Linux: It's the Freedom You Big Dummy

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This Memorial Day weekend reminds us all of those who sacrificed their lives for freedom and to protect a way of life that is based on freedom. While considering the brave men and women who stood up for what is right over the past 250 years, it made me realize a similar thing about Linux. No one has given his life for Linux but certainly there have been sacrifices. But, like their armed soldier counterparts, it isn't about the sacrifice, it's the freedom you big dummy.

We have the freedom to choose the operating system we use on our computers. We have the freedom to choose the software that's installed in that operating system. We also have the freedom to say "No" to non-free software.

We have freedom.

It occurred to me that the people who sacrificed countless hours, talent and money to these free software projects weren't doing it for fame or fortune but to give all of us the freedom to choose. That's freedom.

I suspect that there are very few people who really want to die for a cause, regardless of their passion for it, but those sacrifices give the rest of the world a freedom that is beyond price. It's almost beyond comprehension.

I applaud and praise all those who've given of themselves for the good of us all. Thank you for our freedom. Thank you for your sacrifices. Thank you for our ability to choose. It is by standing on the shoulders of giants that we see farther than those who came before us.

Here is a list of those I wish to thank for these freedoms. These are the veterans of the free software movement. These are the ones who've sacrificed much for the common good.

Richard Stallman
Miguel de Icaza
Mark Shuttleworth
Linus Torvalds
Larry Wall
Eric Raymond
Bob Young
Guido van Rossum
Tim O'Reilly
Bruce Perens
Patrick Volkerding
Larry Augustin
Ian Murdock
Ken Thompson
Dennis Ritchie
Brian Kernighan
Tim Berners-Lee

There are others who've given much to the good fight as well. These are the ones who came to mind immediately as the free software leaders.

So, the next time you boot a Linux system, think of these people who had no idea that they were affecting history, were changing they way the world works and were changing computing forever.
Without these great people standing on the shoulders of giants, I might be typing on an IBM XXXV and you'd read this a dead tree version of this article in three or four months.

Congratulations to those of you who recognize these great people and their contributions to the world you now enjoy.

Can you think of any more people that I need to add to the list?

Dani AI

Generated

As framed it, the core of the story is freedom — practical control over the tools that run things. That point stands. The post honors visible leaders, and ’s note about display/hardware contributors shows how many smaller, technical efforts make systems usable on real machines. The list is a great start, and ’s humor is a reminder that community culture matters too.

Practical steps to preserve and exercise that freedom include:

  • Verify license and activity: a clear LICENSE file plus recent commits and an open issue tracker are signs of a project that can be relied on.
  • Check maintenance and security posture: look for recent releases, a public changelog, and responsiveness to reported vulnerabilities.
  • Test before switching: use live media or a VM and take snapshots so rollbacks are painless.
  • Watch for non-free firmware/drivers: inspect kernel logs and package metadata for firmware requests; prefer projects that document licensing for binary blobs.
  • Give back in ways that scale: reproducible bug reports, small documentation fixes, translations, packaging help, or modest donations all multiply the freedom others created.

Contribution and etiquette tips: follow the project’s CONTRIBUTING guidelines and preferred workflow, include minimal repro steps and relevant logs in bug reports, keep patches small and focused, and respect maintainer time. Non-code contributions are often the quickest way to improve user experience and long-term project health.

Freedom is not only a slogan; it is an ecosystem maintained by many hands. Acknowledging high-profile founders is fine, but remembering and supporting the maintainers, packagers, testers, and documenters completes the picture and keeps that freedom practical and durable.

Member Avatar for AlVest
AlVest 0 Newbie Poster

I nominate Eric Anholt and Robert Noland for this list. Thanks primarily to their efforts we have X11 on FreeBSD.

Member Avatar for Master Rattley
Master Rattley -1 Junior Poster

I nominate Master Rattley for inventing a non Religious cult, containing Midgets and party pies.

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