Free software, free society: Richard Stallman at TEDxGeneva 2014

Why HN readers recommended it

HN uses it constantly as the reference for the argument that either the user controls the software or the software controls the user, and it is recommended as a basic introduction.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

TEDx Talks

Topic

free software philosophy

Format

talk

Level

intro

HN recommenders in dataset

2

HN mentions in dataset

20

Recommendation years in dataset

2014–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• You and all of the "Free Software" world have different definitions on free. I'd recommend this[1] talk by Richard Stallman, it's pretty basic, but it gets the idea across well. [1] [VIDEO]

• Sounds very frustrating. I don't use Windows on any of the computers I own. I prefer to have more control over my computer so I use Linux. I still have to use Windows at work, but I don't admin those machines so I don't have …

• Windows is closed source, full of ads and telemetry, and increasingly user hostile. MacOS is a mostly closed source, expensive, user-condescending walled garden. Linux, BSDs, and free / open source operating systems give the user freedom and control over their computing experience: [VIDEO]