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<title>The GNU Operating System and the Free Software Movement</title>

<meta name="keywords" content="GNU, FSF, Free Software Foundation, Linux, Emacs, GCC, Unix, Free Software, Libre Software, Operating System, GNU Kernel, GNU Hurd" />
<meta name="description" content="Since 1983, developing the free Unix style operating system GNU, so that computer users can have the freedom to share and improve the software they use." />
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<p class="no-display">GNU is the only operating system developed
specifically to give its users freedom.  What is GNU, and what freedom
is at stake?</p>

<!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
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<div id="home">
<div class="first-column" role="article">

<div style="margin: 2.3em auto 0" class="c">
<!-- Please change the URLs of embedded resources from
https://static.fsf.org/* to https://static.gnu.org/* (RT #1868684) -->
<video width="512" height="288" controls="controls" crossorigin="anonymous"
poster="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/thumbnails/festival.jpeg">
<source
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.webm"
  type="video/webm" />
<source
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.ogv"
  type="video/ogg" />
<source
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.mp4"
  type="video/mp4" />
<track kind="subtitles" label="English" srclang="en"
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_en.vtt"
  default="default" />
<track kind="subtitles" label="Czech" srclang="cs"
  src="/server/banners/escape-to-freedom_cs.vtt" />
<track kind="subtitles" label="Spanish" srclang="es"
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_es.vtt"
/>
<track kind="subtitles" label="French" srclang="fr"
  src="/server/banners/escape-to-freedom_fr.vtt" />
<track kind="subtitles" label="Chinese" srclang="zh"
  src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_zh.vtt"
/>
</video>
</div>

<p class="c">
<a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/help-others-find-free-software-watch-and-share-escape-to-freedom">
Escape to Freedom: A video from the FSF</a></p>

<h2 class="first">What is GNU?</h2>

<p>GNU is an operating system that
is <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>&mdash;that is,
it respects users' freedom.  The GNU operating system consists of GNU
packages (programs specifically released by the GNU Project) as well
as free software released by third parties.  The development of GNU
made it possible to use a computer without software that would trample
your freedom.</p>

<p>We recommend <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">installable
versions of GNU</a> (more precisely, GNU/Linux distributions) which
are entirely free software.  <a href="#More-GNU">More about GNU
below</a>.</p>

<div class="btn-left">
  <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">Try GNU/Linux</a></div>
<div style="clear:both"></div>

<div id="gnu-linux" role="figure">
<div class="screenshot">
<!--#if expr="$DISTRO = dragora" -->
 <a href="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde.jpg"><img
   width="512" height="288"
   src="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde-medium.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Dragora&nbsp;3.0-beta2 with TDE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="https://dragora.org/index.html">
Dragora&nbsp;3.0-beta2</a> with <a href="https://www.trinitydesktop.org/">TDE</a>
desktop</small></p>
<!--#endif --><!--#if expr="$DISTRO = guix" -->
 <a href="/distros/screenshots/guixSD-gnome3.jpg"><img
   width="512" height="288"
   src="/distros/screenshots/guixSD-gnome3-medium.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Guix&nbsp;0.15 with GNOME&nbsp;3 desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="/software/guix/">Guix&nbsp;0.15</a> with <a
href="https://www.gnome.org/">GNOME&nbsp;3</a> desktop, Epiphany web
browser, Totem video player, and GNOME terminal emulator</small></p>
<!--#endif --><!--#if expr="$DISTRO = hyperbola" -->
 <a href="/distros/screenshots/hyperbola-i3.png"><img
   width="512" height="288"
   src="/distros/screenshots/hyperbola-i3.png"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Hyperbola with i3 window manager]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="https://www.hyperbola.info/">
Hyperbola&nbsp;0.3</a> with <a href="https://i3wm.org/">i3 window manager</a>,
cool-retro-term (terminal emulator), Gimp (image editor), and Iceweasel-UXP (web
browser)</small></p>
<!--#endif --><!--#if expr="$DISTRO = parabola" -->
 <a href="/distros/screenshots/parabola2020-lxde.jpg"><img
   width="512" height="288"
   src="/distros/screenshots/parabola2020-lxde-medium.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Parabola with LXDE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="https://www.parabola.nu">Parabola&nbsp;2020</a> with <a
href="http://lxde.sourceforge.net/about.html">LXDE desktop</a></small></p>
<!--#endif --><!--#if expr="$DISTRO = pureos" -->
 <a href="/distros/screenshots/pureos8-gnome3.jpg"><img
   width="512" height="264"
   src="/distros/screenshots/gnome3-medium.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of PureOS&nbsp;8 with GNOME&nbsp;3 desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="https://www.pureos.net/">PureOS&nbsp;8</a> with <a
href="https://www.gnome.org/">GNOME&nbsp;3</a> desktop,
PureBrowser (web browser), and Gimp (image editor)</small></p>
<!--#endif --><!--#if expr="$DISTRO = trisquel" -->
 <a href="https://trisquel.info/files/screenshots/t10-office_0.jpg"><img
   width="512" height="320"
   src="/distros/screenshots/trisquel10-mate.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Trisquel&nbsp;10 with MATE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
<p><small><a href="https://trisquel.info">Trisquel&nbsp;10</a> with <a
href="https://mate-desktop.org/">MATE</a> desktop, and part of the <a
href="https://www.libreoffice.org/">LibreOffice</a> suite.</small></p>
<!--#endif -->
</div>

<div class="thumbs">
 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=dragora#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Dragora&nbsp;3.0-beta2 with TDE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>Dragora / TDE</small></p>
 </div>

 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=guix#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/guixSD-gnome3-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Guix&nbsp;0.15 with GNOME&nbsp;3 desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>Guix / GNOME3</small></p>
 </div>

 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=hyperbola#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/hyperbola-i3-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Hyperbola&nbsp;0.3 with i3 window manager]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>Hyperbola / i3</small></p>
 </div>

 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=parabola#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/parabola2020-lxde-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Parabola&nbsp;2020 with LXDE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>Parabola / LXDE</small></p>
 </div>

 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=pureos#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/gnome3-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of PureOS&nbsp;8 with GNOME&nbsp;3 desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>PureOS / GNOME3</small></p>
 </div>

 <div>
  <a href="/home.html?distro=trisquel#gnu-linux"><img
   width="128" height="72"
   src="/distros/screenshots/trisquel10-mate-thumb.jpg"
   alt="&nbsp;[Screenshot of Trisquel&nbsp;10 with MATE desktop]&nbsp;" /></a>
  <p><small>Trisquel / MATE</small></p>
 </div>
</div>
</div>

<div class="btn-right">... or <a
href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Free_software_replacements">
Try parts of GNU</a></div>
<div style="clear:both"></div>

<h2>What is the Free Software Movement?</h2>

<p>The free software movement campaigns to win for the users of
computing the freedom that comes from free software.  Free software
puts its users in control of their own computing.  Nonfree software
puts its users under the power of the software's developer.  See
<a href="/audio-video/philosophy-recordings.html#rms-201404070">
the video explanation</a>.</p>

<h2>What is Free Software?</h2>

<p><strong>Free software means the users have the freedom to run,
copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.</strong></p>

<p>Free software is a matter of liberty, not price.  To understand the
concept, you should think of &ldquo;free&rdquo; as in &ldquo;free
speech,&rdquo; not as in &ldquo;free beer.&rdquo;</p>

<p>More precisely, free software means users of a program have
the <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">four essential
freedoms</a>:</p>

<ul>
<li>The freedom to run the program as you wish,
    for any purpose (freedom 0).</li>
<li>The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it
    does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source
    code is a precondition for this.</li>
<li>The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others
    (freedom 2).</li>
<li>The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions
    to others (freedom 3).  By doing this you can give the whole
    community a chance to benefit from your changes.
    Access to the source code is a precondition for this.</li>
</ul>

<p>Developments in technology and network use have made these freedoms
<a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">even more
important now</a> than they were in 1983.</p>

<p>Nowadays the free software movement goes far beyond developing the
GNU system.  See <a href="https://www.fsf.org">the Free Software
Foundation's web site</a> for more about what we do, and a list
of <a href="/help">ways you can help</a>.</p>

<h2>More about GNU</h2>

<p><a id="More-GNU">GNU</a> is a Unix-like operating system.  That
means it is a collection of many programs: applications, libraries,
developer tools, even games.  The development of GNU, started in
January 1984, is known as the GNU Project.  Many of the programs in
GNU are released under the auspices of the GNU Project; those we
call <a href="/software/">GNU packages</a>.</p>

<p>The name &ldquo;GNU&rdquo; is a recursive acronym for &ldquo;GNU's
Not
Unix.&rdquo; <a href="/pronunciation/pronunciation.html">&ldquo;GNU&rdquo;
is pronounced <em>g'noo</em></a>, as one syllable, like saying
&ldquo;grew&rdquo; but replacing the <em>r</em> with <em>n</em>.</p>

<p>The program in a Unix-like system that allocates machine resources
and talks to the hardware is called the &ldquo;kernel.&rdquo;  GNU is
typically used with a kernel called Linux.  This combination is
the <a href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html"><strong>GNU/Linux operating
system</strong></a>.  GNU/Linux is used by millions, though
many <a href="/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html">call it &ldquo;Linux&rdquo; by
mistake</a>.</p>

<p>GNU's own kernel, the <a href="/software/hurd/hurd.html">GNU Hurd</a>,
was started in 1990 (before Linux was started).  Volunteers continue
developing the Hurd because it is an interesting technical
project.</p>

<p class="button right-align"><a href="/gnu/gnu.html">More information</a></p>
</div><!-- /first-column -->

<div class="second-column" role="complementary">

<p class="c" style="margin-top: 2.3em"><a href="https://snowflake.torproject.org/">
<img style="width:12em; height:auto"
     src="/graphics/snowflake-purple.png" 
     alt="Help people bypass censorship. Run Snowflake!" /></a></p>

<div id="franklin" class="emph-box color1">
<blockquote>
<p><i>As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be 
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we 
should do freely and generously.</i><br /> &mdash;Benjamin Franklin</p> 
</blockquote> 
</div>

<div id="giving-guide" class="emph-box color2">
<p>This year, choose Freedom as a gift. <strong><a 
href="https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v14/">
Ethical Tech Giving Guide</a></strong></p>
</div>

<div id="kind-comm" class="emph-box color2">
<p>The GNU Project strongly urges the community to communicate in 
ways that are friendly, welcoming and kind. See the 
<a href="/philosophy/kind-communication.html">
GNU Kind Communications Guidelines</a>.</p>
</div>

<div id="Flashes" class="emph-box color1">
<h3><a href="https://planet.gnu.org/">Planet GNU</a>
<a href="https://planet.gnu.org/rss20.xml"><img src="/feed-icon-10x10.png"
alt="RSS Feed" /></a></h3>
<div class="ltr">
<!--#include virtual="/planetfeeds.html" -->
</div>
</div>

<div id="Action" class="emph-box color2">
<h3>Take Action</h3>

<ul>
<li><strong><a href="https://www.fsf.org/campaigns">Support current FSF
campaigns</a></strong>.</li>
<li id="petition"><a
href="https://my.fsf.org/give-students-userfreedom">Sign the petition
for freedom in the classroom</a>.</li>
<li id="copilot"><a
href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Copilot_Watch_Group">Join the 
Copilot Watch Group</a>.</li>
</ul>

<p class="back"><a href="/server/takeaction.html">More action items</a></p>
</div>

<div id="priority" class="emph-box color1">
<p><strong>Can you help GNU with any of these projects?</strong></p>
<ul>
  <li><a 
href="/help/priority-projects.html">GNU high priority enhancement projects</a></li>
  <li><a 
href="/help/music-subtraction.html">Free program to subtract 
background music</a></li>
<!--  <li><a 
href="/help/important-new-small-to-medium-programs-needed.html">
Important new small-to-medium programs needed</a></li> ##This is a new 
page to be created which will initially contain a link to /help/music-subtraction.html-->
</ul>
</div>

<div class="emph-box color2">
<p id="long-term"><strong>Can you contribute to any of
the <a href="//www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects/">long-term 
high priority projects</a>?</strong></p>
</div>

<div id="unmaint" class="emph-box color1">
<p><strong>Can you help <a
href="/server/takeaction.html#unmaint">maintain a GNU package</a>? 
These packages are looking for maintainers:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><span class="gnun-split"></span>
  <a href="/software/cfengine/">cfengine</a>,
  <a href="/software/halifax/">halifax</a>,
  <a href="/software/quickthreads/">quickthreads</a>,
  <a href="/software/guile-sdl/">guile-sdl</a>,
  <a href="/software/superopt/">superopt</a><span class="gnun-split"></span></li>
</ul>

<p>Also, these packages are looking for co-maintainers:</p>
<ul>
<li><span class="gnun-split"></span>
  <a href="/software/aspell/">aspell</a>,
  <a href="/software/bison/">bison</a>,
  <a href="/software/gnuae/">gnuae</a>,
  <a href="/software/gnubik/">gnubik</a>,
  <a href="/software/metaexchange/">metaexchange</a>,
  <a href="/software/powerguru/">powerguru</a>,
  <a href="/software/xboard/">xboard</a><span class="gnun-split"></span>.</li>
</ul>
<p>See the package web pages for more information.</p>
</div>

<div id="blurb" class="emph-box color2">
<p><strong><a href="/software/recent-releases.html">Recent GNU
releases</a></strong></p>

<p><strong><a href="/manual/blurbs.html">Short descriptions for all GNU
packages</a></strong></p>

<p style="margin-top: 2em">Today's random package&hellip;</p>
<!--#include virtual="/server/home-pkgselect.html" -->
<div class="ltr">
<!--#include virtual="/server/home-pkgblurbs.html" -->
</div>
</div>

</div><!-- /second-column -->
</div><!-- /home -->

<div style="clear:both"></div>
</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->

<p id="sisters">The <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">FSF</a> also has sister
organizations in <a href="https://fsfe.org/">Europe</a>, <a
href="https://www.fsfla.org/ikiwiki/">Latin America</a> and <a
href="https://fsf.org.in/">India</a>.<br />
Feel free to join them!</p>

<div id="footer" role="contentinfo">
<div class="unprintable">

<p id="ContactInfo">Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>

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        We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
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        Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
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of this article.</p>
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<p>Copyright &copy; 1996-2024 <a
href="http://www.fsf.org">Free Software Foundation</a>, Inc.</p>

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