Brian Paul is Awarded the Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software; VA Linux Employee is Honored for His Work On the Mesa 3D Graphics Library.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2001 The Free Software Foundation (FSF FSF - Free Software Foundation ) bestowed its third Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software The Free Software Foundation Award for the Advancement of Free Software is annually presented by the Free Software Foundation to a person who has made a great contribution to the progress and development of free software, through activities that accord with the spirit of free , in Paris. Richard Stallman (person) Richard Stallman - Richard M. Stallman. Founder of the GNU project. He resigned from the AI lab at MIT so he would be free to produce free software which he could then distribute on his own terms. presented the award, a one-of-a-kind handmade quilt, to Brian Paul Brian Paul is a computer programmer who wrote and continues to maintain the source code for the Open Source Mesa graphics library. Paul began programming initial source code in August 1993. for his ground-breaking work on the Mesa 3D Mesa 3D is a free software graphics library, initially developed by Brian Paul in August 1993, that provides a generic OpenGL implementation for rendering three-dimensional graphics on multiple platforms. Graphics Library. The ceremony was sponsored by Aurora, Idealx and VA Linux Systems. Proceeds of the event went to benefit the Free Software Foundation Europe The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE, or FSF Europe) was founded in 2001 as an official European sister organization of the U.S.-based Free Software Foundation (FSF) to take care of all aspects of free software in Europe. . A panel of free software pioneers and leaders selected the winner and two other finalists from the scores of mostly volunteer programmers worldwide who dedicate their time to advancing free software. The selection panel included: Jeff Bates Jeff Bates (born September 19, 1963) is an American country singer from Bunker Hill, Mississippi. Biography Bates had previously spent time in jail for grand larceny. He had started stealing from friends to pay for an 18 month long meth addiction. , chairperson; Steve Blood; Jeff Carr; Miguel de Icaza Miguel de Icaza (born c. 1972) is a Mexican free software programmer, best known for starting the GNOME and Mono projects. Miguel de Icaza was born in Mexico City and studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) but never received a degree. ; and Bruce Perens. "The Mesa 3D Graphics Library allows free software users to model and render in full 3D," said Jeff Bates, chairman of the Free Software Foundation Awards Committee. "The library has added tools and capabilities to the GNU/Linux system that are being utilized by people all over the world." Paul was chosen from three finalists for the award. The other finalists were Donald Becker, who was nominated for his network device drivers for the GNU/Linux system and for the Beowulf project, and Patrick Lenz for his work on freshmeat.net, a vital site for news and information on free software. "We began the Free Software Foundation Award as a way to honor those who have tirelessly given their time and their immense talent to further the free software movement," said Richard Stallman, founder and president of the Free Software Foundation. "While only one of the three finalists will receive the award, they all deserve to be recognized for their invaluable contributions." This will be the third Free Software Foundation Award. The prior winners are Miguel de Icaza and Larry Wall. About the Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation, a 501c non-profit, is dedicated to eliminating restrictions on people's right to use, copy, modify and redistribute computer programs. This is done by promoting the development of new free software, working towards the goal of eliminating the need to use proprietary systems and programs. The Free Software Foundation also works to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues that concern software users' freedom. Its Web site, located at www.gnu.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux worldwide, receiving more than 1 million visits per week. The Free Software Foundation has headquarters in Boston. |
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