/[www]/www/philosophy/free-sw.html

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-revision 1.155 by ineiev,
Sun Dec 31 07:26:02 2017 UTC
+revision 1.165 by rms,
Mon Jul 29 21:25:25 2019 UTC
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  <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
- <!-- Parent-Version: 1.84 -->
+ <!-- Parent-Version: 1.86 -->
  <title>What is free software?
  - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+ <style type="text/css" media="print,screen"><!--
+ .note { margin-left: 6%; margin-right: 6%; }
+ @media (min-width: 48em) {
+    .note { margin-top: .8em; }
+ }
+ --></style>
  <meta http-equiv="Keywords" content="GNU, FSF, Free Software Foundation, Linux, Emacs, GCC, Unix, Free Software, Operating System, GNU Kernel, HURD, GNU HURD, Hurd" />
  <meta http-equiv="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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+Line 16
  <h2>What is free software?</h2>
+ <div class="article">
+ <h3>The Free Software Definition</h3>
  <blockquote class="note" id="fsf-licensing"><p style="font-size: 80%">
  Have a question about free software licensing not answered here?
  See our other <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing">licensing resources</a>,
-Line 18 
 and if necessary contact the FSF Complia
+Line 26 
 and if necessary contact the FSF Complia
  at <a href="mailto:licensing@fsf.org">licensing@fsf.org</a>.</p>
  </blockquote>
- <h3>The Free Software Definition</h3>
+ <div class="comment">
- <blockquote>
  <p>
  The free software definition presents the criteria for whether a
  particular software program qualifies as free software.  From time to
-Line 29 
 about subtle issues.  See the <a href="#
+Line 35 
 about subtle issues.  See the <a href="#
  below for a list of changes that affect the definition of free
  software.
  </p>
- </blockquote>
+ <p>
+ &ldquo;Open source&rdquo; is something different: it has a very
+ different philosophy based on different values.  Its practical
+ definition is different too, but nearly all open source programs are
+ in fact free.  We explain the
+ difference in <a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">
+ Why &ldquo;Open Source&rdquo; misses the point of Free Software</a>.
+ </p>
+ </div>
  <p>
  &ldquo;Free software&rdquo; means software that respects users'
-Line 59 
 an instrument of unjust power</a>.
+Line 74 
 an instrument of unjust power</a>.
  <p>
  A program is free software if the program's users have the
- four essential freedoms:
+ four essential freedoms: <a href="#f1">[1]</a>
  </p>
- <ul>
+ <ul class="important">
    <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 your neighbor
+   <li>The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others
        (freedom 2).
    </li>
    <li>The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions
-Line 104 
 you always have the freedom to copy and
+Line 119 
 you always have the freedom to copy and
  <a href="/philosophy/selling.html">sell copies</a>.
  </p>
- <p>The rest of this page clarifies certain points about what makes
+ <p>
- specific freedoms adequate or not.</p>
+ A free program must offer the four freedoms to any user that obtains a
+ copy of the software, provided the user has complied thus far with the
+ conditions of the free license covering the software.  Putting some of
+ the freedoms off limits to some users, or requiring that users pay, in
+ money or in kind, to exercise them, is tantamount to not granting the
+ freedoms in question, and thus renders the program nonfree.
+ </p>
+ <h3>Clarifying the line at various points</h3>
+ <p>In the rest of this article we expain more precisely how far the
+ various freedoms need to extend, on various issues, in order for a
+ program to be free.</p>
  <h4>The freedom to run the program as you wish</h4>
-Line 131 
 particular computing activity.</p>
+Line 158 
 particular computing activity.</p>
  <p>
  In order for freedoms 1 and 3 (the freedom to make changes and the
- freedom to publish the changed versions) to be meaningful, you must have
+ freedom to publish the changed versions) to be meaningful, you need to have
  access to the source code of the program.  Therefore, accessibility of
  source code is a necessary condition for free software.  Obfuscated
  &ldquo;source code&rdquo; is not real source code and does not count
-Line 414 
 it refers to freedom rather than price,
+Line 441 
 it refers to freedom rather than price,
  word &ldquo;open&rdquo; <a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">
  never refers to freedom</a>.
  </p>
+ </div>
  <h3 id="History">History</h3>
-Line 423 
 was changed.</p>
+Line 451 
 was changed.</p>
  <ul>
+ <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.162&amp;r2=1.163">Version
+.163</a>: Clarify that the four freedoms apply to any and all users,
+ and that requiring users to pay to exercise some of these freedoms is
+ a way of denying them.</li>
  <li><a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;r1=1.152&amp;r2=1.153">Version
 .153</a>: Clarify that freedom to run the program means nothing stops
  you from making it run.</li>
-Line 545 
 You can review the complete list of chan
+Line 578 
 You can review the complete list of chan
  the <a href="http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/www/philosophy/free-sw.html?root=www&amp;view=log">cvsweb
  interface</a>.</p>
+ <h3 style="font-size:1em">Footnote</h3>
+ <ol>
+ <li id="f1">The reason they are numbered 0, 1, 2 and 3 is historical. Around
+there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that
+ the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.
+ It was clearly more basic than the other three, so it properly should
+ precede them. Rather than renumber the others, we made it freedom&nbsp;0.</li>
+ </ol>
  </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
  <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
-Line 593 
 of this article.</p>
+Line 634 
 of this article.</p>
       There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
       Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
- <p>Copyright &copy; 1996, 2002, 2004-2007, 2009-2017
+ <p>Copyright &copy; 1996, 2002, 2004-2007, 2009-2019
  Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>
  <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
-Line 608 
 $Date$
+Line 649 
 $Date$
  <!-- timestamp end -->
  </p>
  </div>
- </div>
+ </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include -->
  </body>
  </html>

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