BKFREFRE.RVW   20020514

"Free as in Freedom", Sam Williams, 2002, 0-596-00287-4,
U$22.95/C$34.95
%A   Sam Williams sam@inow.com
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   2002
%G   0-596-00287-4
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$22.95/C$34.95 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com
%P   225 p.
%T   "Free as in Freedom"

Richard Stallman would probably be worthy of a biography for his
production (management?) of emacs, alone.  But, of course, it is
Stallman's advocacy for free software that is the impetus behind, and
focus of, this work.

Williams' writing is very readable.  Which is a good thing, since it
is also quite circuitous.  The book takes a long time to come to the
point of certain stories, and a number of important bits of
information have to be put together from widely separated sections in
order to make a proper picture.  Early on the text suggests, of
Stallman, that you have to see the totality of a large number of
seemingly unrelated aspects in order to get a full picture: a similar
point could be made about the writing.  Some items never do get
explained.  An aside implies that Stallman is (at least somewhat)
estranged from his mother, but we are never told why or how this
happened.  I would readily admit the right of a biography subject to
some privacy, but the basic point of such a work is to find out what
it was in the past of the person that moulded character and prompted
actions.  This text is singularly devoid of such analysis.

The author uses a fairly standard flashback technique in developing
the narrative: events in the near present are interlaced with a mostly
linear, if rather patchy, progression through Stallman's life.  While
not completely disjointed, the style does not work as well in this
volume as in others.  If there is a connection between the current
events and the "historical" periods covered it is not evident, and the
intercutting is annoying without seeming to make any specific
statement or contribution.

It is interesting to note the extreme care in researching some
conversations in contrast with simple technical mistakes, such as the
confusion of HTML (HyperText Markup Language) with desktop publishing. 
Despite Williams' stated background in the technical world, the
technology is not dealt with well in the story, and this failure
weakens the explanation of Stallman's significance.

An interesting read, but important only for the compilation of facts
and quotes about its subject.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001   BKFREFRE.RVW   20020514