Richard Stallman, Founder of the Free Software Foundation Australia Tour

Richard Stallman, Founder of the Free Software Foundation is in Australia for the World Computer Congress (WCC) which is in Brisbane next week (20-23rd Sept - http://www.wcc2010.org). Richard will be speaking to Victorian ICT professionals at two events, hosted by the Australian Computer Society, the nation’s peak body for ICT professionals - www.acs.org.au/rmstour.

Richard Stallman is an American software freedom activist and computer programmer. In September 1983, he launched the GNU Project to create a free Unix-like operating system, and has been the project's lead architect and organizer. With the launch of the GNU Project, he initiated the free software movement; in October 1985 he founded the Free Software Foundation.

Stallman pioneered the concept of copyleft and he is the main author of several copyleft licenses including the GNU General Public License, the most widely used free software license.

Since the mid-1990s, Stallman has spent most of his time advocating for free software, as well as campaigning against both software patents and what he sees as excessive extension of copyright laws.

When & Where:                                     
Wednesday 15th September
Time: 6.00PM start
Location: Copland Theatre
Economics and Commerce Building,
University of Melbourne, VIC
Thursday 16th September
Time: 6.00PM start    
Location: Brewery Lecture Theatre,118-120 Lydiard Street, Ballarat, VIC