Over 230 people attended the speech on free software and freedom delivered in Yerevan by Richard Stallman, the founder of Free Software Movement.
Free software is not a technical but a socio-economic and ethic issue, according to Mr. Stallman, a fierce opponent to proprietary software.
“If government is using proprietary software – it's a disaster… like inviting the CIA for couple of days,” he said.
During the lecture, Mr. Stallman auctioned a gnu toy, selling it for AMD 65 thousand ($180).
As he noted in a conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter, “in general former communist countries do not take up free software very much. When the soviet union fell, in Russia and mostly in Eastern Europe too people were only interested in how they could make money.”
“Now it’s starting to change. In China there is a free software movement and it seems to be a lot of enthusiasm in Armenia. Places where there is a tremendous demand for free software are South America and India and in some European countries – Spain or France,” he said.
The founder of Free Software Movement will also visit Georgia.
