"Free software permits students to learn how software works. Some students, on reaching their teens, want to learn everything there is to know about their computer and its software. They are intensely curious to read the source code of the programs that they use every day. To learn to write good code, students need to read lots of code and write lots of code. They need to read and understand real programs that people really use. Only free software permits this. Proprietary software rejects their thirst for knowledge: it says, “The knowledge you want is a secret — learning is forbidden!” Free software encourages everyone to learn. The free software community rejects the “priesthood of technology”, which keeps the general public in ignorance of how technology works; we encourage students of any age and situation to read the source code and learn as much as they want to know. Schools that use free software will enable gifted programming students to advance."
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Activists from the United StatesAcademics from the United StatesPeople from New York CityProgrammers from the United StatesFree software activists
Original Language: English
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Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software (2003)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman
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Richard Stallman
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