The 2011 Award for the Advancement of Free Software was presented to Yukihiro Matsumoto, creator of the Ruby programming language, at a ceremony held during the LibrePlanet 2012 conference.
This award is given annually to an individual who has made a great contribution to the progress and development of free software, through activities that accord with the spirit of free software.
Yukihiro Matsumoto and Richard Stallman
This year, it was given to Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto (aka Matz) who has worked on GNU, Ruby, and other free software for over 20 years.
He accepted the award, presented by FSF president Richard Stallman, in person and spoke at the conference on his early experiences with free software, especially the influence of GNU Emacs on Ruby.
In receiving the award, he joins fellow programming language creators Larry Wall (Perl) and Guido van Rossum (Python).
Richard Stallman also presented the Award for Projects of Social Benefit, an award that focuses on the use of free software in the service of humanity, to Luis Falcon president of GNU Solidario for GNU Health, a free software project that works with health professionals around the world to improve the lives of the underprivileged.
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Yukihiro Matsumoto and Richard Stallman
