In 1984 , Richard Stallman started the free software movement when he began the GNU project . In 1983 , Richard Stallman , longtime member of the hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory , announced the GNU project , saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users . Software development for the GNU operating system began in January 1984 , and the Free Software Foundation ( FSF ) was founded in October 1985 .