"Why would Microsoft executives lie awake at night worrying about the antics of a long-haired, renegade hacker named Richard Stallman? Why do some of the smartest programmers on the planet revere this man as "St. Ignucius"? And how did a stubborn, precocious boy obsessed with creating the perfect model rocket grow up to play David to the software industry's Goliath? ". "Free as in Freedom traces this eccentric genius's evolution from gifted, solitary child to teen outcast to revered and reviled crusader. Through extensive interviews with Stallman, his family, fellow hackers, and tech-industry heavyweights, author Sam Williams crafts a portrait of a freedom fighter who has, in fact, changed the world. "--BOOK JACKET.