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+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 -->
+<title>Letter to the Editor of Dr. Dobb's Journal
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/drdobbs-letter.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<h2>Letter to the Editor of Dr. Dobb's Journal</h2>
+
+<p>
+Dear Editor,
+</p>
+<p>
+I am sure you don't realize how ironic it is to associate me and Tim
+O'Reilly with &ldquo;open source&rdquo;.
+</p>
+<p>
+If the House Un-American Activities Committee asked me, &ldquo;Are you
+now or have you ever been a supporter of the open source
+movement,&rdquo; I could proudly and cheerfully say no. I've been
+campaigning since 1984 for <em>free software</em>&mdash;free as in
+freedom. (See the GNU Manifesto, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Sept. 1985.)
+</p>
+<p>
+Free software means, roughly, that you are free to study what it does,
+free to change it, free to redistribute it, and free to publish
+improved versions.
+(See <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html</a>
+for more details.) You deserve these freedoms; everyone deserves
+them. I wrote the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), the target
+of <a href="/philosophy/gpl-american-way.html">Microsoft's greatest
+ire</a>, to defend these freedoms for all users, in the spirit of the
+free software movement.
+</p>
+<p>
+Years later, in 1998, another group began operating under the term
+&ldquo;open source&rdquo;. They have contributed to the free software
+community in practical ways, but they stand for very different views.
+They studiously avoid the issues of freedom and principle that we
+raise in the free software movement; they cite only short-term
+practical benefits as the reasons for what they do.
+</p>
+<p>
+Their stated definition for the term &ldquo;open source&rdquo; is
+somewhat broader than free software, and thus includes my work. But
+describing the GNU GPL as an &ldquo;open source license,&rdquo; as
+Microsoft did, is more than half misleading. The GNU GPL embodies the
+firm philosophy of the free software movement; it doesn't come from
+the open source movement. I am not a supporter of the open source
+movement, and never have been.
+</p>
+<p>
+Tim O'Reilly, by contrast, is a pillar of the open source movement, at
+least to hear him tell it. However, if you look at actions rather
+than words, most of the manuals published by O'Reilly Associates do
+not qualify as open source, let alone as free. The handful of free
+titles are exceptions. He could easily excuse himself to
+<abbr title="House Un-American Activities Committee">HUAC</abbr>&mdash;&ldquo;Yes,
+I talked about open source, but I didn't really do much of it.&rdquo;
+</p>
+<p>
+If O'Reilly moves to selling free-as-in-freedom books in the future, he
+could become a true supporter of the free software movement, or at least
+the open source movement. [Later in 2001, O'Reilly Associates published a
+couple of additional free books. We are grateful for this contribution to
+the free software community, and we look forward to more of the same.]
+</p>
+<p>
+With the recent founding of FSF-Europe, and the coming inauguration of
+FSF-India, the free software movement is going stronger than ever.
+Please don't lump us in with the other movement in our community.
+</p>
+<p>
+Sincerely,
+</p>
+<p>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Richard Stallman
+President,
+Free Software Foundation
+</p>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+ replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+ We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+ translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+ Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
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+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
+ files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
+ be under CC BY-ND 3.0 US. Please do NOT change or remove this
+ without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
+ Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
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+
+ There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
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+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2000, 2007, 2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative
+Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2014/04/12 12:39:59 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>