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<TITLE>Selling Free Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)</TITLE> |
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#1F00FF" ALINK="#FF0000" VLINK="#9900DD"> |
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<H3>Selling Free Software</H3> |
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<A HREF="/graphics/philosophicalgnu.html"><IMG SRC="/graphics/philosophical-gnu-sm.jpg" |
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ALT=" [image of a Philosophical Gnu] " |
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WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="200"></A> |
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<A HREF="/philosophy/selling.ca.html">Catalan</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.html">English</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.fr.html">French</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.it.html">Italian</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.ja.html">Japanese</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.ru.html">Russian</A> |
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| <A HREF="/philosophy/selling.es.html">Spanish</A> |
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<H4>Table of Contents</H4> |
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<LI><A HREF="selling.html#HigherPriceNoHurt" |
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NAME="TOCHigherPriceNoHurt">Will |
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a higher distribution price hurt some users?</A> |
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<LI><A HREF="selling.html#HigherPriceNoDiscourage" |
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NAME="TOCHigherPriceNoDiscourage">Will |
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a higher distribution price discourage use of free software?</A> |
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<LI><A HREF="selling.html#ConfusingTerm" |
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NAME="TOCConfusingTerm">The |
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term ``selling software'' can be confusing too</A> |
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<LI><A HREF="selling.html#HighOrLowFeesAndGPL" |
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NAME="TOCHighOrLowFeesAndGPL">High |
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or low fees, and the GNU GPL</A> |
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<LI><A HREF="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to Read</A> |
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</UL> |
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<HR> |
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<P> |
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Many people believe that the spirit of the GNU project is that you |
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should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that |
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you should charge as little as possible -- just enough to cover the |
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cost. |
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<P> |
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Actually we encourage people who redistribute |
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<A HREF="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</A> |
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to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to |
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you, please read on. |
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<P> |
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The word ``free'' has two legitimate general meanings; it can refer |
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either to freedom or to price. When we speak of ``free software'', |
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we're talking about freedom, not price. (Think of ``free speech'', |
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not ``free beer''.) Specifically, it means that a user is free to run |
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the program, change the program, and redistribute the program with or |
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without changes. |
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<P> |
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Free programs are sometimes distributed gratis, and sometimes for a |
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substantial price. Often the same program is available in both ways |
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from different places. The program is free regardless of the price, |
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because users have freedom in using it. |
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<P> |
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<A HREF="categories.html#ProprietarySoftware">Non-free programs</A> |
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are usually sold for a high price, but sometimes a store will give you |
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a copy at no charge. That doesn't make it free software, though. |
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Price or no price, the program is non-free because users don't have |
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freedom. |
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<P> |
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Since free software is not a matter of price, a low price isn't more |
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free, or closer to free. So if you are redistributing copies of free |
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software, you might as well charge a substantial fee and <em>make |
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some money</em>. Redistributing free software is a good and |
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legitimate activity; if you do it, you might as well make a profit |
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from it. |
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<P> |
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Free software is a community project, and everyone who depends on it |
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ought to look for ways to contribute to building the community. For a |
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distributor, the way to do this is to give a part of the profit to the |
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<A HREF="/fsf/fsf.html">Free Software Foundation</A> |
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or some other free software development project. By funding |
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development, you can advance the world of free software. |
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<P> |
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<STRONG>Distributing free software is an opportunity to raise |
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funds for development. Don't waste it!</STRONG> |
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<P> |
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In order to contribute funds, you need to have some extra. If you |
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charge too low a fee, you won't have anything to spare to support |
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development. |
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<P> |
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<H4><A HREF="selling.html#TOCHigherPriceNoHurt" |
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NAME="HigherPriceNoHurt">Will |
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a higher distribution price hurt some users?</A></H4> |
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<P> |
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People sometimes worry that a high distribution fee will put free |
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software out of range for users who don't have a lot of money. With |
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<A HREF="/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware">proprietary |
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software (18k characters)</A>, a high price does exactly that -- but free software is |
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different. |
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<P> |
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The difference is that free software naturally tends to spread around, |
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and there are many ways to get it. |
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<P> |
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Software hoarders try their damnedest to stop you from running a |
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proprietary program without paying the standard price. If this price |
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is high, that does make it hard for some users to use the program. |
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<P> |
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With free software, users don't <em>have</em> to pay the |
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distribution fee in order to use the software. They can copy the |
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program from a friend who has a copy, or with the help of a friend who |
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has network access. Or several users can join together, split the |
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price of one CD-ROM, then each in turn can install the software. A high |
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CD-ROM price is not a major obstacle when the software is free. |
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<P> |
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<H4><A HREF="selling.html#TOCHigherPriceNoDiscourage" |
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NAME="HigherPriceNoDiscourage">Will |
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a higher distribution price discourage use of free software?</A></H4> |
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<P> |
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Another common concern is for the popularity of free software. People |
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think that a high price for distribution would reduce the number of |
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users, or that a low price is likely to encourage users. |
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<P> |
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This is true for proprietary software -- but free software is |
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different. With so many ways to get copies, the price of distribution |
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service has less effect on popularity. |
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<P> |
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In the long run, how many people use free software is determined |
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mainly by <em>how much free software can do</em>, and how easy it |
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is to use. Many users will continue to use proprietary software if |
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free software can't do all the jobs they want to do. Thus, if we want |
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to increase the number of users in the long run, we should above all |
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<em>develop more free software</em>. |
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<P> |
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The most direct way to do this is by writing needed |
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<A HREF="/software/software.html#HelpWriteSoftware">free software</A> |
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or |
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<A HREF="/doc/doc.html#HelpWriteDocumentation">manuals</A> |
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yourself. But if you do distribution rather than writing, the |
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best way you can help is by raising funds for others to write them. |
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<P> |
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<H4><A HREF="selling.html#TOCConfusingTerm" |
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NAME="ConfusingTerm">The |
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term ``selling software'' can be confusing too</A></H4> |
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<P> |
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Strictly speaking, ``selling'' means trading goods for money. Selling |
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a copy of a free program is legitimate, and we encourage it. |
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<P> |
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However, when people think of |
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<A HREF="words-to-avoid.html#SellSoftware">``selling software''</A>, |
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they usually imagine doing it the way most companies do it: making the |
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software proprietary rather than free. |
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<P> |
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So unless you're going to draw distinctions carefully, the way this |
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article does, we suggest it is better to avoid using the term |
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``selling software'' and choose some other wording instead. For |
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example, you could say ``distributing free software for a fee''--that |
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is unambiguous. |
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<P> |
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<H4><A HREF="selling.html#TOCHighOrLowFeesAndGPL" |
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NAME="HighOrLowFeesAndGPL">High |
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or low fees, and the GNU GPL</A></H4> |
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<P> |
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Except for one special situation, the |
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<A HREF="/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License (20k |
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characters)</A> (GNU GPL) has no requirements about how much you can |
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charge for distributing a copy of free software. You can charge |
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nothing, a penny, a dollar, or a billion dollars. It's up to you, and |
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the marketplace, so don't complain to us if nobody wants to pay a |
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billion dollars for a copy. |
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<P> |
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The one exception is in the case where binaries are distributed |
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without the corresponding complete source code. Those who do this are |
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required by the GNU GPL to provide source code on subsequent request. |
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Without a limit on the fee for the source code, they would be able set |
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a fee too large for anyone to pay--such as, a billion dollars--and |
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thus pretend to release source code while in truth concealing it. So |
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in this case we have to limit the fee for source, to ensure the user's |
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freedom. In ordinary situations, however, there is no such |
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justification for limiting distribution fees, so we do not limit them. |
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<P> |
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Sometimes companies whose activities cross the line of what the GNU |
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GPL permits plead for permission, saying that they ``won't charge |
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money for the GNU software'' or such like. They don't get anywhere |
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this way. Free software is about freedom, and enforcing the GPL is |
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defending freedom. When we defend users' freedom, we are not |
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distracted by side issues such as how much of a distribution fee is |
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charged. Freedom is the issue, the whole issue, and the only issue. |
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<P> |
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<HR> |
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<H4><A HREF="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to Read</A></H4> |
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<HR> |
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Return to <A HREF="/home.html">GNU's home page</A>. |
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<P> |
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FSF & GNU inquiries & questions to |
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<A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>. |
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Other <A HREF="/home.html#ContactInfo">ways to contact</A> the FSF. |
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<P> |
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Comments on these web pages to |
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<A HREF="mailto:webmasters@www.gnu.org"><EM>webmasters@www.gnu.org</EM></A>, |
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send other questions to |
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<A HREF="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><EM>gnu@gnu.org</EM></A>. |
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<P> |
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Copyright (C) 1996, 1997, 1998 Free Software Foundation, Inc., |
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59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA |
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<P> |
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Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is |
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permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.<P> |
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Updated: |
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bkuhn |
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<!-- timestamp start --> |
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$Date: 2001/04/09 23:23:22 $ $Author: paulv $ |
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<!-- timestamp end --> |
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