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-<!-- This is the second edition of Free Software, Free Society: Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman.
-
-Free Software Foundation
-
-51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
-
-Boston, MA 02110-1335
-Copyright C 2002, 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
-Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire book are permitted
-worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice is
-preserved. Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations
-of this book from the original English into another language provided
-the translation has been approved by the Free Software Foundation and
-the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all
-copies.
-
-ISBN 978-0-9831592-0-9
-Cover design by Rob Myers.
-
-Cover photograph by Peter Hinely.
- -->
-
-
- <a name="The-Free-Software-Definition">
- </a>
- <h1 class="chapter">
- 1. The Free Software Definition
- </h1>
- <a name="index-free-software-_0028see-also-free-software_002c-four-freedoms_002c-citizen-values_002c-selling_002c-and-software_0029">
- </a>
- <p>
- We maintain this free software definition to show clearly what must be
-true about a particular software program for it to be considered free
-software. From time to time we revise this definition to clarify it.
-If you would like to review the changes we’ve made, please see the
-History section, following the definition, at
- <a href="http://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">
- http://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
- </a>
- .
- </p>
- <p>
- “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand
-the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,”
-not as in “free beer.”
- </p>
- <a name="index-free-software_002c-four-freedoms">
- </a>
- <a name="index-four-freedoms">
- </a>
- <p>
- Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute,
-study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the
-program’s users have the four essential freedoms:
- </p>
- <ul>
- <li>
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- </li>
- <li>
- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it
-do what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a
-precondition for this.
- </li>
- <li>
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor
-(freedom 2).
- </li>
- <li>
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others
-(freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance
-to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a
-precondition for this.
- </li>
- </ul>
- <p>
- A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus,
-you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without
-modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to
-anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other
-things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission to do so.
- </p>
- <p>
- You should also have the freedom to make modifications and use them
-privately in your own work or play, without even mentioning that they
-exist. If you do publish your changes, you should not be required to
-notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way.
- </p>
- <p>
- The freedom to run the program means the freedom for any kind of
-person or organization to use it on any kind of computer system, for
-any kind of overall job and purpose, without being required to
-communicate about it with the developer or any other specific
-entity. In this freedom, it is the
- <em>
- user’s
- </em>
- purpose that matters,
-not the
- <em>
- developer’s
- </em>
- purpose; you as a user are free to run the
-program for your purposes, and if you distribute it to someone else,
-she is then free to run it for her purposes, but you are not entitled
-to impose your purposes on her.
- </p>
- <p>
- The freedom to redistribute copies must include binary or executable
-forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and
-unmodified versions. (Distributing programs in runnable form is necessary
-for conveniently installable free operating systems.) It is OK if there
-is no way to produce a binary or executable form for a certain program
-(since some languages don’t support that feature), but you must have the
-freedom to redistribute such forms should you find or develop a way to
-make them.
- </p>
- <p>
- In order for freedoms 1 and 3 (the freedom to make changes
-and the freedom to publish improved versions) to be meaningful, you
-must have access to the source code of the program. Therefore,
-accessibility of source code is a necessary condition for free
-software. Obfuscated “source code” is not real source code and does
-not count as source code.
- </p>
- <p>
- Freedom 1 includes the freedom to use your changed version in
-place of the original. If the program is delivered in a product
-designed to run someone else’s modified versions but refuse to run
-yours—a practice known as
- <a name="index-tivoization">
- </a>
- “tivoization” or (in its practitioners’
-perverse terminology) as
- <a name="index-secure-boot-_0028see-also-tivoization_0029">
- </a>
- “secure boot”—freedom 1 becomes a theoretical fiction rather
-than a practical freedom. This is not sufficient. In other words,
-these binaries are not free software even if the source code they are
-compiled from is free.
- </p>
- <p>
- One important way to modify a program is by merging in available free
-subroutines and modules.
- <a name="index-copyright-_0028see-also-both-copyleft-and-DMCA_0029">
- </a>
- If the program’s license says that you cannot merge in a suitably
-licensed existing module—for instance, if it requires you to be the
-copyright holder of any code you add—then the license is too
-restrictive to qualify as free.
- </p>
- <a name="index-copyleft-_0028see-also-copyright_0029-1">
- </a>
- <p>
- Freedom 3 includes the freedom to release your modified versions
-as free software. A free license may also permit other ways of
-releasing them; in other words, it does not have to be a copyleft
-license. However, a license that requires modified versions to be
-nonfree does not qualify as a free license.
- </p>
- <p>
- In order for these freedoms to be real, they must be permanent and
-irrevocable as long as you do nothing wrong; if the developer of the
-software has the power to revoke the license, or retroactively change
-its terms, without your doing anything wrong to give cause, the
-software is not free.
- </p>
- <p>
- However, certain kinds of rules about the manner of distributing free
-software are acceptable, when they don’t conflict with the central
-freedoms. For example, copyleft (very simply stated) is the rule that
-when redistributing the program, you cannot add restrictions to deny
-other people the central freedoms. This rule does not conflict with
-the central freedoms; rather it protects them.
- </p>
- <a name="index-commercial-use-and-development">
- </a>
- <a name="index-free-software_002c-to-be-distinguished-from-noncommercial-software">
- </a>
- <p>
- “Free software” does not mean “noncommercial.” A free program must
-be available for commercial use, commercial development, and
-commercial distribution. Commercial development of free software is no
-longer unusual; such free commercial software is very important. You
-may have paid money to get copies of free software, or you may have
-obtained copies at no charge. But regardless of how you got your
-copies, you always have the freedom to copy and change the software,
-even to sell copies.
- </p>
- <p>
- Whether a change constitutes an improvement is a subjective matter.
-If your modifications are limited, in substance, to changes that
-someone else considers an improvement, that is not freedom.
- </p>
- <p>
- However, rules about how to package a modified version are acceptable,
-if they don’t substantively limit your freedom to release modified
-versions, or your freedom to make and use modified versions privately.
-Thus, it is acceptable for the license to require that you change the
-name of the modified version, remove a logo, or identify your
-modifications as yours. As long as these requirements are not so
-burdensome that they effectively hamper you from releasing your
-changes, they are acceptable; you’re already making other changes to
-the program, so you won’t have trouble making a few more.
- </p>
- <p>
- Rules that “if you make your version available in this way, you must
-make it available in that way also” can be acceptable too, on the
-same condition. An example of such an acceptable rule is one saying
-that if you have distributed a modified version and a previous
-developer asks for a copy of it, you must send one. (Note that such a
-rule still leaves you the choice of whether to distribute your version
-at all.) Rules that require release of source code to the users for
-versions that you put into public use are also acceptable.
- </p>
- <p>
- In the GNU Project, we use copyleft to protect these freedoms legally
-for everyone. But
- <a name="index-noncopylefted-free-software-_0028see-also-software_0029">
- </a>
- noncopylefted free software also exists. We believe there are
-important reasons why it is better to use copyleft, but if your
-program is noncopylefted free software, it is still basically
-ethical. (See “Categories of Free and Nonfree Software”
-(p. @refx{Categories-pg}{) for a description of how “free software,”
-“copylefted software” and other categories of software relate to
-each other.)
- <a name="index-copyleft-_0028see-also-copyright_0029-2">
- </a>
- </p>
- <a name="index-free-software_002c-and-export-control-regulations">
- </a>
- <p>
- Sometimes government export control regulations and trade sanctions
-can constrain your freedom to distribute copies of programs
-internationally. Software developers do not have the power to
-eliminate or override these restrictions, but what they can and must
-do is refuse to impose them as conditions of use of the program. In
-this way, the restrictions will not affect activities and people
-outside the jurisdictions of these governments. Thus, free software
-licenses must not require obedience to any export regulations as a
-condition of any of the essential freedoms.
- </p>
- <a name="index-copyright-_0028see-also-both-copyleft-and-DMCA_0029-1">
- </a>
- <p>
- Most free software licenses are based on copyright, and there are limits
-on what kinds of requirements can be imposed through copyright. If a
-copyright-based license respects freedom in the ways described above, it
-is unlikely to have some other sort of problem that we never anticipated
-(though this does happen occasionally). However, some free software
-licenses are based on contracts, and contracts can impose a much larger
-range of possible restrictions. That means there are many possible ways
-such a license could be unacceptably restrictive and nonfree.
- </p>
- <p>
- We can’t possibly list all the ways that might happen. If a
-contract-based license restricts the user in an unusual way that
-copyright-based licenses cannot, and which isn’t mentioned here as
-legitimate, we will have to think about it, and we will probably conclude
-it is nonfree.
- </p>
- <a name="index-call-to-action_002c-use-correct-terminology-_0028see-also-terminology_0029">
- </a>
- <a name="index-_0060_0060piracy_002c_0027_0027-erroneous-use-of-term">
- </a>
- <p>
- When talking about free software, it is best to avoid using terms like
-“give away” or “for free,” because those terms imply that the
-issue is about price, not freedom. Some common terms such as
-“piracy” embody opinions we hope you won’t endorse. See “Words to
-Avoid (or Use with Care)” (p. @refx{Words to Avoid-pg}{) for a discussion
-of these terms. We also have a list of proper translations of “free
-software” into various languages (p. @refx{FS Translations-pg}{).
- </p>
- <p>
- Finally, note that criteria such as those stated in this free software
-definition require careful thought for their interpretation. To decide
-whether a specific software license qualifies as a free software license,
-we judge it based on these criteria to determine whether it fits their
-spirit as well as the precise words. If a license includes unconscionable
-restrictions, we reject it, even if we did not anticipate the issue
-in these criteria. Sometimes a license requirement raises an issue
-that calls for extensive thought, including discussions with a lawyer,
-before we can decide if the requirement is acceptable. When we reach
-a conclusion about a new issue, we often update these criteria to make
-it easier to see why certain licenses do or don’t qualify.
- </p>
- <p>
- If you are interested in whether a specific license qualifies as a
-free software license, see our list of licenses, at
- <a href="http://gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">
- http://gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html
- </a>
- . If the
-license you are concerned with is not listed there, you can ask us
-about it by sending us email at
- <a href="mailto:licensing@gnu.org">
- licensing@gnu.org
- </a>
- .
- </p>
- <p>
- If you are contemplating writing a new license, please contact the
-Free Software Foundation first by writing to that address. The
-proliferation of different free software licenses means increased work
-for users in understanding the licenses; we may be able to help you
-find an existing free software license that meets your needs.
- </p>
- <p>
- If that isn’t possible, if you really need a new license, with our
-help you can ensure that the license really is a free software license
-and avoid various practical problems.
- </p>
- <a name="Beyond-Software">
- </a>
- <h3 class="subheading">
- Beyond Software
- </h3>
- <a name="index-manuals-_0028see-also-manuals_002c-FDL_002c-and-documentation_0029">
- </a>
- <p>
- Software manuals must be free, for the same reasons that software
-must be free, and because the manuals are in effect part of the
-software.
- </p>
- <p>
- The same arguments also make sense for other kinds of works of
-practical use—that is to say, works that embody useful knowledge,
-such as educational works and reference works.
- <a name="index-Wikipedia">
- </a>
- Wikipedia is the best-known example.
- </p>
- <p>
- Any kind of work
- <em>
- can
- </em>
- be free, and the definition of free software
-has been extended to a definition of free cultural works
- <a href="#FOOT1" name="DOCF1">
- (1)
- </a>
- applicable to any kind of works.
- <a name="index-free-software-_0028see-also-free-software_002c-four-freedoms_002c-citizen-values_002c-selling_002c-and-software_0029-1">
- </a>
- </p>
- <div class="footnote">
- <hr>
- <h3>
- Footnotes
- </h3>
- <h3>
- <a href="#DOCF1" name="FOOT1">
- (1)
- </a>
- </h3>
- <p>
- See
- <a href="http://freedomdefined.org">
- http://freedomdefined.org
- </a>
- .
- </p>
- </hr>
- </div>
- <hr size="2"/>
-