What is Free Software?
-“Free software” means software that respects users' @@ -31,7 +29,7 @@ software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in -“free beer”. We sometimes call it “libre +“free 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 gratis. @@ -104,7 +102,7 @@
Have a question about free software licensing not answered here? See our other licensing resources, @@ -114,7 +112,7 @@
The Free Software Definition
+The Free Software Definition
The free software definition presents the criteria for whether a @@ -166,7 +164,7 @@
Free software can be commercial
-“Free software” does not mean “noncommercial”. +“Free software” does not mean “noncommercial.” On the contrary, a free program must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution. This policy is of fundamental importance—without this, free software could not @@ -203,7 +201,7 @@
-Clarifying the Boundary Between Free and Nonfree
+Clarifying the Boundary Between Free and Nonfree
In the rest of this article we explain more precisely how far the various freedoms need to extend, on various issues, in order for a @@ -218,8 +216,8 @@ with the developer or any other specific entity. In this freedom, it is the user's purpose that matters, not the developer's purpose; you as a user are free to run the program for your purposes, -and if you distribute it to someone else, she is then free to run it -for her purposes, but you are not entitled to impose your purposes on her. +and if you distribute it to other people, they are then free to run it for +their purposes, but you are not entitled to impose your purposes on them.
@@ -254,12 +252,18 @@
+Source code is defined as the preferred form of the program for making +changes in. Thus, whatever form a developer changes to develop +the program is the source code of that developer's version. +
+ +Freedom 1 includes the freedom to use your changed version in place of the original. If the program is delivered in a product designed to -run someone else's modified versions but refuse to run yours — a -practice known as “tivoization” or “lockdown”, +run someone else's modified versions but refuse to run yours—a +practice known as “tivoization” or “lockdown,” or (in its practitioners' perverse terminology) as “secure -boot” — freedom 1 becomes an empty pretense rather than a +boot”—freedom 1 becomes an empty pretense rather than a practical reality. These binaries are not free software even if the source code they are compiled from is free.
@@ -267,8 +271,8 @@One important way to modify a program is by merging in available free subroutines and modules. If the program's license says that you -cannot merge in a suitably licensed existing module — for instance, if it -requires you to be the copyright holder of any code you add — then the +cannot merge in a suitably licensed existing module—for instance, if it +requires you to be the copyright holder of any code you add—then the license is too restrictive to qualify as free.
@@ -419,7 +423,7 @@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 “all the programs you use”, in +comply with the licenses of “all the programs you use,” 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. @@ -451,7 +455,7 @@ it is nonfree.
-The Free Software Definition in Practice
+The Free Software Definition in Practice
How we interpret these criteria
@@ -508,13 +512,13 @@Another group uses the term “open source” to mean -something close (but not identical) to “free software”. We +something close (but not identical) to “free software.” We prefer the term “free software” because, once you have heard that it refers to freedom rather than price, it calls to mind freedom. The word “open” never refers to freedom.
-Beyond Software
+Beyond Software
Software manuals must be free, @@ -524,7 +528,7 @@
The same arguments also make sense for other kinds of works of -practical use — that is to say, works that embody useful knowledge, +practical use—that is to say, works that embody useful knowledge, such as educational works and reference works. Wikipedia is the best-known example. @@ -535,8 +539,6 @@ has been extended to a definition of free cultural works applicable to any kind of works.
--
History
@@ -546,84 +548,84 @@-
-
- Version
+
- Version 1.169: Explain more clearly why the four freedoms must apply to commercial activity. Explain why the four freedoms imply the freedom not to run the program and the freedom to delete it, so there is no need to state those as separate requirements.
-- Version +
- Version 1.165: Clarify that arbitrary annoyances in the code do not negate freedom 0, and that freedoms 1 and 3 enable users to remove them.
-- Version +
- Version 1.153: Clarify that freedom to run the program means nothing stops you from making it run.
-- Version +
- Version 1.141: Clarify which code needs to be free.
-- Version +
- Version 1.135: Say each time that freedom 0 is the freedom to run the program as you wish.
-- Version +
- Version 1.134: Freedom 0 is not a matter of the program's functionality.
-- Version +
- Version 1.131: A free license may not require compliance with a nonfree license of another program.
-- Version +
- Version 1.129: State explicitly that choice of law and choice of forum specifications are allowed. (This was always our policy.)
-- Version +
- Version 1.122: An export control requirement is a real problem if the requirement is nontrivial; otherwise it is only a potential problem.
-- Version +
- Version 1.118: Clarification: the issue is limits on your right to modify, not on what modifications you have made. And modifications are not limited to “improvements”
-- Version +
- Version 1.111: Clarify 1.77 by saying that only retroactive restrictions are unacceptable. The copyright holders can always grant additional permission for use of the work by releasing the work in another way in parallel.
-- Version +
- Version 1.105: Reflect, in the brief statement of freedom 1, the point (already stated in version 1.80) that it includes really using your modified version for your computing.
-- Version +
- Version 1.92: Clarify that obfuscated code does not qualify as source code.
-- Version +
- Version 1.90: Clarify that freedom 3 means the right to distribute copies of your own modified or improved version, not a right to participate in someone else's development project.
-- Version +
- Version 1.89: Freedom 3 includes the right to release modified versions as free software.
-- Version +
- Version 1.80: Freedom 1 must be practical, not just theoretical; i.e., no tivoization.
-- Version +
- Version 1.77: Clarify that all retroactive changes to the license are unacceptable, even if it's not described as a complete replacement.
-- Version +
- Version 1.74: Four clarifications of points not explicit enough, or stated in some places but not reflected everywhere:
--
-
- "Improvements" does not mean the license can +
- “Improvements” does not mean the license can substantively limit what kinds of modified versions you can release. Freedom 3 includes distributing modified versions, not just changes.
- The right to merge in existing modules @@ -633,38 +635,38 @@
- Version -1.57: Add "Beyond Software" section.
+- Version +1.57: Add “Beyond Software” section.
-- Version +
- Version 1.46: Clarify whose purpose is significant in the freedom to run the program for any purpose.
-- Version +
- Version 1.41: Clarify wording about contract-based licenses.
-- Version +
- Version 1.40: Explain that a free license must allow to you use other available free software to create your modifications.
-- Version +
- Version 1.39: Note that it is acceptable for a license to require you to provide source for versions of the software you put into public use.
-- Version +
- Version 1.31: Note that it is acceptable for a license to require you to identify yourself as the author of modifications. Other minor clarifications throughout the text.
-- Version +
- Version 1.23: Address potential problems related to contract-based licenses.
-- Version +
- Version 1.16: Explain why distribution of binaries is important.
-- Version +
- Version 1.11: Note that a free license may require you to send a copy of versions you distribute to previous developers on request.
@@ -675,9 +677,9 @@ interpretations. For instance, the list does not include changes in asides, formatting, spelling, punctuation, or other parts of the page. You can review the complete list of changes to the page through -the cvsweb +the cvsweb interface. -
+Footnote
-
@@ -736,7 +738,7 @@
There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
-
Copyright © 1996-2002, 2004-2007, 2009-2019, 2021 +
Copyright © 1996-2002, 2004-2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This page is licensed under a Updated: -$Date: 2021/07/16 12:11:26 $ +$Date: 2023/05/20 08:56:24 $