesting, and *reading those first*. Then go to gnu.org or slashdot.org and read items of interest about RMS there. If you still aren't satisfied, you can always go back to faifzilla and read FAIF online (it's more up to date anyway). If after that you STILL want the pen-and-ink version, you know where it's available.
Rating:
Summary: Free As In Freedom, Not Beer
Review: The Avg. Customer Rating for this book has been unfairly reduced due to the review by "pelegrinus" who has not only NOT READ THE BOOK but has successfully demonstated that he/she has NOT EVEN READ THE TITLE! It is "Free As In Freedom," not "Free As In Beer."
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