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<title>Selling Free Software |
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- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> |
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<div class="article reduced-width"> |
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<h2>Selling Free Software</h2> |
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|
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<p><em><a href="/philosophy/selling-exceptions.html">Some views on the |
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ideas of selling exceptions to free software licenses, such as the GNU |
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GPL</a> are also available.</em></p> |
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<hr class="thin" /> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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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joeko |
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you should charge as little as possible—just enough to cover |
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the cost. This is a misunderstanding.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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rms |
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Actually, we encourage people who redistribute |
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rms |
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<a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a> to charge as much |
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as they wish or can. If a license does not permit users to make |
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copies and sell them, it is a nonfree license. If this seems |
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surprising to you, please read on.</p> |
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<p> |
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karl |
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The word “free” has two legitimate general meanings; it can refer |
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th_g |
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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, study and change the program, and redistribute the program with or |
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wkotwica |
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without changes.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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rms |
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<a href="/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware">Nonfree 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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rms |
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Price or no price, the program is nonfree because its users are denied |
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wkotwica |
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freedom.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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rms |
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Since free software is not a matter of price, a low price doesn't make |
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the software |
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free, or even 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.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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 free software development projects or to the |
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<a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>. This way you can |
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advance the world of free software.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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></p> |
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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.</p> |
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yavor |
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<h3>Will a higher distribution price hurt some users?</h3> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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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wkotwica |
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<a href="/philosophy/categories.html#ProprietarySoftware">proprietary |
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joeko |
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software</a>, a high price does exactly that—but free software |
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yavor |
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is different.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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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wkotwica |
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is high, that does make it hard for some users to use the program.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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.</p> |
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yavor |
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<h3>Will a higher distribution price discourage use of free software?</h3> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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joeko |
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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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wkotwica |
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service has less effect on popularity.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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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rms |
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is to use. Many users do not make freedom their priority; they |
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may continue to use proprietary software if |
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free software can't do all the jobs they want done. 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>.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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The most direct way to do this is by writing needed |
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th_g |
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<a href="https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tasklist">free software</a> |
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or |
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yavor |
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<a href="/doc/doc.html">manuals</a> yourself. But if you do |
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distribution rather than writing, the best way you can help is by |
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raising funds for others to write them.</p> |
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yavor |
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<h3>The term “selling software” can be confusing too</h3> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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yavor |
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Strictly speaking, “selling” means trading goods for |
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money. Selling a copy of a free program is legitimate, and we |
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encourage it.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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th_g |
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However, when people think of “<a |
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href="/philosophy/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.</p> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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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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yavor |
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“selling software” and choose some other wording instead. |
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For example, you could say “distributing free software for a |
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fee”—that is unambiguous.</p> |
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yavor |
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<h3>High or low fees, and the GNU GPL</h3> |
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|
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wkotwica |
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<p> |
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Except for one special situation, the |
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<a href="/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General Public License</a> (GNU GPL) |
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yavor |
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has no requirements about how much you can charge for distributing a |
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copy of free software. You can charge nothing, a penny, a dollar, or |
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a billion dollars. It's up to you, and the marketplace, so don't |
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complain to us if nobody wants to pay a billion dollars for a |
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copy.</p> |
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|
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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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yavor |
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a fee too large for anyone to pay—such as a billion |
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dollars—and thus pretend to release source code while in truth |
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karl |
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concealing it. So <a href="/licenses/gpl.html#section6">in this case we |
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have to limit the fee</a> for source in order |
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yavor |
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to ensure the user's freedom. In ordinary situations, however, there |
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is no such justification for limiting distribution fees, so we do not |
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limit them.</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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rms |
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Sometimes companies whose activities cross the line stated in the GNU |
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GPL plead for permission, saying that they “won't charge |
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money for the GNU software” or such like. That won't get them anywhere |
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with us. 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.</p> |
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th_g |
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</div> |
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|
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dkr |
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</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> |
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<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> |
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th_g |
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<div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> |
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ineiev |
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<div class="unprintable"> |
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wkotwica |
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|
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ineiev |
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<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to |
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<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. |
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There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> |
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the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent |
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to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> |
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<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, |
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replace it with the translation of these two: |
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We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality |
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translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. |
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Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard |
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to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> |
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<web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> |
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<p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of |
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our web pages, see <a |
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href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations |
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README</a>. --> |
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Please see the <a |
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href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations |
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README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations |
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of this article.</p> |
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ineiev |
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</div> |
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|
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<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to |
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files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should |
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gnun |
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be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this |
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ineiev |
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without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. |
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Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the |
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document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the |
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document was modified, or published. |
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If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. |
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Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying |
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years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable |
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year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including |
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being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). |
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There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers |
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Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> |
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|
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<p>Copyright © 1996-1998, 2001, 2007, 2015, 2021 |
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Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p> |
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|
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jturner |
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<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" |
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gnun |
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href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative |
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Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> |
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wkotwica |
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|
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ineiev |
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<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> |
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ineiev |
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<p class="unprintable">Updated: |
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bkuhn |
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<!-- timestamp start --> |
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th_g |
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$Date: 2021/08/19 07:36:45 $ |
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bkuhn |
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<!-- timestamp end --> |
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wkotwica |
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</p> |
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</div> |
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ineiev |
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</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> |
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wkotwica |
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</body> |
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</html> |