Sign upSign InSign upSign InMember-only storyRakia Ben SassiFollowLevel Up Coding--ShareIt was the early 1980s at the prestigious MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Within the lab, there was a particular nuisance — a printer that had an uncanny knack for jamming at the most inconvenient moments.Richard Stallman, a young and passionate computer programmer, was frustrated by this recurring annoyance at his workplace. Together with his fellow tech-savvy colleagues, he embarked on a mission.They ingeniously modified the printer’s Software to ensure that it would now send out a helpful notification whenever it dared to jam.The lab’s productivity soared, and they reveled in their newfound printing prowess.But fate has a way of testing the mettle of visionaries. When the lab received a shiny new printer from Xerox, their excitement soon waned.This time, the software was a sealed vault of secrets — proprietary and off-limits. Stallman’s hands, once deft at sculpting software to meet their needs, were now tied.He reached out to Xerox, hoping to obtain the coveted source code, the key to unlock the printer’s potential. But to his dismay, the company gates remained firmly shut; Xerox refused to share the digital secrets.This pivotal moment was an awakening for Stallman.Proprietary software, with its tight grip on source code, was stifling the very essence of freedom in computing.The collaborative spirit that had long thrived in the computing community was under threat. Stallman was not about to stand idly by. The fire in his heart and his unwavering determination ignited the spark of a revolution.On that fateful day, September 27, 1983, Richard Stallman made a resounding proclamation to the world — the birth of the GNU project.GNU stands for “GNU’s Not Unix,” which is a playful and slightly recursive acronym.----Level Up CodingGoogle Developer Expert in Angular, WTM Ambassador, a seasoned software engineer, Content Creator | YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tekforgeRakia Ben SassiinLevel Up Coding--4Victor TimiinLevel Up Coding--30Arslan AhmadinLevel Up Coding--17Rakia Ben Sassiinعقول نيرة--41Pen MagnetinLevel Up Coding--23Rachel GreenberginEntrepreneur's Handbook--22Cassie Kozyrkov--8Nikhil VemuinMac O’Clock--18Thomas SmithinBetter Marketing--79AL Anany--335HelpStatusWritersBlogCareersPrivacyTermsAboutText to speechTeams