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

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-revision 1.27 by canderson,
Fri Jul  2 00:36:09 2004 UTC
+revision 1.44 by hicham,
Sat May 20 09:35:17 2006 UTC
 Line 81 
 versions, to be meaningful, you must hav
  the program.  Therefore, accessibility of source code is a necessary
  condition for free software.</p>
  <p>
+ 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 an existing module, such as if it requires you to be
+ the copyright holder of any code you add, then the license is too
+ restrictive to qualify as free.</p>
+ <p>
  In order for these freedoms to be real, they must be irrevocable as
  long as you do nothing wrong; if the developer of the software has the
  power to revoke the license, without your doing anything to give
-Line 93 
 when redistributing the program, you can
+Line 99 
 when redistributing the program, you can
  other people the central freedoms.  This rule does not conflict with
  the central freedoms; rather it protects them.</p>
  <p>
- Thus, you may have paid money to get copies of free software, or you
+ You may have paid money to get copies of free software, 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
  software, even to <a href="/philosophy/selling.html">sell copies</a>.</p>
-Line 104 
 commercial distribution.  Commercial dev
+Line 110 
 commercial distribution.  Commercial dev
  no longer unusual; such free commercial software is very important.</p>
  <p>
  Rules about how to package a modified version are acceptable, if they
- don't effectively block your freedom to release modified versions.
+ don't substantively block your freedom to release modified versions,
- Rules that ``if you make the program available in this way, you must
+ or your freedom to make and use modified versions privately.  Rules
- make it available in that way also'' can be acceptable too, on the
+ that ``if you make your version available in this way, you must make
- same condition.  (Note that such a rule still leaves you the choice of
+ it available in that way also'' can be acceptable too, on the same
- whether to publish the program or not.)  It is also acceptable for the
+ condition.  (Note that such a rule still leaves you the choice of
- license to require that, if you have distributed a modified version
+ whether to publish your version at all.)  Rules that require release
- and a previous developer asks for a copy of it, you must send one.</p>
+ of source code to the users for versions that you put into public use
+ are also acceptable.  It is also acceptable for the license to require
+ that, if you have distributed a modified version and a previous
+ developer asks for a copy of it, you must send one, or that you
+ identify yourself on your modifications.
+ </p>
  <p>
  In the GNU project, we use <a href="/copyleft/copyleft.html">``copyleft''</a>
  to protect these freedoms legally for everyone.  But
-Line 142 
 impose a much larger range of possible r
+Line 153 
 impose a much larger range of possible r
  are many possible ways such a license could be unacceptably
  restrictive and non-free.</p>
  <p>
- We can't possibly list all the possible contract restrictions that
+ We can't possibly list all the ways that might happen.  If a
- would be unacceptable.  If a contract-based license restricts the user
+ contract-based license restricts the user in an unusual way that
- in an unusual way that copyright-based licenses cannot, and which
+ copyright-based licenses cannot, and which isn't mentioned here as
- isn't mentioned here as legitimate, we will have to think about it,
+ legitimate, we will have to think about it, and we will probably
- and we will probably decide it is non-free.</p>
+ conclude it is non-free.</p>
  <p>
  When talking about free software, it is best to avoid using terms like
  ``give away'' or ``for free'', because those terms imply that the
-Line 171 
 issue, we often update these criteria to
+Line 182 
 issue, we often update these criteria to
  certain licenses do or don't qualify.</p>
  <p>
  If you are interested in whether a specific license qualifies as a
- free software license, see our <a href="/licenses/license-list.html">list
+ free software license, see our <a
- of licenses</a>.  If the
+ href="/licenses/license-list.html">list of licenses</a>.  If the
  license you are concerned with is not listed there, you can ask us
- about it by sending us email
+ about it by sending us email at <a
- at <a href="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">&lt;licensing@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+ href="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">&lt;licensing@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p> <p>
+ If you are contemplating writing a new license, please contact the FSF
+ by writing to that address. The proliferation of different free
+ software licenses means increased work for users in understanding the
+ licenses; we may be able to help you find an existing Free Software
+ license that meets your needs.
+ </p>
+ <p>
+ If that isn't possible, if you really need a new license, with our
+ help you can ensure that the license really is a Free Software license
+ and avoid various practical problems.
+ </p>
  <hr />
  <p>
-Line 184 
 Another group has started using the term
+Line 206 
 Another group has started using the term
  something close (but not identical) to "free software".  We prefer the
  term "free software" because, once you have heard it refers to freedom
  rather than price, <a href="free-software-for-freedom.html">it calls
- to mind freedom</a>.</p>
+ to mind freedom</a>.  The word "open" never does that.</p>
  <hr />
  <h4><a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to Read</a></h4>
-Line 204 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
+Line 226 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
  <!-- language if possible, otherwise default to English -->
  <!-- If you do not have it English, please comment what the -->
  <!-- English is.  If you add a new language here, please -->
- <!-- advise web-trans@gnu.org and add it to -->
+ <!-- advise web-translators@gnu.org and add it to -->
  <!--    - in /home/www/bin/nightly-vars either TAGSLANG or WEBLANG -->
  <!--    - in /home/www/html/server/standards/README.translations.html -->
  <!--      one of the lists under the section "Translations Underway" -->
-Line 213 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
+Line 235 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
  <!-- Please also check you have the 2 letter language code right versus -->
  <!--     http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/IG/ert/iso639.htm -->
  [
-   <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.cs.html">&#x010c;esky</a>        <!-- Czech -->
+   <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.ar.html">&#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1585;&#1576;&#1610;&#1577;</a> |<!-- Arabic -->
+   <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.ca.html">Catal&#x00e0;</a>       <!-- Catalan -->
+ <!-- Chinese (Simplified) -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.cn.html">&#x7b80;&#x4f53;&#x4e2d;&#x6587;</a>
+ <!-- Chinese (Traditional) -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.zh.html">&#x7e41;&#x9ad4;&#x4e2d;&#x6587;</a>
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.cs.html">&#x010c;esky</a>        <!-- Czech -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.da.html">Dansk</a>       <!-- Danish -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.de.html">Deutsch</a>     <!-- German -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">English</a>
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.el.html">Ελληνικά</a>  <!--Greek-->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.es.html">Espa&#x00f1;ol</a>      <!-- Spanish -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.eo.html">Esperanto</a>
+ <!-- Persian/Farsi -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.fa.html">&#x0641;&#x0627;&#x0631;&#x0633;&#x06cc;</a>
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.fr.html">Fran&#x00e7;ais</a>     <!-- French -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.gl.html">Galego</a>      <!-- Galician -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.he.html">&#x05e2;&#x05d1;&#x05e8;&#x05d9;&#x05ea;</a>    <!-- Hebrew -->
-Line 231 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
+Line 268 
 to mind freedom</a>.</p>
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.no.html">Norsk</a>       <!-- Norwegian -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.pl.html">Polski</a>      <!-- Polish -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.pt.html">Portugu&#x0ea;s</a>     <!-- Portuguese -->
- | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.ro.html">Rom&#x00e2;n&#x00e3;</a>        <!-- Romanian -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.ro.html">Rom&#x00e2;n&#x0103;</a>        <!-- Romanian -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.ru.html">&#1056;&#1091;&#1089;&#1089;&#1082;&#1080;&#1081;</a> <!-- Russian -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.sl.html">Slovinsko</a>   <!--- Slovenian -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.sr.html">&#x0421;&#x0440;&#x043f;&#x0441;&#x043a;&#x0438;</a> <!-- Serbian -->
+ | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.tl.html">Tagalog</a>     <!-- Tagalog -->
  | <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.tr.html">T&#x00fc;rk&#x00e7;e</a>        <!-- Turkish -->
  ]
  </p>
-Line 262 
 translations of this article.
+Line 301 
 translations of this article.
  </p>
  <p>
- Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, Free
+ Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Free
- Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
+ Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
 ,  USA
  <br />
  Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is
  permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice is

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