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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/thegnuproject.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/thegnuproject.html index 32c9ae2..0541c1a 100644 --- a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/thegnuproject.html +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/thegnuproject.html @@ -1,29 +1,24 @@ <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> -<!-- Parent-Version: 1.86 --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> +<!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> +<!--#set var="TAGS" value="gnu-history" --> +<!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> <title>About the GNU Project - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<style type="text/css" media="print,screen"><!-- +a[href*='#ft'] { font-size: .94em; } +--></style> <meta http-equiv="Keywords" content="GNU, GNU Project, FSF, Free Software, Free Software Foundation, History" /> <!--#include virtual="/gnu/po/thegnuproject.translist" --> <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> +<!--#include virtual="/gnu/gnu-breadcrumb.html" --> +<!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> +<!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> +<div class="article reduced-width"> <h2>The GNU Project</h2> -<p> -by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard Stallman</strong></a></p> - -<blockquote> -<p> -Originally published in the book <em>Open Sources</em>. Richard -Stallman was <a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html"> -never a supporter of “open source”</a>, but contributed -this article so that the ideas of the free software movement would not -be entirely absent from that book. -</p> -<p> -Why it is even more important than ever -<a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">to insist -that the software we use be free</a>. -</p> -</blockquote> +<address class="byline">by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/">Richard +Stallman</a></address> <h3>The first software-sharing community</h3> <p> @@ -37,27 +32,29 @@ did it more than most.</p> <p> The AI Lab used a timesharing operating system called <abbr title="Incompatible Timesharing System">ITS</abbr> (the -Incompatible Timesharing System) that the lab's staff hackers (1) had +Incompatible Timesharing System) that the lab's staff hackers <a href="#ft1">[1]</a> had designed and written in assembler language for the Digital <abbr title="Programmed Data Processor">PDP</abbr>-10, one of the large computers of the era. As a member of this community, an AI Lab staff system hacker, my job was to improve this system.</p> <p> -We did not call our software “free software”, because that +We did not call our software “free software,” because that term did not yet exist; but that is what it was. Whenever people from another university or a company wanted to port and use a program, we gladly let them. If you saw someone using an unfamiliar and interesting program, you could always ask to see the source code, so that you could read it, change it, or cannibalize parts of it to make a new program.</p> + +<div class="announcement comment" role="complementary"> +<hr class="no-display" /> <p> -(1) The use of “hacker” to mean “security -breaker” is a confusion on the part of the mass media. We -hackers refuse to recognize that meaning, and continue using the word -to mean someone who loves to program, someone who enjoys playful -cleverness, or the combination of the two. See my -article, <a href="http://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">On -Hacking</a>.</p> +Why it is even more important than ever +<a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">to insist +that the software we use be free</a>. +</p> +<hr class="no-display" /> +</div> <h3>The collapse of the community</h3> <p> @@ -70,7 +67,7 @@ all of the programs composing ITS were obsolete.</p> The AI Lab hacker community had already collapsed, not long before. In 1981, the spin-off company Symbolics had hired away nearly all of the hackers from the AI Lab, and the depopulated community was unable -to maintain itself. (The book Hackers, by Steve Levy, describes these +to maintain itself. (The book <cite>Hackers</cite>, by Steve Levy, describes these events, as well as giving a clear picture of this community in its prime.) When the AI Lab bought a new PDP-10 in 1982, its administrators decided to use Digital's nonfree timesharing system @@ -98,7 +95,8 @@ and hard to convince people that there is only one way to look at the issue.</p> <p> When software publishers talk about “enforcing” their -“rights” or “stopping <a href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Piracy">piracy</a>”, what they +“rights” or “stopping <a +href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Piracy">piracy</a>,” what they actually <em>say</em> is secondary. The real message of these statements is in the unstated assumptions they take for granted, which the public is asked to accept without examination. Let's therefore examine them.</p> @@ -129,11 +127,11 @@ free to modify programs to fit their needs, and free to share software, because helping other people is the basis of society.</p> <p> There is no room here for an extensive statement of the reasoning -behind this conclusion, so I refer the reader to the web pages -<a href="/philosophy/why-free.html"> -http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html</a> and -<a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html"> -http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html</a>. +behind this conclusion, so I refer the reader to “<a +href="/philosophy/why-free.html">Why Software Should Not Have +Owners</a>,” and “<a +href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">Free +Software Is Even More Important Now</a>.” </p> <h3>A stark moral choice</h3> @@ -184,7 +182,7 @@ was elected to do the job. I chose to make the system compatible with Unix so that it would be portable, and so that Unix users could easily switch to it. The name GNU was chosen, following a hacker tradition, as a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix.” It is pronounced -as <a href="/gnu/pronunciation.html">one syllable with a hard g</a>.</p> +as <a href="/gnu/pronunciation.html">one syllable with a hard <i>g</i></a>.</p> <p> An operating system does not mean just a kernel, barely enough to run other programs. In the 1970s, every operating system worthy of the @@ -193,7 +191,7 @@ debuggers, text editors, mailers, and much more. ITS had them, Multics had them, VMS had them, and Unix had them. The GNU operating system would include them too.</p> <p> -Later I heard these words, attributed to Hillel (1):</p> +Later I heard these words, attributed to Hillel <a href="#ft2">[2]</a>:</p> <blockquote><p> If I am not for myself, who will be for me?<br /> @@ -202,9 +200,6 @@ Later I heard these words, attributed to Hillel (1):</p> </p></blockquote> <p> The decision to start the GNU Project was based on a similar spirit.</p> -<p> -(1) As an Atheist, I don't follow any religious leaders, but I -sometimes find I admire something one of them has said.</p> <h3>Free as in freedom</h3> <p> @@ -237,13 +232,13 @@ important way to raise funds for free software development. Therefore, a program which people are not free to include on these collections is not free software.</p> <p> -Because of the ambiguity of “free”, people have long +Because of the ambiguity of “free,” people have long looked for alternatives, but no one has found a better term. The English language has more words and nuances than any other, but it -lacks a simple, unambiguous, word that means “free”, as in +lacks a simple, unambiguous, word that means “free,” as in freedom—“unfettered” being the word that comes closest in -meaning. Such alternatives as “liberated”, -“freedom”, and “open” have either the wrong +meaning. Such alternatives as “liberated,” +“freedom,” and “open” have either the wrong meaning or some other disadvantage.</p> <h3>GNU software and the GNU system</h3> @@ -280,7 +275,7 @@ invited me to keep using the lab's facilities.</p> <p> Shortly before beginning the GNU Project, I heard about the Free University Compiler Kit, also known as VUCK. (The Dutch word for -“free” is written with a <em>v</em>.) This was a compiler +“free” is written with a <i>v</i>.) This was a compiler designed to handle multiple languages, including C and Pascal, and to support multiple target machines. I wrote to its author asking if GNU could use it.</p> @@ -300,7 +295,7 @@ space, and the available 68000 Unix system would only allow 64k.</p> <p> I then realized that the Pastel compiler functioned by parsing the entire input file into a syntax tree, converting the whole syntax tree -into a chain of “instructions”, and then generating the +into a chain of “instructions,” and then generating the whole output file, without ever freeing any storage. At this point, I concluded I would have to write a new compiler from scratch. That new compiler is now known as <abbr title="GNU Compiler Collection">GCC</abbr>; @@ -355,7 +350,7 @@ no more free software than Unix was.</p> <p> The developers of the X Window System did not consider this a problem—they expected and intended this to happen. Their goal was -not freedom, just “success”, defined as “having many +not freedom, just “success,” defined as “having many users.” They did not care whether these users had freedom, only that they should be numerous.</p> <p> @@ -373,7 +368,7 @@ systems, not the free version.</p> The goal of GNU was to give users freedom, not just to be popular. So we needed to use distribution terms that would prevent GNU software from being turned into proprietary software. The method we use is -called “copyleft”.(1)</p> +called “copyleft” <a href="#ft3">[3]</a>.</p> <p> Copyleft uses copyright law, but flips it over to serve the opposite of its usual purpose: instead of a means for restricting a program, it @@ -416,26 +411,16 @@ software is the GNU General Public License, or GNU GPL for short. We have other kinds of copyleft that are used in specific circumstances. GNU manuals are copylefted also, but use a much simpler kind of copyleft, because the complexity of the GNU GPL is not necessary -for manuals.(2)</p> -<p> -(1) In 1984 or 1985, Don Hopkins (a very imaginative fellow) mailed me -a letter. On the envelope he had written several amusing sayings, -including this one: “Copyleft—all rights reversed.” I -used the word “copyleft” to name the distribution concept -I was developing at the time.</p> - -<p> -(2) We now use the <a href="/licenses/fdl.html">GNU Free -Documentation License</a> for documentation.</p> +for manuals <a href="#ft4">[4]</a>.</p> <h3>The Free Software Foundation</h3> <p>As interest in using Emacs was growing, other people became involved in the GNU project, and we decided that it was time to seek funding once again. So in 1985 we created -the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> (FSF), +the <a href="https://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> (FSF), a tax-exempt charity for free software development. The -<abbr title="Free Software Foundation">FSF</abbr> also took over +FSF also took over the Emacs tape distribution business; later it extended this by adding other free software (both GNU and non-GNU) to the tape, and by selling free manuals as well.</p> @@ -446,9 +431,9 @@ CD-ROMs with binaries, nicely printed manuals, all with the freedom to redistribute and modify), and Deluxe Distributions (distributions for which we built the whole collection of software for the customer's choice of platform). Today the FSF -still <a href="http://shop.fsf.org/"> sells manuals and other +still <a href="https://shop.fsf.org/"> sells manuals and other gear</a>, but it gets the bulk of its funding from members' dues. You -can join the FSF at <a href="http://fsf.org/join">fsf.org</a>.</p> +can join the FSF at <a href="https://my.fsf.org/join">fsf.org</a>.</p> <p>Free Software Foundation employees have written and maintained a number of GNU software packages. Two notable ones are the C library @@ -456,17 +441,14 @@ and the shell. The GNU C library is what every program running on a GNU/Linux system uses to communicate with Linux. It was developed by a member of the Free Software Foundation staff, Roland McGrath. The shell used on most GNU/Linux systems is -<abbr title="Bourne Again Shell">BASH</abbr>, the Bourne Again -Shell(1), which was developed by FSF employee Brian Fox.</p> +BASH, the Bourne Again +SHell <a href="#ft5">[5]</a>, which was developed by FSF employee Brian Fox.</p> <p>We funded development of these programs because the GNU Project was not just about tools or a development environment. Our goal was a complete operating system, and these programs were needed for that goal.</p> -<p>(1) “Bourne Again Shell” is a play on the name -“Bourne Shell”, which was the usual shell on Unix.</p> - <h3>Free software support</h3> <p>The free software philosophy rejects a specific widespread business @@ -492,7 +474,7 @@ with the term “open source” actually base their business on nonfree software that works with free software. These are not free software companies, they are proprietary software companies whose products tempt users away from freedom. They call these programs -“value-added packages”, which shows the values they +“value-added packages,” which shows the values they would like us to adopt: convenience above freedom. If we value freedom more, we should call them “freedom-subtracted” packages.</p> @@ -550,10 +532,10 @@ List. In addition to missing Unix components, we listed various other useful software and documentation projects that, we thought, a truly complete system ought to have.</p> -<p>Today (1), hardly any Unix components are left in the GNU Task +<p>Today <a href="#ft6">[6]</a>, hardly any Unix components are left in the GNU Task List—those jobs had been done, aside from a few inessential ones. But the list is full of projects that some might call -“applications”. Any program that appeals to more than a +“applications.” Any program that appeals to more than a narrow class of users would be a useful thing to add to an operating system.</p> @@ -563,16 +545,10 @@ compatibility was not an issue for games, so we did not follow the list of games that Unix had. Instead, we listed a spectrum of different kinds of games that users might like.</p> -<p>(1) That was written in 1998. In 2009 we no longer maintain a long -task list. The community develops free software so fast that we can't -even keep track of it all. Instead, we have a list of High Priority -Projects, a much shorter list of projects we really want to encourage -people to write.</p> - -<h3>The GNU Library GPL</h3> +<h3>The GNU Lesser GPL</h3> <p>The GNU C library uses a special kind of copyleft called the GNU -Library General Public License(1), which gives permission to link +Lesser General Public License <a href="#ft7">[7]</a>, which gives permission to link proprietary software with the library. Why make this exception?</p> <p>It is not a matter of principle; there is no principle that says @@ -593,7 +569,7 @@ possible to compile a proprietary program for the GNU system. There is no ethical reason to allow proprietary applications on the GNU system, but strategically it seems that disallowing them would do more to discourage use of the GNU system than to encourage development of -free applications. That is why using the Library GPL is a good +free applications. That is why using the Lesser GPL is a good strategy for the C library.</p> <p>For other libraries, the strategic decision needs to be @@ -605,7 +581,7 @@ software.</p> <p>Consider GNU Readline, a library that was developed to provide command-line editing for BASH. Readline is released under the -ordinary GNU GPL, not the Library GPL. This probably does reduce the +ordinary GNU GPL, not the Lesser GPL. This probably does reduce the amount Readline is used, but that is no loss for us. Meanwhile, at least one useful application has been made free software specifically so it could use Readline, and that is a real gain for the @@ -618,11 +594,6 @@ that have no parallel available to proprietary software, providing useful modules to serve as building blocks in new free software, and adding up to a major advantage for further free software development.</p> -<p>(1) This license is now called the GNU Lesser General Public License, -to avoid giving the idea that all libraries ought to use it. -See <a href="/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html">Why you shouldn't use the -Lesser GPL for your next library</a> for more information.</p> - <h3>Scratching an itch?</h3> <p> Eric Raymond says that “Every good work of software starts by @@ -736,7 +707,7 @@ version of the GNU system today.</p> We call this system version <a href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html"> GNU/Linux</a>, to express its composition as a combination of the GNU system with Linux as the kernel. Please don't fall into the practice -of calling the whole system “Linux”, since that means +of calling the whole system “Linux,” since that means attributing our work to someone else. Please <a href="/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html"> give us equal mention</a>.</p> @@ -753,7 +724,7 @@ away.</p> <p> The following four sections discuss these challenges.</p> -<h3>Secret hardware</h3> +<h4>Secret hardware</h4> <p> Hardware manufacturers increasingly tend to keep hardware specifications secret. This makes it difficult to write free drivers @@ -772,13 +743,9 @@ sufficient determination to undertake it? Yes—if we have built up a strong feeling that free software is a matter of principle, and nonfree drivers are intolerable. And will large numbers of us spend extra money, or even a little extra time, so we can use free drivers? -Yes, if the determination to have freedom is widespread.</p> -<p> -(2008 note: this issue extends to the BIOS as well. There is a free -BIOS, <a href="http://www.libreboot.org/">LibreBoot</a> (a distribution of coreboot); the problem is getting specs for machines so that -LibreBoot can support them without nonfree “blobs”.)</p> +Yes, if the determination to have freedom is widespread <a href="#ft8">[8]</a>.</p> -<h3>Nonfree libraries</h3> +<h4>Nonfree libraries</h4> <p> A nonfree library that runs on free operating systems acts as a trap for free software developers. The library's attractive features are @@ -832,27 +799,23 @@ which, when carried out, should make Qt free software. There is no way to be sure, but I think that this was partly due to the community's firm response to the problem that Qt posed when it was nonfree. (The new license is inconvenient and inequitable, so it -remains desirable to avoid using Qt.)</p> -<p> -[Subsequent note: in September 2000, Qt was rereleased under the GNU GPL, -which essentially solved this problem.]</p> +remains desirable to avoid using Qt <a href="#ft9">[9]</a>.)</p> <p> How will we respond to the next tempting nonfree library? Will the whole community understand the need to stay out of the trap? Or will many of us give up freedom for convenience, and produce a major problem? Our future depends on our philosophy.</p> -<h3>Software patents</h3> +<h4>Software patents</h4> <p> The worst threat we face comes from software patents, which can put algorithms and features off limits to free software for up to twenty years. The LZW compression algorithm patents were applied for in 1983, and we still cannot release free software to produce proper -compressed <abbr title="Graphics Interchange Format">GIF</abbr>s. -[As of 2009 they have expired.] In 1998, a free program to produce +compressed <abbr title="Graphics Interchange Format">GIF</abbr> <a href="#ft10">[10]</a>. +In 1998, a free program to produce <abbr title="MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3">MP3</abbr> compressed audio -was removed from distribution under threat of a patent suit. [As of -2017, these patents have expired. Look how long we had to wait.] +was removed from distribution under threat of a patent suit <a href="#ft11">[11]</a>. </p> <p> There are ways to cope with patents: we can search for evidence that a @@ -871,7 +834,7 @@ the practical effectiveness of the “bazaar” model of development, and the reliability and power of some free software, we must not stop there. We must talk about freedom and principle.</p> -<h3>Free documentation</h3> +<h4>Free documentation</h4> <p> The biggest deficiency in our free operating systems is not in the software—it is the lack of good free manuals that we can include in @@ -924,7 +887,7 @@ depends on philosophy.</p> <h3>We must talk about freedom</h3> <p> Estimates today are that there are ten million users of GNU/Linux -systems such as Debian GNU/Linux and Red Hat “Linux”. +systems such as Debian GNU/Linux and Red Hat “Linux.” Free software has developed such practical advantages that users are flocking to it for purely practical reasons.</p> <p> @@ -977,7 +940,7 @@ even worse.</p> “Free software” and “open source” describe the same category of software, more or less, but say different things about the software, and about values. The GNU Project continues to -use the term “free software”, to express the idea that +use the term “free software,” to express the idea that freedom, not just technology, is important.</p> <h3>Try!</h3> @@ -1001,10 +964,75 @@ year, and now Microsoft has explicitly targeted our community. We can't take the future of freedom for granted. Don't take it for granted! If you want to keep your freedom, you must be prepared to defend it.</p> +<div class="column-limit"></div> + +<h3 class="footnote">Footnotes</h3> +<ol> +<li id="ft1">The use of “hacker” to mean “security +breaker” is a confusion on the part of the mass media. We +hackers refuse to recognize that meaning, and continue using the word +to mean someone who loves to program, someone who enjoys playful +cleverness, or the combination of the two. See my +article, “<a href="https://stallman.org/articles/on-hacking.html">On +Hacking</a>.”</li> + +<li id="ft2">As an Atheist, I don't follow any religious leaders, but I +sometimes find I admire something one of them has said.</li> + +<li id="ft3">In 1984 or 1985, Don Hopkins (a very imaginative fellow) mailed me +a letter. <a href="/graphics/copyleft-sticker.html">On the envelope</a> he +had written several amusing sayings, +including this one: “Copyleft—all rights reversed.” I +used the word “copyleft” to name the distribution concept +I was developing at the time.</li> + +<li id="ft4">We now use the <a href="/licenses/fdl.html">GNU Free +Documentation License</a> for documentation.</li> + +<li id="ft5">“Bourne Again Shell” is a play on the name +“Bourne Shell,” which was the usual shell on Unix.</li> + +<li id="ft6">That was written in 1998. In 2009 we no longer maintain a long +task list. The community develops free software so fast that we can't +even keep track of it all. Instead, we have a list of High Priority +Projects, a much shorter list of projects we really want to encourage +people to write.</li> + +<li id="ft7">This license was initially called the GNU Library General +Public License, we renamed it to avoid giving the idea that all +libraries ought to use it. +See <a href="/philosophy/why-not-lgpl.html">Why you shouldn't use the +Lesser GPL for your next library</a> for more information.</li> + +<li id="ft8">2008 note: this issue extends to the BIOS as well. There is a free +BIOS, <a href="https://libreboot.org/">LibreBoot</a> (a distribution of +coreboot); the problem is getting specs for machines so that +LibreBoot can support them without nonfree “blobs.”</li> + +<li id="ft9">In September 2000, Qt was rereleased under the GNU GPL, +which essentially solved this problem.</li> + +<li id="ft10">As of 2009, the GIF patents have expired.</li> + +<li id="ft11">As of 2017, the MP3 patents have expired. Look how +long we had to wait.</li> +</ol> + +<div class="infobox extra" role="complementary"> +<hr /> +<p> +Originally published in the book <cite>Open Sources</cite>. Richard +Stallman was <a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html"> +never a supporter of “open source”</a>, but contributed +this article so that the ideas of the free software movement would not +be entirely absent from that book. +</p> +</div> +</div> </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> -<div id="footer"> +<div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> <div class="unprintable"> <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to @@ -1022,13 +1050,13 @@ to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> - <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of our web pages, see <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations README</a>. --> Please see the <a href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations -README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this article.</p> </div> @@ -1049,7 +1077,7 @@ of this article.</p> There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> -<p>Copyright © 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020 +<p>Copyright © 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021 Richard Stallman</p> <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" @@ -1060,7 +1088,7 @@ Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> <p class="unprintable">Updated: <!-- timestamp start --> -$Date: 2020/07/12 02:00:07 $ +$Date: 2021/12/25 21:07:05 $ <!-- timestamp end --> </p> </div> |