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Software and Copyright.

Computer programmer Richard Stallman. Stallman's a genius, he's been called "the best programmer who's ever lived", and he received one the MacArthur Foundation's so-called "Genius Awards," but he's become more widely known for his push to make computer programs freely accessible to everyone. Instead of software companies charging hundreds or thousands of dollars for programs and forbidding the purchasers from giving copies to other people, Stallman wants an unrestricted exchange of programs, and thereby the creativity that they represent. To further these aims he created what he calls the "Free Software Foundation." (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

17:35
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Other segments from the episode on August 8, 1991

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 8, 1991: Interview with Richard Stallman; Review of Tom Lutz's book "American Nervousness"; Interview with Paul Schullery; Review of Aaron Neville's album "Warm…
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04:34

Reading "American Nervousness" is Itself Nerve Wracking.

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews "American Nervousness." It's a new book by Tom Lutz about a turn of the century disease called neurasthenia. Neurasthenia was a term applied to a wide variety of conditions related to just being "stressed out" by 19th century life. Perversely, neurasthenia was taken as a sign of status, that if you suffered from it, it meant you were fashionably sensitive. (It's published by Cornell University Press).

Review
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15:57

Nature Writer Paul Schullery Discusses the Effects of Fires on Yellowstone.

Nature writer Paul Schullery. Schullery has a new collection of essays, called "Pregnant Bears and Crawdad Eyes" (published by the Mountaineers). Schullery also writes and talks often about Yellowstone National Park, where he's lived off and on for 15 years. That's the subject of his earlier book, "Mountain Time: Man Meets Wilderness in Yellowstone" (published by Fireside/Simon and Schuster). (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Interview
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05:08

A Brisk, Pop Album.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews "Warm Your Heart." It's the first solo album in a decade from Aaron Neville, of the Neville Brothers. The album was produced by Linda Rondstadt.

Review

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21:08

Ellen Ullman Discusses Her Life "Close to the Machine."

Computer software engineer and NPR commentator Ellen Ullman. Her book is titled "Close to the Machine" (City Lights). It's her semi-autobiographical account of a computer programmer trying to reconcile her work -- machines and information -- with the need for human contact and the feel of living in the real world. (Interview by Barbara Bogaev)

Interview
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36:45

Computer programmer Linus Torvalds

He is the creator of Linux, a computer operating system intended to improve upon UNIX. When Torvalds wrote the original code in 1991, he sent it out on the internet to allow anyone to make changes and improvements. So Linux was developed by a committee of thousands. In the past few years, investors backed Linux, thinking it an alternative operating system to Microsofts. However, with the recent crash in tech stocks, Linux suffered. Torvalds has just written a new memoir, called Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary.

Linux creator and software pioneer Linus Torvalds
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21:30

Author Glyn Moody

His new book is called Rebel Code: Linux and the Open Source Revolution (Perseus, 2001). It charts the movement begun by computer programmers who believe software should be given away for free. Moody is a London-based writer whose work has appeared in Wired, The Economist, and The Financial Times.

Interview

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