Dr. Richard M Stallman, world-renowned software guru and founder of the Free Software Foundation (FSF), had a meeting with His Excellency the President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam at 2:15 pm today.

The meeting took place at the Rashrapati Bhavan, official residence of the President of India. At the meeting, Dr. Stallman explained to Dr. Kalam the ethical issues related to the use of proprietary software. He also discussed how the various freedoms that democratic society depends on are all necessary to support each other. These have included, in the past, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, free elections, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. As software becomes used for more and more of the activities of society, free software (i.e. control of your own software) becomes another of the essential freedoms without which the other freedoms cannot be defended. He also stated that e-commerce becomes a system for invading privacy if it is not anonymous.

The President was impressed by the issues raised by Dr. Stallman. It is understood that the President has instructed for the use of free softwaree for his IT facilities. Dr. Stallman also discussed the issues of using proprietary software in schools, which prevents children from sharing and learning to share. Implications of IT@School project in Kerala also got mention.

Stallman's meeting with the president took place in the backdrop of support for free software extended by the president at a public speech recently.

Dr Stallman has been in India from January 16th. His programmes included the World Social Forum in Mumbai from January 16 to 22, lectures at Thrissur, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and meetings with various government officials in the state regarding the use of free software in government initiatives.

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