Who is the founder of the GNU project?

The founder of the GNU project is Richard Stallman. He initiated the GNU project in 1983 with the goal of creating a free Unix-like operating system. The significance of the GNU project lies in its emphasis on software freedom and the development of free software as a means of ensuring users have control over their computing environments. Stallman believed that software should be freely available for everyone to use, modify, and distribute, and this philosophy is foundational to the free software movement. His work led to the creation of essential tools and components that many UNIX-like operating systems use today, including the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) and the GNU General Public License (GPL), which helps protect users' rights to freely use and share software. This pivotal contribution has had a lasting impact on the development and philosophy behind open-source software.