# Software Libre Liberec
Richard Stallman at Technical University of Liberec.

The Faculty of Mechatronics invites you to a lecture about free software and freedom in the digital society with Richard Stallman.

The lecture will take place on the 7th of May 2025 from 16:30 in the auditorium of building G at the Technical University of Liberec.

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# Topic introduction

There are many threats to freedom in the digital society. They include nonfree software, massive surveillance, and censorship.
Nonfree proprams are often designed to restrict users, control users or manipulate uesers. The War on Sharing aims to stop users from sharing copies of published works. Computers for voting make election results untrustworthy.
Other threats come from use of web services, implemented by companies that can impose any conditions whatsoever.
Finally, most internet activities (aside from those which existed before 2000) are precarious, dependent on permission from one company.
All of these threats originate more or less in the use of nonfree software. That is why free software is the first battle in the liberation of the digital society.

# Who is Richard Stallman?

Dr Richard Stallman launched the free software movement in 1983 and started the development of the GNU operating system (see www.gnu.org) in 1984. GNU is free software: everyone has the freedom to copy it and redistribute it, with or without changes. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU operating system with Linux as the kernel, is used on tens of millions of computers today.

Stallman has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award and the ACM Software and Systems Award, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer Award, and the the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, as well as many doctorates honoris causa, and has been inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame. If you are also interested in his other projects or ideas, you can visit his personal website, where he regularly adds new content.

Dr Richard Stallman
Founder of the Free Software Foundation
Founder and development leader of the GNU operating system

# About the lecture

The lecture will be held in English with automatically generated Czech subtitles.

Mr Stallman's actual lecture will be about an hour in length. Its main focus will be ethical issues in the field of digital technology. It will also cover free software – a movement that Mr. Stallman himself founded. It will focus on the dangers of the constant proliferation of non-free software in our digital society, how such software limits us as users, and how we can fight against it with free software.

An intractive Q&A session will follow after the lecture, also being about an hour in length. If you have questions for Mr. Stallman related to the lecture topics, we would recommend to prepare them in advance. Questions can be submitted either on paper or through a dedicated website. Following the discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to take photographs with Mr. Stallman, have memorabilia signed or purchase items related to the GNU operating system or the Free Software Foundation.

# FAQ

## Who is this lecture for?

The lecture is aimed both at the technical as well as the broader audience with interests in ethical issues in the digital society.

## What is the admission fee?

Admission is free for everyone.

## Can I come to the lecture with a friend/acquaintance/family?

Yes, the lecture will be open to all those who are interested, not just the members of the Technical university. Like most of Mr. Stallman's lectures, it is intended for the general public.

## How do I find the auditorium where the lecture will take place?

The auditorium is located in building G at the Technical University of Liberec. More precisely, its coordinates are 50.773395,15.076628.

And below is a map with its location.

Open map