For me, Free Software is a big deal. My first whiff of it came from an article in InfoWorld, which I had subscribed to because I was interested in computers, and because it's free. An article was describing or announcing something to do with the Free Software Foundation (FSF). I had been standing on the precipice of a project to collect animal names in the language(s) of Chuuk Lagoon, where I was living, teaching, and learning. My intention was to learn the names of animals so I couild discuss them with local fishermen, in furtherance of my plan to study traditional knowledge of marine life.
I had received a computer as a gift from my mother, a Toshiba laptop, a really nice one. But my mother did not understand that to use a computer, one needs software. I might have had Microsoft word; I don't remember. I had been living off-the-grid on the island of Tol, using a 10 Watt solar panel to trickle charge a 100 Amp-Hour deep cycle battery that had been given to me by someone in the U. S. Airforce CAT Team (short for Civic Action Team). I also had a portable HP printer that I rigged up to run off of 12 Volts. Software was the week link in my plan to "digitize" the names I had been writing down.
During my time in Chuuk, I had become known for my interest in animal names and any thing at all about the behavior, ecology...anything...about marine animals. And about fishing. Actually more just about ANYTHING anyone could talk to me about, pertinent to marine life. Students were my teachers.
I had tried to write the names down using the rudimentary editing software I had---possibly Microsoft Word. But I could not easily write the diacritic marks used for some vowels in writing Chuukese. I had approached some linguists at the University of Hawaii. One of them, Robert Hsu, was kind enough to send a "demonstration copy" of an editor called "Multi-Edit" that was capable of doing what I had in mind. One of the tricks among software vendors is to disseminate these demo, or evaluation, copies, but charge high prices for a full functioning copy. I was working at a local Junior High School; my take-home pay was barely enough to cover food for the extended family of my wife. To obtain the fullly enabled copy of the cripple-ware program Multi-Edit, together with a manual, would cost 300.00. Not a chance.
I tried all kinds of things to try to learn how to type diacritics in Multi-Edit, but had failed. When I saw the words "Free Software Foundation" in a small one-column article, fewer than 15 lines long, my imagination ran wild.
That was a time before the Internet had grown into what has now become. Snail mail was the only mail, and on islands like Tol, accessible only by motor boat, and with not mail delivery, the "snails" servicing the mail were extremely slow. I was spending way too much money on stamps in those days. I wrote the FSF.
Most of my letters never elicited a reply. I was, therefore, shocked to receive a small box from the FSF some weeks later! I had described my lexicon project in my letter to the FSF. Whoever had read my letter must have understood my plea: I had received over 10 of those plastic 3-1/2" disks full of free software compiled for Microsoft Windows. Remarkably, included in this package were a number of the Unix text tools, for sorting and manipulating text---beyond my wildest dreams. And, of course, GNU/Emacs, in the form called "Demacs," a version ported to Microsoft Windows by two Japanese workers. The unix tools were ported very early during the seminal stages of the Cygwin Project.
These tools were immediately useful to me. The biggest deal for me was that Emacs comes with documentation built in, as TexInfo files. Within a shoret time I was able to figure out how to type in diacritical marks. At the time, I had plenty of free time, so I was able to read most of the documentation, and set up Emacs to work for me, for useful work. My innovations, made over the years, are still included in my init file!
The FSF produced a "GNUS Bulletin", I think quarterly. I had become a believer in this software, and I read the GNUS/Bull from cover to cover. At some point after a couple of years, a small article in the GNUS/Bull announced that two unix clone operating systems had become available: Linux was one; the other was Free BSD. When I traveled to Guam, I was able---with help---to download an early version of Slackware Linux.
GNU/Linux had me, right from the start. Free Software enabled my project. Operating System it has been built by community action. This story has been told many times. Seldom has it gained traction. But still, GNU/Linux is a phenomenon.
As a teacher, at my schools were to be found dedicated administrators: that is, dedicated to buying all the possible proprietary software that government money could buy. I knew that GNU/Linux was superior. But it required some learning. I taught some of my students to install and use GNU/Linux systems, and to build computers from parts.
