WEBVTT

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Computers

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I've loved them since I've been able to
afford to have my own

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back in the beginning of the modern computer era,

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the 1980s.

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And I've owned a large number of different kinds of computer

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and I've expressed, publicly, loyalty to this kind or that kind.

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But recently my mind has turned, as many people's have,
to this whole business of Free Software.

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There is a lot of confusion about what this means

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and I'd like to help clear it up

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because this happens to be a year of celebration,

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and I want to help us all celebrate it

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and to look forward to the future of Free Software.

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If you have

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plumbing in your house

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it may be that you don't understand it,

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but you may have a friend that does

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and they may suggest you move a pipe here, a stopcock there,

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or a valve somewhere else.

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And you're not breaking the law by doing that, are you?

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Because it's your house and you own the plumbing.

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You can't do that with your computer.

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You can't actually fiddle with your operating system,

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and you certainly can't share any ideas you have about
your operating system with other people

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because Apple and Microsoft, who run the two most popular operating systems

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are very firm about that fact that they own that

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and no one else can have anything to do with it.

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Now this may seem natural to you:

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"Why shouldn't they?"

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But actually, Why can't you do what you like?

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And why can't the community alter, improve, and share?

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That's how science works, after all...

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All knowledge is free,

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and all knowledge is shared in good science.

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If it isn't -- it's bad science

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and it's a kind of tyranny.

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And this is, really, where it all started

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A man called Richard Stallman

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decided 25 years ago, almost to this very day, to

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write a whole new operating system from the ground up.

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He called this system GNU which stands for "GNU is Not Unix"

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because it isn't Unix,

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it is similar to Unix in many ways,

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but every element of it, every module, every little section of the code

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(and it's a gigantic code because it's to run on many platforms)

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is run by the community, run by coders "out there"

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who are welcomed in to the GNU community, to help improve the software.

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Every "distro", as they are called, every distribution of GNU

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is tested, worked upon, and refined

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by people whose only interest is creating the perfect operating system

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that can be used across the spectrum of platforms and by as many users as possible.

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Now, there came a time when the kernel, which
is the central part of an operating system,
needed to be written.

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And a man called Linus Torvalds, of whom you may have heard,

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wrote the kernel and it was named after his name,

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Linux (line-ucks)

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or Linux (Lin-ucks) as some people pronounce it.

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And Linux is the kernel that runs within GNU

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and I'm here

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simply to remind you that GNU and Linux are the twin pillars
of the Free Software community,

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people who believe, and this is the important part,

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that software should be Free,

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that the community of users should be allowed to adapt it,

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adopt it, change it, to improve it, and to spread those improvements around,

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like science.

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That's basically what it is saying.

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In the same way that good scientists share everything
and all knowledge is open and free

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so it should be with an operating system.

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So, if you're a supporter of GNU,

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if you're a support of Linux, and the Free Software Foundation,

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you are probably wondering "Well what can I do?"

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The most obvious thing you can do is use a GNU/Linux operating system
on your own computer.

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It's much easier than you might think.

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Go to the website "gnu.org" and see if you can find an operating system
that suits you.

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Probably, if you like a good graphical user-interface,

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something like g-New-Sense, gNewSense

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You'll see it there on gnu.org.

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Or, if you're a really smart cookie,

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you might want to do your own coding.

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You might want to contribute to the sum of knowledge

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that makes GNU and Linux what they are.

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Either way,

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I hope you will join me

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in wishing GNU a very happy twenty-fifth birthday.

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Lets do that now, actually...

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Happy birthday, GNU!

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Twenty-five years old.

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The operating system of the future.

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Freedom!

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Chocolaty good.

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The tastiest operating system in the world...

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and it's all free.

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Captions: Gregory Maxwell
