The event is free and open to the public. This will be Dr. Stallman’s first talk at a U.S. college since his cancer diagnosis and successful recovery in 2019. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that we will be accepting cash-only donations for our fundraiser at the event.
If you’ll be in Atlanta that week - or simply want the opportunity to see and meet Dr. Stallman - this is a rare chance you won’t want to miss!
The first and only time I met Richard Stallman was at a small private talk in Palo Alto at MacAurthur Park. About 20 people at most I would say. His rigor and attentiveness to detail stood out brightly, even amongst a room full of PhDs and others. I was startled by the talk at the time and I have to say that those ideas have never left me since then. The content of his careful polemic have only grown in weight and relevancy today, whatever your own views are.
It is an honor and achievement of a society that Richard Stallman may speak and say what he chooses to say, in 2025.
I believe Stallman's doctorate is honorary. Courtesy of Wikipedia:
>With regard to the use of this honorific, the policies of institutions of higher education generally ask that recipients "refrain from adopting the misleading title" and that a recipient of an honorary doctorate should restrict the use of the title "Dr" before their name to any engagement with the institution of higher education in question and not within the broader community.
This, however, does not overshadow his contribution to computing and I must say that as of 2025, he has been right about most things (with the possible exception of secure boot).
I'm ok with the honorary Dr thing but the article says he completed graduate studies. He actually quit grad school (MIT theoretical physics) for personal reasons and focused on software after that.
Taking about physics still always seemed to make him happy. I was once tempted to invite him to a study session for a QM class I was taking. He helped me with a problem set and his explanations were WAY clearer than the professor's or TA's. I think his understanding of the subject was simply better than theirs.
GCC was surely worth a non-honorary CS PhD all by itself. I can say that because the guy who wrote LLVM got one for doing basically the same thing 30 years later.
(Bob used to say that he was planning to get a PhD by the “green stamp method,” namely by saving envelopes addressed to him as “Dr. Floyd.” After collecting 500 such letters, he mused, a university somewhere in Arizona would probably grant him a degree.)
8 comments
[ 14.4 ms ] story [ 601 ms ] threadIf you’ll be in Atlanta that week - or simply want the opportunity to see and meet Dr. Stallman - this is a rare chance you won’t want to miss!
It is an honor and achievement of a society that Richard Stallman may speak and say what he chooses to say, in 2025.
>With regard to the use of this honorific, the policies of institutions of higher education generally ask that recipients "refrain from adopting the misleading title" and that a recipient of an honorary doctorate should restrict the use of the title "Dr" before their name to any engagement with the institution of higher education in question and not within the broader community.
This, however, does not overshadow his contribution to computing and I must say that as of 2025, he has been right about most things (with the possible exception of secure boot).
Taking about physics still always seemed to make him happy. I was once tempted to invite him to a study session for a QM class I was taking. He helped me with a problem set and his explanations were WAY clearer than the professor's or TA's. I think his understanding of the subject was simply better than theirs.
GCC was surely worth a non-honorary CS PhD all by itself. I can say that because the guy who wrote LLVM got one for doing basically the same thing 30 years later.
I suppose that Stallman must have received enough letters.