Z:gnu-www-ja-rms-nyu-2001-transcript--6a1dd5-So I had to work out the detai/en

So I had to work out the details of distribution. Of course, I put a copy in the anonymous FTP directory, and that was fine for people who were on the net They could then just pull over a tar file, but a lot of programmers then even were not on the net in 1985. They were sending me emails saying &ldquo;How can I get a copy?&rdquo; I had to decide what I would answer them. Well, I could have said, I want to spend my time writing more GNU software, not writing tapes, so please find a friend who's on the internet and who is willing to download it and put it on a tape for you. And I'm sure people would have found some friends, sooner or later, you know. They would have got copies. But I had no job. In fact, I've never had a job since quitting MIT in January 1984. So, I was looking for some way I could make money through my work on free software, and therefore I started a free software business. I announced, &ldquo;Send me $150 dollars, and I'll mail you a tape of Emacs.&rdquo; And the orders began dribbling in. By the middle of the year they were trickling in.