Dr. Richard M. Stallman the author of the GNU Public License (GPL) and the Founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is now on a visit to Sri Lanka. Dr. Stallman, fondly known as RMS is considered one of the most influential thinkers on technology of the day.

His visit to SL is facilitated by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). Sri Lanka holds two public events which was absolutely free to the general public. One of the two events is currently being held at the SLIIT Auditorium, Malabe today (18 ^th) and the other was held on January 16^th at the University of Peradeniya.

Addressing the gathering at Peradeniya, Dr. Stallman spoke on the topic of "Free Software in Ethics and in Practice" which cover the goals and philosophy of the Free Software Movement, and the status and history of the GNU operating system, which in combination with the kernel Linux is now used by millions of users world-wide.

Dr.Stallman launched the development of the GNU operating system in 1984. The GNU/Linux system, basically the GNU operating system with Linux added, is used around the world as a computer operating system.

He has received the ACM Grace Hopper Award, a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Pioneer award, and the Takeda Award for Social/Economic Betterment, as well as several honorary doctorates.