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Philosophy
Essays & articles
About free software
Principles
What is Free Software?
"FFree software" means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly; it means
that the users have the freedom to run; cOPY, distribute; study change and improve the
software_
Thus
"free software" is a matter of
liberty; not price: To understand the concept; YOU
should think of "free
as in
speech;
not as in
beer:
We sometimes call it "libre
software;
borrowing the French or Spanish word for "free" as in freedom; to show we do not
mean the software is
You may have paid money to get copies of
free program, Or You may have obtained copies at
no
charge
But
regardless of how you got your copies, you always have the freedom to copy and
change the sottware_
even [0
sell copies.
We campaign for these freedoms because everyone deserves them. With these freedoms, the users (both
individually and collectively) control the program and what it does for them:
When users don't control the
program; we call it a "nonfree
proprietary" program: The nonfree program controls the users; and the
developer controls the program; this makes the program an instrument of unjust power:
"Open source" is
something different: it has
very different philosophy based on different values.
practical definition is different tOo,
but nearly all open source programs are in fact free: We explain the
difference in Why "Open Source
misses the point of Free Software.
The Free Software Definition
The four essential freedoms
Free software can be commercial
Clarifying the Boundary Between Free and Nonfree
The freedom to run the program as you wish
The freedom to study the source code and make changes
"free
"free
gratis.