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<title>Philosophy of the GNU Project
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>Philosophy of the GNU Project</h2>
<div class="thin"></div>
<div class="table">
<div class="left-column">
<p><em>Free software</em> means that the software's users have
freedom. (The issue is not about price.) We developed the GNU
operating system so that users can have freedom in their
computing.</p>
<p>Specifically, free software means users have
the <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">four essential freedoms</a>:
(0) to run the program, (1) to study and change the program in source
code form, (2) to redistribute exact copies, and (3) to distribute
modified versions.</p>
<p>Software differs from material objects—such as chairs,
sandwiches, and gasoline—in that it can be copied and changed
much more easily. These facilities are why software is useful; we
believe a program's users should be free to take advantage of them,
not solely its developer.</p>
<div class="comment">
<p>The articles in the short list below give an overview of GNU
philosophy. For further reading, please check the menu above, especially
<b><a href="/philosophy/essays-and-articles.html">Essays &
Articles</a></b>, and <b><a href="/philosophy/speeches-and-interviews.html">
Speeches & Interviews</a></b>.</p>
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<hr class="no-display" />
<p class="announcement">
See <a href="//audio-video.gnu.org/">audio-video.gnu.org</a>
for recordings of Richard Stallman's speeches.</p>
<hr class="no-display" />
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<h3 id="introduction">Introduction</h3>
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<ul>
<li><a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">What is Free Software?</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">
Why we must insist on free software</a></li>
<li><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">
Proprietary Software Is Often Malware</a></li>
<li><a href="/gnu/gnu.html">History of GNU/Linux</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/pragmatic.html">Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/free-doc.html">Why Free Software Needs
Free Documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/selling.html">Selling Free Software</a> is OK!</li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/fs-motives.html">Motives For Writing Free Software</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html">The Right to Read: A
Dystopian Short Story</a> by Richard Stallman</li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">Why
“Open Source” Misses the Point of Free Software</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/when-free-software-isnt-practically-superior.html">When
Free Software Isn't (Practically) Superior</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/government-free-software.html">Measures
Governments Can Use to Promote Free Software</a></li>
<li><a href="/education/education.html">Free Software and Education</a></li>
<li><a href="/philosophy/limit-patent-effect.html">Giving the Software
Field Protection from Patents</a></li>
</ul>
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<p id="FreedomOrganizations" class="announcement">We also keep a list of
<a href="/links/links.html#FreedomOrganizations">Organizations
that Work for Freedom in
Computer Development and Electronic Communications</a>.</p>
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There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
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