X
Business

IT Anthems: the Free Software Song

IT Anthems is not just a capitalist thing - here is Richard Stallman's Free Software Song, and a modified version
Written by Peter Judge, Contributor
Free Software Song (Stallman) .au format
Free Software Song (Fenster) MP3 format
Free Software (Fenster) .ogg format
You may be as surprised as we were to discover that it is not just the big corporations that make IT Anthems. Here is Richard Stallman, with a song (at least ten years old) that explains the ethos of open-source software. This being the open-source world, the song has evidently been the subject of re-working, with modified versions released to the community. We have included one from a band called Fenster (we know nothing about them but fenster is German for window). If you know of any other versions, please mail them to us. Stallman's version of the song is in the .au format, and Fenster's arrived in the slightly esoteric Ogg Vorbis format, ("the real free MP3 format with no patents attached to it" say our friends). We have made it available in both .mp3 and .ogg formats, to gauge the popularity of both. Lyrics Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2
Hoarders may get piles of money,
That is true, hackers, that is true.
But they cannot help their neighbors;
That's not good, hackers, that's not good.
When we have enough free software
At our call, hackers, at our call,
We'll throw out those dirty licenses
Ever more, hackers, ever more.
Join us now and share the software;
You'll be free, hackers, you'll be free.
x2
Melody of Sadi Moma, a Bulgarian dance tune.
(Dash means previous note continues; there are seven beats per measure.)
D-CB-A- B-CBAG- G--A--B C--B-BD A--A--- CDCB---
D-CB-A- B-CBAG- G--A--B C--B-BD A--A--- A------
Copyright 1993 Richard Stallman. Verbatim redistribution permitted if this notice is preserved.


For a weekly round-up of the enterprise IT news, sign up for the Enterprise newsletter.

Tell us what you think in the Enterprise Mailroom.





Editorial standards