Who is regarded as the founder of the free software movement?

Richard Stallman is regarded as the founder of the free software movement because he initiated the movement in the early 1980s with the goal of promoting software freedom. His belief was that software should be freely available for users to run, modify, and distribute, which laid the foundation for what would become the free software community.

Stallman also started the Free Software Foundation in 1985 to support the development and distribution of free software. His creation of the GNU General Public License (GPL) was a pivotal moment that provided a legal framework for protecting the freedoms associated with software. This framework allowed developers to share their software while ensuring that it remained free for future users as well.

By establishing these principles, Stallman not only shaped the philosophy of software freedom but also inspired countless developers and organizations to embrace free software, thus impacting the course of computing and technology significantly.