The people I look up to are not programmers; they are people who have campaigned steadfastly for freedom. I admire Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Ralph Nader, and Dennis Kucinich. I admire other people who are less well known, when I find out about them; people like Albert Langer, who was imprisoned for telling Australians, "Tweedledum and Tweedledee--Vote 1, 2, 3, 3." His point was that people should refuse to state a preference between the two major parties.

What is your current Operating system set up for day to day computer use at the moment?

I use the GNU operating system, with Linux as the kernel.

Where does the future for RMS, the free software movement and the GNU project lie ?

I can't tell you what the future will bring, because it depends on you. If you help defend freedom, it may endure, for you and for others. If you leave it to others to defend freedom, we all may lose it.

Consider Australia, for instance. On a previous visit, I saw a copy of the Magna Carta enshrined in Canberra. I'm sure it is still there, a symbol of freedom, even though the rights it established have been largely abolished. The Australian government can now detain you just because of who you have met, and imprison you just for not answering questions. The Attorney General, with the consent of a few other officials, could declare ZDnet a "terrorist organization" tomorrow, without a trial, and you would have no recourse. They can ban a club, a union, even a political party. If you are connected with the banned organisation, you are a criminal, guilty by association. It is unnecessary to prove you actually tried to hurt anyone.

These laws are supposed to protect you from "terrorists", but they are more dangerous than terrorists. Governments are more powerful and can do more harm.

What is your fascination with Australian Parrots?

Many of them are beautiful, and pet parrots are sometimes very friendly in a clownish and uneffusive way. I especially enjoy it when a parrot likes my recorder playing. Once a budgie was so delighted that it ran up and down the recorder. It wasn't easy to keep playing during that!

Outside the GNU project, what are some of the more interesting free software projects you are attracted to right now?

There is so much free software now that I mostly don't try to keep track of it. There are over 3000 packages listed in the Free Software Directory. I'm sure I've never heard of most of them personally.

However, I think that development of a free BIOS is particularly important. The main obstacle is that computer manufacturers have not released all the information necessary to do the work. We are looking for companies willing to cooperate with the community in this way.

Other than software licenses, patents, copyright, copyleft, GNU and Free software, what do you think are some of the technology challenges developers face in 2004?

The worst challenge is laws that explicitly ban free software for certain jobs are starting to proliferate. The US is considering a ban on free software to receive digital TV signals. It already has a law that has been interpreted as banning free software to play a DVD. The proposed US-Australia "Free Trade" Agreement would impose some of these prohibitions on Australia.

The Southern Ocean has the biggest waves because they roll on and on around Antarctica without ever stopping. Today's global megacorporations roll on and on around the world without stopping, so they can often swamp democratic resistance to their demands. This situation did not arise by chance; it was constructed through international institutions and through "free trade" treaties which really are designed to give business more power.

The duty of the world's governments is to restore democracy. Creating obstacles for the megacorporations, breakwaters so to speak, will make them smaller, weaker, and easier to keep in their place in the future. Instead of signing this treaty, Australia should withdraw from the WTO, so Australians can decide their own laws once again.

Can you sing the free software song in Sydney for us at the Builder Conference in October? ;-)

I will do it if people are sure they don't mind.

Richard Stallman will be appearing as a keynote speaker at the inaugural Builder Conference, to be held in Sydney from October 5 of this year. For more information, click here.