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-revision 1.126 by rms,
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+revision 1.138 by rms,
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  <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
- <!-- Parent-Version: 1.75 -->
+ <!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 -->
  <title>What is free software?
  - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
 Line 10
  <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
  <h2>What is free software?</h2>
+ <!--#include virtual="/licenses/fsf-licensing.html" -->
  <h3>The Free Software Definition</h3>
-Line 26 
 software.
+Line 27 
 software.
  <p>
  &ldquo;Free software&rdquo; means software that respects users'
- freedom and community.  Roughly, <b>the users have the freedom to run,
+ freedom and community.  Roughly, it means that <b>the users have the
- copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software</b>.
+ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the
+ software</b>.  Thus, &ldquo;free software&rdquo; 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>
- Thus, &ldquo;free software&rdquo; is a matter of liberty, not price.
+ We campaign for these freedoms because everyone deserves them.  With
- To understand the concept, you should think of &ldquo;free&rdquo; as
+ these freedoms, the users (both individually and collectively) control
- in &ldquo;free speech,&rdquo; not as in &ldquo;free beer&rdquo;.
+ the program and what it does for them.  When users don't control the
- </p>
+ program, we call it a &ldquo;nonfree&rdquo; or
+ &ldquo;proprietary&rdquo; program.  The nonfree program controls the
- <p>
+ users, and the developer controls the program; this makes the
- With these freedoms, the users (both individually and collectively)
+ program <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">
- control the program and what it does for them.  When users don't
+ an instrument of unjust power</a>.
- control the program, the program controls the users.  The developer
- controls the program, and through it exercises power over the users.
- Therefore, a &ldquo;nonfree&rdquo; or &ldquo;proprietary&rdquo; program
- is <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html"> an
- instrument of unjust power</a>.
  </p>
  <p>
 Line 52 
 four essential freedoms:
  </p>
  <ul>
-   <li>The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).</li>
+   <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.
-Line 103 
 for her purposes, but you are not entitl
+Line 104 
 for her purposes, but you are not entitl
  </p>
  <p>
+ The freedom to run the program as you wish means that you are not
+ forbidden or stopped from doing so.  It has nothing to do with what
+ functionality the program has, or whether it is useful for what you
+ want to do.</p>
+ <p>
  The freedom to redistribute copies must include binary or executable
  forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and
  unmodified versions.  (Distributing programs in runnable form is necessary
-Line 128 
 the original.  If the program is deliver
+Line 135 
 the original.  If the program is deliver
  run someone else's modified versions but refuse to run yours &mdash; a
  practice known as &ldquo;tivoization&rdquo; or &ldquo;lockdown&rdquo;,
  or (in its practitioners' perverse terminology) as &ldquo;secure
- boot&rdquo; &mdash; freedom 1 becomes a theoretical fiction rather
+ boot&rdquo; &mdash; freedom 1 becomes an empty pretense rather than a
- than a practical freedom.  This is not sufficient.  In other words,
+ practical reality.  These binaries are not free
- these binaries are not free software even if the source code they are
+ software even if the source code they are compiled from is free.
- compiled from is free.
  </p>
  <p>
-Line 162 
 cause, the software is not free.
+Line 168 
 cause, the software is not free.
  <p>
  However, certain kinds of rules about the manner of distributing free
  software are acceptable, when they don't conflict with the central
- freedoms.  For example, copyleft (very simply stated) is the rule that
+ freedoms.  For example, <a href="/copyleft/copyleft.html">copyleft</a>
- when redistributing the program, you cannot add restrictions to deny
+ (very simply stated) is the rule that when redistributing the program,
- other people the central freedoms.  This rule does not conflict with
+ you cannot add restrictions to deny other people the central freedoms.
- the central freedoms; rather it protects them.
+ This rule does not conflict with the central freedoms; rather it
+ protects them.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ In the GNU project, we use copyleft to protect the four freedoms
+ legally for everyone.  We believe there are important reasons why
+ <a href="/philosophy/pragmatic.html">it is better to use
+ copyleft</a>.  However,
+ <a href="/philosophy/categories.html#Non-CopyleftedFreeSoftware">
+ noncopylefted free software</a> is ethical
+ too.  See <a href="/philosophy/categories.html">Categories of Free
+ Software</a> for a description of how &ldquo;free software,&rdquo;
+ &ldquo;copylefted software&rdquo; and other categories of software
+ relate to each other.
  </p>
  <p>
-Line 219 
 facility that allows you to specify the
+Line 239 
 facility that allows you to specify the
  alias for the modified version.</p>
  <p>
- In the GNU project, we use
- <a href="/copyleft/copyleft.html">copyleft</a>
- to protect these freedoms legally for everyone.  But
- <a href="/philosophy/categories.html#Non-CopyleftedFreeSoftware">noncopylefted
- free software</a> also exists.  We believe there are important reasons why
- <a href="/philosophy/pragmatic.html">it is better to use copyleft</a>,
- but if your program is noncopylefted free software, it is still basically
- ethical. (See <a href="/philosophy/categories.html">Categories of Free Software</a> for a description of how &ldquo;free software,&rdquo; &ldquo;copylefted software&rdquo; and other categories of software relate to each other.)
- </p>
- <p>
  Sometimes government <a id="exportcontrol">export control regulations</a>
  and trade sanctions can constrain your freedom to distribute copies of
  programs internationally.  Software developers do not have the power to
-Line 252 
 software nonfree.
+Line 261 
 software nonfree.
  </p>
  <p>
+ A free license may not require compliance with the license of a
+ nonfree program.  Thus, for instance, if a license requires you to
+ comply with the licenses of &ldquo;all the programs you use&rdquo;, in
+ the case of a user that runs nonfree programs this would require
+ compliance with the licenses of those nonfree programs; that makes the
+ license nonfree.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ It is acceptable for a free license to specify which jurisdiction's
+ law applies, or where litigation must be done, or both.
+ </p>
+ <p>
  Most free software licenses are based on copyright, and there are limits
  on what kinds of requirements can be imposed through copyright.  If a
  copyright-based license respects freedom in the ways described above, it
-Line 358 
 was changed.</p>
+Line 381 
 was changed.</p>
  <ul>
+ <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.134&amp;r2=1.135">Version
+.135</a>: Say each time that freedom 0 is the freedom to run the program
+ as you wish.</li>
+ <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.133&amp;r2=1.134">Version
+.134</a>: Freedom 0 is not a matter of the program's functionality.</li>
+ <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.130&amp;r2=1.131">Version
+.131</a>: A free license may not require compliance with a nonfree license
+ of another program.</li>
+ <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.128&amp;r2=1.129">Version
+.129</a>: State explicitly that choice of law and choice of forum
+ specifications are allowed.  (This was always our policy.)</li>
  <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.121&amp;r2=1.122">Version
 .122</a>: An export control requirement is a real problem if the
  requirement is nontrivial; otherwise it is only a potential problem.</li>
-Line 462 
 interface</a>.</p>
+Line 500 
 interface</a>.</p>
  </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
  <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
  <div id="footer">
+ <div class="unprintable">
  <p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
  <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
-Line 486 
 Please see the <a
+Line 525 
 Please see the <a
  href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
  README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
  of this article.</p>
+ </div>
  <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
       files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
-Line 513 
 Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United
+Line 553 
 Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United
  <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
- <p>Updated:
+ <p class="unprintable">Updated:
  <!-- timestamp start -->
  $Date$
  <!-- timestamp end -->

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