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1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">
2 <HTML>
3 <HEAD>
4 <TITLE>The Free Software Definition - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)</TITLE>
5 <LINK REV="made" HREF="mailto:webmasters@www.gnu.org">
6 </HEAD>
7 <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#1F00FF" ALINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#9900DD">
8 <H3>The Free Software Definition</H3>
9
10 <A HREF="/graphics/philosophicalgnu.html"><IMG SRC="/graphics/philosophical-gnu-sm.jpg"
11 ALT=" [image of a Philosophical Gnu] "
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13
14 [
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17 <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.hr.html">Croatian</A>
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21 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.html">English</A>
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33 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ro.html">Romanian</A>
34 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ru.html">Russian</A>
35 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.sl.html">Slovenian</A>
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37 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.tr.html">Turkish</A>
38 <!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
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40 ]
41 <P>
42
43 We maintain this free software definition to show clearly what must be
44 true about a particular software program for it to be considered
45 free software.
46
47 <P>
48
49 ``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the
50 concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in
51 ``free beer.''
52 <P>
53 Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy,
54 distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely,
55 it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
56 <P>
57
58 <UL>
59 <LI>The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
60 <LI>The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs
61 (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
62 <LI>The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
63 (freedom 2).
64 <LI>The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements
65 to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
66 (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
67 </UL>
68
69 <P>
70 A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms.
71 Thus, you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or
72 without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for
73 distribution, to <A HREF="#exportcontrol">anyone anywhere</A>. Being
74 free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not
75 have to ask or pay for permission.
76
77 <P>
78 You should also have the freedom to make modifications and use them
79 privately in your own work or play, without even mentioning that they
80 exist. If you do publish your changes, you should not be required to
81 notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way.
82
83 <P>
84 The freedom to use a program means the freedom for any kind of person
85 or organization to use it on any kind of computer system, for any kind
86 of overall job, and without being required to communicate subsequently
87 with the developer or any other specific entity.
88
89 <P>
90 The freedom to redistribute copies must include binary or executable
91 forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and
92 unmodified versions. (Distributing programs in runnable form is
93 necessary for conveniently installable free operating systems.) It is
94 ok if there is no way to produce a binary or executable form for a
95 certain program (since some languages don't support that feature), but
96 you must have the freedom to redistribute such forms should you find
97 or develop a way to make them.
98
99 <P>
100 In order for the freedoms to make changes, and to publish improved
101 versions, to be meaningful, you must have access to the source code of
102 the program. Therefore, accessibility of source code is a necessary
103 condition for free software.
104
105 <P>
106 In order for these freedoms to be real, they must be irrevocable as
107 long as you do nothing wrong; if the developer of the software has the
108 power to revoke the license, without your doing anything to give
109 cause, the software is not free.
110
111 <P>
112 However, certain kinds of rules about the manner of distributing free
113 software are acceptable, when they don't conflict with the central
114 freedoms. For example, copyleft (very simply stated) is the rule that
115 when redistributing the program, you cannot add restrictions to deny
116 other people the central freedoms. This rule does not conflict with
117 the central freedoms; rather it protects them.
118
119 <P>
120 Thus, you may have paid money to get copies of free software, or you
121 may have obtained copies at no charge. But regardless of how you got
122 your copies, you always have the freedom to copy and change the
123 software, even to <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.html">sell copies</A>.
124 <P>
125
126 ``Free software'' does not mean ``non-commercial''. A free program
127 must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and
128 commercial distribution. Commercial development of free software is
129 no longer unusual; such free commercial software is very important.
130
131 <P>
132 Rules about how to package a modified version are acceptable, if they
133 don't effectively block your freedom to release modified versions.
134 Rules that ``if you make the program available in this way, you must
135 make it available in that way also'' can be acceptable too, on the
136 same condition. (Note that such a rule still leaves you the choice of
137 whether to publish the program or not.) It is also acceptable for the
138 license to require that, if you have distributed a modified version
139 and a previous developer asks for a copy of it, you must send one.
140
141 <P>
142 In the GNU project, we use <A HREF="/copyleft/copyleft.html">
143 ``copyleft''</A> to protect these freedoms legally for everyone. But
144 <A HREF="/philosophy/categories.html#Non-CopyleftedFreeSoftware">
145 non-copylefted free software</A> also exists. We believe there are
146 important reasons why <A HREF="/philosophy/pragmatic.html"> it is
147 better to use copyleft</A>, but if your program is non-copylefted free
148 software, we can still use it.
149
150 <P>
151 See <A HREF="/philosophy/categories.html">Categories of Free Software
152 (18k characters)</A>
153 for a description of how ``free software,'' ``copylefted software'' and
154 other categories of software relate to each other.
155
156 <P>
157 Sometimes government <A NAME="exportcontrol">export control
158 regulations</A> and trade sanctions can constrain your freedom to
159 distribute copies of programs internationally. Software developers do
160 not have the power to eliminate or override these restrictions, but
161 what they can and must do is refuse to impose them as conditions of
162 use of the program. In this way, the restrictions will not affect
163 activities and people outside the jurisdictions of these governments.
164
165 <P>
166 When talking about free software, it is best to avoid using terms like
167 ``give away'' or ``for free'', because those terms imply that the
168 issue is about price, not freedom. Some common terms such as
169 ``piracy'' embody opinions we hope you won't endorse. See <A
170 HREF="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html">Confusing Words and Phrases
171 that are Worth Avoiding</A> for a discussion of these terms.
172 We also have a list of <A HREF="/philosophy/fs-translations.html">translations
173 of "free software"</A> into various languages.
174
175 <P>
176
177 Finally, note that criteria such as those stated in this free software
178 definition require careful thought for their interpretation. To
179 decide whether a specific software license qualifies as a free
180 software license, we judge it based on these criteria to determine
181 whether it fits their spirit as well as the precise words. If a
182 license includes unconscionable restrictions, we reject it, even if we
183 did not anticipate the issue in these criteria. Sometimes a license
184 requirement raises an issue that calls for extensive thought,
185 including discussions with a lawyer, before we can decide if the
186 requirement is acceptable. When we reach a conclusion about a new
187 issue, we often update these criteria to make it easier to see why
188 certain licenses do or don't qualify.
189
190 <P>
191
192 If you are interested in whether a specific license qualifies as a
193 free software license, see our <A
194 HREF="/licenses/license-list.html">list of licenses</A>. If the
195 license you are concerned with is not listed there, you can ask us
196 about it by sending us email at <A
197 HREF="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">&lt;licensing@gnu.org&gt;</A>.
198
199 <HR>
200
201 <H4><A HREF="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to Read</A></H4>
202
203 <P>
204 Another group has started using the term "open source" to mean
205 something close (but not identical) to "free software". We prefer the
206 term "free software" because, once you have heard it refers to freedom
207 rather than price, <A HREF="free-software-for-freedom.html">it calls
208 to mind freedom</A>.
209
210 <HR>
211 [
212 <!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
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214 <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.hr.html">Croatian</A>
215 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.cs.html">Czech</A>
216 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.da.html">Danish</A>
217 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.nl.html">Dutch</A>
218 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.html">English</A>
219 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.fr.html">French</A>
220 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.gl.html">Galician</A>
221 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.de.html">German</A>
222 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.hu.html">Hungarian</A>
223 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.id.html">Indonesian</A>
224 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.it.html">Italian</A>
225 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ja.html">Japanese</A>
226 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ko.html">Korean</A>
227 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.no.html">Norwegian</A>
228 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.pl.html">Polish</A>
229 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.pt.html">Portuguese</A>
230 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ro.html">Romanian</A>
231 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.ru.html">Russian</A>
232 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.sl.html">Slovenian</A>
233 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.es.html">Spanish</A>
234 | <A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.tr.html">Turkish</A>
235 <!-- Please keep this list alphabetical -->
236 <!-- PLEASE UPDATE THE LIST AT THE BOTTOM (OR TOP) OF THE PAGE TOO! -->
237 ]
238 <P>
239 Return to <A HREF="/home.html">GNU's home page</A>.
240 <P>
241
242 Please send FSF &amp; GNU inquiries &amp; questions to
243
244 <A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
245 There are also <A HREF="/home.html#ContactInfo">other ways to
246 contact</A> the FSF.
247 <P>
248
249 Please send comments on these web pages to
250
251 <A HREF="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><EM>webmasters@gnu.org</EM></A>,
252 send other questions to
253 <A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>.
254 <P>
255 Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
256 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA
257 <P>
258 Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is
259 permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.
260 <P>
261 Updated:
262 <!-- timestamp start -->
263 $Date: 2002/08/26 22:02:14 $ $Author: rms $
264 <!-- timestamp end -->
265 <HR>
266 </BODY>
267 </HTML>
268

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