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<title>Yes, Give It Away
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>Yes, Give It Away</h2>
<address class="byline">by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/">Richard
Stallman</a></address>
<div class="introduction">
<p>Editor's note: This text was found in a file dated May
1983, though it is not clear whether it was written then or earlier.
In May 1983 Richard Stallman was privately considering plans to develop a
free operating system, but he may not yet have decided to make it a
Unix-like system rather than something like the MIT Lisp Machine.</p>
<p>He had not yet conceptually distinguished the two meanings of
“free”; this message is formulated in terms of gratis
copies, but take for granted that this means users also have freedom.</p>
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<hr class="no-display" />
<p>One of the important reasons for giving software away free is to
enable the users to change it. This allows them to make better use of
it, and also encourages and enables them to contribute to the
effort. Furthermore, they develop self-reliance, confidence, and a
sense of responsibility.</p>
<p>I've often heard that Americans will think something is worthless
if it's free. It might be true, but it's not rational. People have a
right to be neurotic but we should not encourage this. In the mean
time, giving software away is not “treating it as
worthless” just because some masochists might conclude it was
worthless.</p>
<p>Users would not change software if it were worthless; rather,
because it is worth more to them as changed than before.
Some central maintenance is also useful, but there are other
ways to provide for this aside from hassling the users.</p>
<p>I have a lot of experience with sharing software and having
the users change it. I find that</p>
<ol>
<li>there is little tendency to believe EMACS is worthless</li>
<li>users change EMACS a lot</li>
<li>users' changes contribute to EMACS development</li>
<li>centralized maintenance of EMACS continues</li>
</ol>
<p>I approached users in a non-manipulative cooperative spirit, and
they reacted enthusiastically and cooperatively. When told that
restrictions are being imposed to trick their neuroses or because they
are assumed in advance to be incompetent, they feel justifiable
resentment. They also tend to become incompetent and neurotic as a
result.</p>
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<p class="unprintable">Updated:
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