Reported Errors


The following is a list of reported errors in the onine and book versions of Free as in Freedom. If you have spotted an error not included in this list, please direct it to my attention. You can reach me at sam@inow.com.

To speed up error correction, please try to present your error report in the format used below. List the location as explicitly as possible, the nature of the error and the suggested fix. If your point of reference is the book version, please be sure to include the page and paragraph number in your report. If you come across the error in the online version, please include the chapter and paragraph number. I will be incorporating line numbers in the margins of the online text to make error location less cumbersome. Until then, I'm using the book as the de facto point of reference.

Special thanks to all the readers whose names appear on this list.



pg. X; 1st paragraph:[Missing word] "...pay for these facts the traditional manner..." should read "...pay for these facts in the traditional manner..." [first reported by John Bernard, August 26, 2002, corrected Sept. 22, 2002]

pg. X; 4th paragraph: [Incorrect wording] Dr. Michael Ecker, math professor and publisher of Recreational & Educational Computing, chides me for using "like" where "such as" or "as" would work better. The first example is in the preface. "We are accepting patches just like we would..." should read "...We are accepting patches just as we would..." I'm sure there are other examples throughout the text. If readers spot similar abuse of the word "like," please direct the offending passage to my attention. [first reported March 24, 2002, corrected May 13, 2002]

pg. 1; 2nd paragraph: Leandro Guimãres Faria Corsetti Dutra writes, "Where it reads 'trapped somewhere within the electrical plumbing it should read 'mechanical plumbing,' as paper jams are usual mechanic." I challenge this challenge on the grounds that, in the way I've set up scene, Stallman's print job is waiting in the queue behind the current, jammed print job. Although the jam is mechanical, Stallman's print job is still waiting somewhere on the PDP-10, PDP-11 or the printer's on-board computer, in other words within the network. I use "electrical plumbing" for the sake of readers who don't want to be beaten over the head with a lot of machine names and acroynyms on the first page of the book. [first reported March 24, 2002; defended May 15, 2002]

pg. 3; 2nd paragraph: [Missing word] The first sentence should begin, "Stallman himself had been one of the first..." [first reported by Don Armstrong, June 24, 2002, corrected June 25, 2002]

pg. 4; 3rd paragraph: [Misspelling] "leveragable" should read "leverageable." [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2003]

pg. 4; 4th paragraph: [Awkward grammar] "...expert in deciphering an endless stream of ones and zeroes." should read "...expert at deciphering endless streams of ones and zeroes." [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2003]

pg. 9; 1st paragraph: [Missing word] "...access software code..." should read "...access to software code..." [first reported by Scott Vermillion, Oct. 31, 2003, corrected Nov. 3, 2003]

pg. 9; 2nd paragraph: [Grammatical error] Ecker also challenges the use of the term "whomever" in the phrase "...or whomever the person was..." He challenges it on two counts: 1) "Whomever," in general, sounds more pompous than "whoever, so, when in doubt, a writer should use "whoever," and 2) "whomever" in this case, is not an object of the verb "was" but alternate nominative of word "it." In other words, just as it is proper English to say "it was he" instead of "it was him," the proper wording in this case should be "...whoever the person was..." While I don't necessarily agree with the first count, I do agree with the second; hence the fix. [first reported April 2, 2002, corrected May 14, 2002.]

pg. 11; 4th paragraph: [Awkward writing] "...few hackers who did sign them saw little need..." should read "few hackers who did sign them saw a need..." [first reported by Michael Ecker, April 4, 2002, corrected May 14, 2002]

pg. 13; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "...shaggy-aired..." should read "...shaggy-haired..." [first reported by Tim Phillips, May 17, 2002, corrected June 19, 2002]

pg. 15, 3rd paragraph: [Factual error/Awkward writing] Autrijus Tang, questions the lead-in phrase "IBM, the company hackers used to regard as the most powerful force in the worldwide software industry..."

"Clearly, you mean hardware industry, here. ;-)" Autrijus writes. Although I could debate that IBM, because of its size and market position was powerful in the software industry as well, I generally agree with Autrijus' critique. I also found the sentence a bit awkward. I wrote it as follows: [First reported by Autrijus Tang, April 14, 2002, corrected May 25, 2002]

pg. 15: 3rd paragraph: In the same sentence "...had yet to to introduce..." should read "...had yet to introduce..." [first reported by Diego Biurrun, May 19, 2002, corrected July 4, 2002]

pg. 23: Endnote 2: [Expired URL] The URL for the Shubha Ghosh article "Revealing Microsoft Windows Source Code" should read: http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/2000-all/ghosh-2000-01-all.html. [first reported by Jesper Laisen May 19, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 25; 3rd paragraph: [Misspelling] "wiling" should read "whiling." [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 11, 2004]

pg. 25; 3rd paragraph: [Awkward writing] Kees van der Broek questions the opening phrase in "A substitute art teacher, Lippman always enjoyed..." suggesting "As a substitute art teacher" in its stead. I prefer the original but agree that the sentece reads awkwardly. I have changed it to "A substitute art teacher at the time, Lippman enjoyed Gardner's column for the brain-teasers it provided.

pg. 30; 2nd paragraph: [Misspelling] "...its possible..." should read "...it's possible." [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2004]

pg. 31; 5th paragraph: [Missing word] Tim Phillips points out that I left out the word "the" in the sentence "On the one hand, there is the man whose moral commitment led him to learn French so he'd be more helpful to the Allies when they'd finally come." He also points out that the sentence construction is a bit awkward. I have since re-written the last two sentences in the online version as follows:

[first reported by Tim Phillips, May 17, 2002, corrected June 19, 2002]

pg. 32; 7th paragraph: [Misspelled word] In the first sentence "...a encouraging effect..." should read "an encouraging effect." [first reported by Michael Ecker, April 28, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 39; 1st paragraph: [Misspelling] "...henchman..." should read "...henchmen..." [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2004] pg. 39; 2nd paragraph:[Typo] In the second sentence "...a Democratic elected to Congress..." should read "...a Democrat elected to Congress..." [firsr reported by Paul Komarek, May 27, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 43; 2nd paragraph: [Missing word] "As a kid who'd always taken pride in being the smartest mathematician the room..." should read "As a kid who'd always taken pride in being the smartest mathematician in the room..." [first reported by Dominic Blais, April 16, 2002, corrected May 16, 2002]

pg. 45; 6th paragraph:[Missing word] "...the end of freshman year..." should read "...near the end of his freshman year..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 45; 6th paragraph: [Missing word] "...ninth floor an off-campus building..." should read "...ninth floor of an off-campus building..." [first reported by Neil Santos, June 28, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 46; 6th paragraph: [Punctuation] "a job" should read "A job." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 60; 3rd paragraph:[Typo] "...Stallman does managed to deliver..." should read "...Stallman manages to deliver..." [first reported by Neil Santos, June 28, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002] pg. 63; 4th paragraph: [Typo] "...ordering for the entire the table." should read "...ordering for the entire table." [first reported by Rene S. Hollan March 17, 2002, corrected May 13, 2002]

pg. 65; 2nd paragraph:[Typo] "...Hillary Rosen would later proclaim proclaim..." should read "...Hillary Rosen would later proclaim..." [first reported by Arsene Laurent, June 2, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 72; 7th paragraph:[Typo] "...reinforced Stallman's reputation..." should read "...reinforced Stallman's reputation..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 72; 7th paragraph: [Misspelling] "...disgrunted mossback..." should read "...disgruntled mossback..." [first reported by Neil Santos, June 28, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 73; 3rd paragraph:[Punctuation] There should be a question mark at the end of the final sentence. [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 74, End Note No. 3: "...Accidentaly Revolutionary..." should read "...Accidental Revolutionary..." [first reported by Neil Santos, June 28, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 75; End Note No. 3: "...Old Testament prophent..." should read "...Old Testament prophet..." [first reported by Neil Santos, June 28, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 75; End Note No. 5: [Title error] Should read "See Mae Ling Pak, 'A Mae Ling Story'..." and the URL should be http://www.crackmonkey.org/pipermail/crackmonkey/1998q4/003006.html [first reported by Aaron Swartz, April 6, 2002; corrected May 15, 2002]

pg. 80; 1st paragraph: [Missing word] "...with built-in gift..." should read "...with a built-in gift..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 81; 2nd paragraph: [Typo] "...developed at MIT." should read "...developed at MIT." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 82; 1st paragraph: [Misspelling] "...himslef..." should read "...himself..." [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 83; 6th paragraph: [Typo] "...to the solve the problem." should read "...to solve the problem." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 84; 7th paragraph [Misspelling] "...Dan Weinreib..." should read "...Dan Weinreb..." [first reported by Daniel Weinreb June 22, 2002, corrected Nov. 4, 2002]

pg. 85,; 2nd paragraph: [Factual Error] In an attempt to show that not every peson adding to Emacs considered themself a member of the so-called "Emacs Commune," I present a number of programs and projects in an unnecessarily negative light. I note that programs like EINE and ZWEI alluded to the original Emacs set of standards but add that "the fact that some would people would so eagerly take software and from the community chest, alter it, and slap a new name on the resulting software displayed a stunning lack of courtesy."

Daniel Weinreb, developer of EINE, rebuts:

I regret the error. My intent was not to smear EINE or any of the other follow-up projects. These were just the projects I knew about, and in a clumsy attempt to set up the later tension between Stallman and Gosling, I unfairly grouped them all together.

To correct this error, I have changed the language of this paragraph and the first sentence of the eighth paragraph to the following.



pg. 86; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "... flexibility Stallman and built..." should read "...flexibility Stallman had built..." [first reported by Alex Brown July 11, 2002, corrected Sept. 22, 2002]

pg. 91; 4th paragraph: [Misspelling] "...long a major font..." should read "...long a major front..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 92; 4th paragraph: [Typo] "Bolt Beranek Newman had deveoped..." should read "Bolt Beranek Newman had developed..." [first reported by Paul Walker, May 14, corrected May 17]

pg. 98: Third paragraph: [Typo] "...still stands has..." should read "...still stands as..." [first reported by Diego Biurrun, May 19, 2002, corrected July 4, 2002]

pg. 100; 2nd paragraph: [Factual error] Jeff Root challenges my attempt to paint the early PC marketplace as antagonistic to or ignorant of the computer industry tradition of providing software source code and schematics, he especially challenges "...my assertion that "Unaware of the hacker culture and its distaste for binary-only software, many of these users saw little need to protest when [Apple Computer and Commodore] failed to attach the accompanying source-code files."

Argues Root: I am accepting Root's argument. What's more, I have decided to rewrite the entire second paragraph, which seems a bit too glib given the overall tenor of the chapter ["A Stark Moral Choice"]. I have decided to rewrite the paragraph as follows: [first reported by Jeff Root, May 10, 2002, corrected May 27, 2002]

pg. 101; 2nd paragraph: [Missing word] "...any program that carried private copyright..." should read "...any program that carried a private copyright..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 105; 3rd paragraph: [Factual error] "Following the release of GNU Emacs in 1995..." should read "Following the release of GNU Emacs in 1985." [first reported by David García Quintas, April 14, 2002, corrected May 16, 2002]

pg. 105; 5th paragraph:[Incorrectly regarded as error]: Dominic Blais questioned the use of the error-denoting "[sic]" following the phrase "...in so far as..." but couldn't offer an official reason to remove it. This was inserted by the O'Reilly copyeditor, so I appealed to anybody in the audience who could come up with a good reason. Isaac C. writes:

pg. 107; 2nd paragraph: [Missing word] "...sitting on shelf somewhere..." should read "...sitting on a shelf somewhere..." [first reported by Zoe Blade, Jan. 1, 2003, corrected May 29, 2003]

pg. 107; End Note 1: [URL substitution] Aaron Schwartz recommends substituting the URL http://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html for http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/gnu/initial-announcement.html. Both pages offer the same information, but the former is part of the official GNU Project site and [hopefully] more likely to survive "link rot." [first reported by Aaron Schwartz, April 6, 2002, corrected May 14, 2002]

pg. 108; End Note 13: [Broken Link] URL should read http://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html[first reported by Aaron Swartz, April 6, 2002; corrected May 15, 2002]

pg. 114: 4th paragraph: [Typo] "Trushworthy" should read "trustworthy" in the final sentence. [first reproted by Dominic Blais, April 16, 2002; corrected May 16, 2002]

pg. 117; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "...lighthearted moment of self pardoy..." should be "...self parody..." [first reported by Patrik Wallstrom, March 22, 2002, corrected May 13, 2002]

pg 117; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "...Stallman is finally letting listeners of the hook,..." should be "...Stallman is finally letting listeners off the hook,..." [first reported by Rene S. Hollan March 9, 2002, corrected May 13, 2002]

pg. 118; 1st paragraph:: In the fourth sentence "performace" should read "performance." [first reported by Dominic Blais, April 16, 2002, corrected May 16, 2002]

pg. 121; End Note 4: [No URL] The URL for Eric Raymond's, "Shut Up and Show Them the Code," essay is http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/writings/shut-up-and-show-them.html. [first reported by Aaron Schwartz, April 6, 2002, corrected May 13, 2002.]

pg. 124; 4th paragraph: [Typo] "...have carry..." should read "...have to carry..." [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 125: 3rd and 4th paragraph: [Unclear writing] Patrik Wallstrom points out the discrepancy between my discussion of the patch license and my display of the trn license. Although both written by Larry Wall, patch and trn, a news reader, are completely different programs. My reason for including the trn license instead of the patch license is that the earliest copy of the patch license I could find was dated 1992. Tim O'Reilly suggested finding a version contemporary to the events described in Chapter 9. When I asked Larry Wall if he had any 1980s-era examples of the patch license, he said he didn't. He did have a copy of the trn license, which he said used essentially the same language. I realize this is confusing, but I'm loathe to rewrite the preceding paragraph to describe trn, since patch was such a landmark in terms of hacker ingenuity. If anybody out there knows where I can find an original, 1988 version of the patch license, please send it in. I will use it to replace the trn license currently posted.

Addendum:: In the interest of providing the reader with an example of a mid-1980s free software copyright, I have decided to stick with the trn license and rewrite the lead-in paragraph as follows. [first reported by Patrik Wallstrom March 22, 2002; corrected August 3, 2002.]

pg. 126: 2nd paragraph: [missing acronym] Paul Komarek notes that the first mention of the GNU Debugger does not contain a parenthetical reference to its more common acronym, GDB. Later portions of the book refer exclusively to GDB, making it difficult for readers who did not pick up the first reference. This entire sentence reads awkwardly. I have changed it, using the GDB acronym alongside the first reference. [first reported by Paul Komarek, May 27, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 128; 2nd paragraph: Aaron Swartz challenges the final sentence: "Over time, the nickname and its shorthand symbol, a backwards "C," would become an official Free Software Foundation synonym for the GPL."

"This is mistaken," Swartz writes. "Copyleft describes all licenses that have the same key aspects as the GPL, not just the GPL itself. As the FSF says: To remedy this, I have changed the final sentence to read, "Over time, the nickname and its symbol, a backwards "C," would become general Free Software Foundation shorthand for any copyright method 'making a program free software and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free software as well.'" I have also added an endnote with a link to the GNU Project's "Copyleft" page. [first reported by Aaron Swartz, April 6, 2002; corrected May 16, 2002, no end note yet]

pg. 131; 4th paragraph:[missing acronyn] The first mention of the GNU C Compiler needs a mention of the GCC acronym. [first reported by Paul Komarek May 27, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 132; 1st paragraph: [factual error] "...C+ programming language." should read "...C++ programming language." [first reported by Jarvist, April 11, 2002; corrected May 25, 2002]

pg. 132; same paragraph: In regards to the statement "...Tiemann ran into some AT&T developers struggling to pull off the same thing..." Paul Komarek writes: "My guess is that the AT&T folks weren't trying the *same* thing as Teimann, namely modifying/enhancing GCC to support C++." Semantically, he's right. I have changed the statement to the following: "...Tiemann ran into some AT&T developers astonished by his rate of progress." [first reported by Paul Komarek May 27, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 132; 3rd paragraph: [Punctuation error] There is a missing comma after the dependent clause "...whether it's me or the writing..." [first reported by David Costanzo April 13, 2003, corrected June 3, 2003]

pg. 134; 3rd and 4th paragraph: [Redundant writing] Patrik Wallstrom reports a redundant mention of the late 1980s "Gnusletter" citing the GNU Project's decision to use TRIX the initial foundation for the GNU kernel. I have decided to rewrite the two paragraphs as follows:

[first reported by Patrik Wallstrom March 22, 2002, corrected May 14, 2002]

pg. 135; 1st paragraph: [Factual error] "...League of Programming Freedom..." should be "...League for Programming Freedom..." [first reported by Patrik Wallstrom, March 22, 2002, corrected May 14, 2002]

pg. 135; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "...cerified.." should read "...certified..." in the first sentence. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 136; 5th paragraph: [Typo/Factual error] Dominic Blais points out that the phrase "...Torvalds had made the step up from C programming to Unix..." is confusing since the C programming language has generally been considered the native language of Unix since the early 1970s. I goofed. The sentence should read "...Torvalds had made the step up from PC programming to Unix..." an allusion to the fact that the PC and Unix software universes were mutually exclusive in those days. [first reported by Dominic Blais, April 16, corrected May 16, 2002]

pg. 137; 5th paragraph: [Missing Word] "Although Torvalds had set out build a full operating system..." should read "Although Torvalds had set out to build a full operating system..." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 140; End Note No. 7: [No URL] Michael Tiemann's essay describing his first encounter with the GNU Manifesto and the birth of Cygnus Solutions is available for free online at http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/tiemans.html. [First reported by Aaron Swartz, April 6, 2002; corrected May 15, 2002]

pg. 141; End Note 11: [Needs clarification] Dorothea Salo adds the following clarification to my end note about Stallman's hand pain: [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, added May 18, 2002]

pg. 142; 1st paragraph: [Misspelling] The second sentence should end "...success for the hacker culture." [first reported by Paul Walker, May 17, 2002, corrected June 25, 2002]

pg. 142; 1st paragraph: [Typo] Robert Spector notes that in the online version there is a space between "t" and "he" in the word "the" in the chapter's opening sentence. This is because of an errant HTML tag. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 145; 5th paragraph:[Typo] In the second sentence, "A March, 1993, a Wired magazine article..." should read, "A March, 1993, Wired magazine article..." [first reported by Paul Komarek, May 27, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 146; 4th paragraph: [Factual Error] Teddy Hogeborn notes that "There were timing books that would clobber the files..." in Stallman's summary of HURD's problems in the early 1990s should probably read "There were timing bugs that would clobber the files." I am inclined to agree. The word "books" comes from a transcript of the recorded Maui High Performance Computing Center speech I had a friend type up for me. I asked Stallman himself if "bugs" was the proper word, and I am putting his response in the chapter endnotes, since it offers elucidating technical information.

Writes Stallman:

[first reported by Teddy Hogeborn, May 14, 2002, corrected June 18, 2002]

pg. 146; 2nd paragraph: [Misspelling] In the final sentence, "...with alot of baggage..." should read "...with a lot of baggage..." [first reported by Paul Walker, May 17, 2002, corrected July 4, 2002]

pg. 150; 2nd paragraph: [Typo/Unclear] "...of model of other GNU projects..." should read "...a mirror to the internal bickering of other GNU projects." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 150; 4th paragraph: [Incorrect Wording] When introducing Bruce Perens, I mention that he became "enamored" of GNU/Linux "as soon as the program's Unix-like capabilities became manifest." Robert Spector recommends "...programs' capabilities..." or "...system's capabilities...," because GNU/Linux is a collection of multiple program. I have gone him one better and changed "...program's capabilities..." to "...operating system's capabilities..." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 152; 2nd paragraph: Robert Spector points out that the extended dash delmiter has been reduced to a hyphen in the online text, making phrases like "...Linux-and the host of software programs that echoed it in terms of source-code accessibility and permissive licensing-seemed ..." unreadable. I know some people hate the extended dash, but as a writer who tends to think and write non-linearly, I rely upon them heavily. I have not yet created a style sheet for the site, but for the sake of simplicity, I will be converting all extended dashes to double dashes [ -- ] with a space on both sides. In cases where I can convert the double dash to a simple comma without rendering the sentence unreadable, I will do so. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 153; End Note No. 3: [No URL] Greenwood's essay is located at http://www.freebsddiary.org/linux.php [first reported by Aaron Swartz, April 6, 2002, corrected May 15, 2002]

pg. 158; 3rd paragraph: [Typo] "Torvalds had actually found away to make..." should read, "Torvalds had actually found a way to make..." [first reported by Jarvist, April 11, 2002; corrected May 15, 2002]

pg. 159; 4th paragraph: [Awkward] "From the Torvalds' perspective..." should read "From Torvalds' perspective..."[first reported by Tim Phillips, May 17, 2002, corrected June 19, 2002]

pg. 167; fourth paragraph: [Punctuation Error] Single dash in "...relaxed approach-ignoring the marketplace..." should be a double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 173; 1st paragraph: [Punctuation Error] Single dash in "...hate driving cars-the system..." should be double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 175; 1st paragraph: [Typo] "...Stallmans nerves..." should read "...Stallman's nerves." [first reported by Sam Williams, Sept. 8, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]

pg. 176; 1st paragraph: [Punctuation Error] Single dash in "...carries heavy overtones-China and India, for example." should be double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 176; 2nd paragraph: [Punctuation] "...costeward..." should read "...co-steward..." [first reported by David Costanzo April 13, 2003, corrected June 3, 2003]

pg. 176; 2nd and 3rd paragraphs: [Incorrect name] "Troll Tech" should read "Trolltech." [First reported by Autrijus Tang, April 14, 2002, corrected May 25, 2002]

pg. 176; 2nd and 3rd paragraphs: [Factual Error] Frederico Lucifredi challenges my analysis of Troll Tech and Sun's mid-2000 decision to relicense their respective software utilities under the GPL. "Underlying each victory was the fact that Stallman had done little to fight for them [...]," I wrote.

Writes Lucifredi:

[first reported by Frederico Lucifredi, March 18, 2002, still awaiting integration into main text.]

pg. 177; 4th paragraph: [Typo] "...the political genius of man who..." should read "...the political genius of the man who..." [first reported by Diego Biurrun, May 6, 2003, corrected May 26, 2003]

pg. 177; 5th paragraph: [Factual error] "National Security Administration" should read "National Security Agency," but under the advice of Joe Thomas, I have changed it further to "federal government." Thomas points out that MIT professor Philip Zimmerman was investigated by the U.S. Attorney's office and U.S. Customs but not by the NSA. [first reported by Stuart Joe Thomas, August 29, 2002, corrected Sept. 17, 2002]

pg. 177; 6th paragraph: [Awkward] Autrijus Tang points out that the sentence, "Moglen says the difference between Stallman's approach to legal code and software code are largely the same." reads awkwardly. I have since rewritten this paragraph entirely to make it more coherent. [first reported by Autrijus Tang, April 14, 2002, corrected May 25, 2002]

pg. 183; 4th paragraph: [Punctuation error/Unclear] The sentence "Although it's hard to see Stallman's reputation falling to the level of infamy as Brown's did during the post-Reconstruction period-Stallman, despite his occasional war-like analogies, has done little to inspire violence, it's easy to envision a future in which Stallman's ideas wind up on the ash-heap." could benefit from a pair of double dashes, but I've decided to reduce the complexity by rewriting it as a string of sentences: "It's hard to see Stallman's reputation falling to the same level of infamy as Brown's did during the post-Reconstruction period. Stallman, despite his occasional war-like analogies, has done little to inspire violence. Still, it is easy to envision a future in which Stallman's ideas wind up on the ash-heap." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002].

pg. 183; 5th paragraph: [Typo] "...of Stalllman's life." should read "...of Stallman's life." [first reported by Stacey Sheldon, July 15, 2002, Corrected July 16, 2002]

pg. 184; 2nd paragraph: [Punctuation error] Robert Spector points out that "...free software-related..." should be "...free-software-related." I dislike the look of long hyphenated word strings, however, so I've decided to change the sentence to the slightly more cumbersome "...issues related to free software..." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected May 17, 2002]

pg. 185; 4th paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dash between "...book-Silicon Valley" should be a double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 186; 2nd paragraph:[Expired URL] The web site http://www.beopen.com is no longer active. The full sentence should read: "At the time, I was writing stories for the ill-fated web site BeOpen.com." [first reported by Jesper Laisen May 19, 2002, corrected August 3, 2002]

pg. 189; 4th paragraph: [Typo] The final sentence should read, "Either way, they would be breaking the law..." [first reported by Don Armstrong, June 25, 2002, corrected June 25, 2002]

pg. 190; 3rd paragraph: [Awkward writing] Robert Spector suggests that I change "...put a call into Stallman..." to "...called Stallman..." I endorse the switch on the grounds that it's both simpler and more direct. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected, May 18, 2002]

pg. 193; 3rd paragraph: [Grammatical error] "...Tracy invited Henning and I" should read "...Tracy invited Henning and me..." [first reported by Tim Phillips, May 17, 2002, corrected June 19, 2002]

pg. 194; 4th paragraph: [Redundant word] "...to copy and share and the book's text..." should read "...to copy and share the book's text..." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, corrected, May 18, 2002]

pg. 195; 5th paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dash between "...purpose-namely" should be a double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 198; 5th paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dashes between "...remembered-a..." and "...chest-Stallman..." should be double dashes. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 200; 3rd paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dashes between "...Stallman-indeed, ..." and "...affinity-I'm..." should be double dashes. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 207; 1st paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dashes between "...ends-creating..." and "...crash-the..." should be double dashes. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 207; 2nd paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dashes between "'cracker'-i.e....", and "...data-to..." should be double dashes. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 207; 4th paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dashes between "hacking-i.e..." and "...tunnels-remains..." should be double dashes. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 208; 3rd paragraph: [Punctuation error] Single dash between ""white hat" -- i.e." should be a double dash. [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002; corrected May 18, 2002]

pg. 223: "SSISSL" entry: [Typo] The "SSISSL" should read "SISSL." [first reported by Patrik Wallstrom, March 19, 2002, still awaiting correction]



HTML errors

  • The <a href> command linking to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html has two close quotation marks, resulting in a 404 error on the GNU Apache server. [first reported by Bixen on April 12, 2002, corrected April 13, 2002]
  • Chapter 1: O'Reilly index notation causes errant additional spaces within quotation marks in two places: " hack" in paragraph 15 and " proprietary" in paragraph 39. [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2004]
  • Chapter 3: The first endnote link to Michael Gross's Stallman interview no longer works. I will update the link as soon as the interview is re-published. [first reported by Tommy Dugandzic, August 6, 2002] Update: The interview can now be found at http://www.mgross.com/MoreThgsChng/interviews/stallman1.html. [first reported by Joe Thomas, August 27, 2002, corrected Sept 18, 2002]
  • Chapter 3: Two errant spaces in "behavioral disorders" and "Geek Syndrome" in the 30th paragraph. [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2003]
  • Chapter 4: The "next" link at the bottom of Chapter 4 links to Chapter 4, not Chapter 5. [first reported by Morbus Iff, April 16, corrected April 20, 2002]
  • Chapter 4: Two errant spaces in "lock hacking" in 55th paragraph. [first reported by Al Anway, Oct. 30, 2003, corrected Feb. 10, 2004]
  • Chapter 5, 50th paragraph: Should read "...vis-à-vis the fairer sex." [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, corrected May 20, 2002]
  • Chapter 5, 71st paragraph: No line breaking between song lyrics. [corrected June 18, 2002]
  • Chapter 6: 16th paragraph: Should read "...academic résumés." [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, corrected May 20, 2002]
  • Chapter 7, 1st paragraph: There is an HTML error in the Index link for the "net.unix-wizards" newsgroup, resulting in an errant space: "...n et.unix-wizards.." [first reported by Dorothea Salo, May 10, 2002, corrected, May 18, 2002]
  • Chapter 13, 1st paragraph: There is an additional space inserted into the title of "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" because of an errant Index tag. [first reported by Neil Santos, May 30, 2002, corrected Sept. 8, 2002]
  • Chapter 13, 10th paragraph: No closing tag on the 2nd endnote link. [first reported by David Costanzo, April 13, 2003, corrected June 3, 2003]
  • Epilogue, 7th paragraph: The heading information for the email message lacks line breaks. Also, the linked email address, sam@beopen.com, no longer works. The "a ref" command should be removed. [first reported by Autrijus Tang, April 14, 2002, corrected May 25, 2002]
  • Epilogue, 9th paragraph: I accidentally left the "r" out of a <br> command, resulting in about 50 paragraphs of bold print. [first reported by Adam Hayward, June 9, 2002, corrected June 17, 2002]
  • Epilogue, 25th paragraph: Should read "...cèlébre..." [first reported by Robert Spector, May 10, 2002, HTML solution provided by Neil Santos, corrected May 20, 2002]
  • Appendix A: There is broken in the first paragraph. When the text offers a link to Chapter 9, the opening HTML command should read <A HREF="ch09.html"> [first reported by Adam Hayward, June 9, 2002, corrected July 9, 2002]