Richard Stallman, founder and the global campaigner of free software movement, will deliver lectures in the State capital on January 15 and 16.

“What free software means, and why the government’s responsibility is to use it” is the topic of his first lecture, hosted by the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software (ICFOSS) on behalf of the Kerala government at Hotel Mascot on January 15. The next day, he will address a gathering of the free software community at Technopark.

As the most vehement advocate of free and open source software, Dr. Stallman has been the global spearhead of the campaign for the use of free software, especially by governments and State initiatives.

Over the decades, he has been touring the globe advocating use of free software as well as campaigning against legal and technical restrictions like software patenting, which come in the way of free and independent use of software.An autonomous initiative of Kerala government, ICFOSS is mandated to popularise free and open source software.