Thanks, BobSmith. There are a number of people in the open source pantheon, among them Bruce Perens and Eric Raymond. However, Richard Stallman, as author of the GPL and one of the most prolific authors in the open source movement, certainly fills the role of Zeus. Perens and Raymond serve many purposes, though a number of their recent writings seem aimed at channeling the open source community’s ire towards an enemy (usually Microsoft, who is portrayed as an evil Zelig that they inevitably see standing in the shadows in photo opportunities with open source critics). Stallman, however, rarely dirties his hands with such things, leaving him free to operate in the ethereal realm of open source philosophy.
Stallman serves his purpose well, even if I often disagree with him. What motivated me to write this response, however, were six simple words included in his recent article: Free software does not mean "gratis".
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