university.html (9678B)
1 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> 2 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> 3 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> 4 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays licensing copyleft" --> 5 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> 6 <title>Releasing Free Software If You Work at a University 7 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> 8 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/university.translist" --> 9 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> 10 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --> 11 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> 12 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> 13 <div class="article reduced-width"> 14 <h2>Releasing Free Software If You Work at a University</h2> 15 <div class="thin"></div> 16 17 <p> 18 In the free software movement, we believe computer users should have 19 the freedom to change and redistribute the software that they use. 20 The “free” in “free software” 21 refers to freedom: it means 22 users have the freedom to run, modify and redistribute the software. 23 Free software contributes to human knowledge, while nonfree software 24 does not. Universities should therefore encourage free software for 25 the sake of advancing human knowledge, just as they should encourage 26 scientists and other scholars to publish their work.</p> 27 28 <p> 29 Alas, many university administrators have a grasping attitude towards 30 software (and towards science); they see programs as opportunities for 31 income, not as opportunities to contribute to human knowledge. Free 32 software developers have been coping with this tendency for almost 20 33 years.</p> 34 35 <p> 36 When I started developing the <a href="/gnu/thegnuproject.html">GNU 37 operating system</a>, in 1984, my first step was to quit my job at MIT. 38 I did this specifically so that the MIT licensing office would be 39 unable to interfere with releasing GNU as free software. I had 40 planned an approach for licensing the programs in GNU that would ensure 41 that all modified versions must be free software as well—an approach 42 that developed into the <a href="/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General 43 Public License</a> (GNU GPL)—and I did not want to have to beg the 44 MIT administration to let me use it.</p> 45 46 <p> 47 Over the years, university affiliates have often come to the Free 48 Software Foundation for advice on how to cope with administrators who 49 see software only as something to sell. One good method, applicable 50 even for specifically funded projects, is to base your work on an 51 existing program that was released under the GNU GPL. Then you can 52 tell the administrators, “We're not allowed to release the 53 modified version except under the GNU GPL—any other way would 54 be copyright infringement.” After the dollar signs fade from 55 their eyes, they will usually consent to releasing it as free 56 software.</p> 57 58 <p> 59 You can also ask your funding sponsor for help. When a group at NYU 60 developed the GNU Ada Compiler, with funding from the US Air Force, 61 the contract explicitly called for donating the resulting code to the 62 Free Software Foundation. Work out the arrangement with the sponsor 63 first, then politely show the university administration that it is not 64 open to renegotiation. They would rather have a contract to develop 65 free software than no contract at all, so they will most likely go 66 along.</p> 67 68 <p> 69 Whatever you do, raise the issue early—well before the 70 program is half finished. At this point, the university still needs 71 you, so you can play hardball: tell the administration you will finish 72 the program, make it usable, if they agree in writing to make it 73 free software (and agree to your choice of free software license). 74 Otherwise you will work on it only enough to write a paper about it, 75 and never make a version good enough to release. When the 76 administrators know their choice is to have a free software package 77 that brings credit to the university or nothing at all, they will 78 usually choose the former.</p> 79 <p> 80 The FSF can sometimes persuade your university to accept the GNU 81 General Public License, or to accept GPL version 3. If you can't do 82 it alone, please give us the chance to help. Send mail to 83 licensing@fsf.org, and put “urgent” in the Subject 84 field.</p> 85 86 <p> 87 Not all universities have grasping policies. The University of Texas 88 has a policy that makes it easy to release software developed there as 89 free software under the GNU General Public License. Univates in 90 Brazil, and the International Institute of Information Technology in 91 Hyderabad, India, both have policies in favor of releasing software 92 under the GPL. By developing faculty support first, you may be able 93 to institute such a policy at your university. Present the issue as 94 one of principle: does the university have a mission to advance human 95 knowledge, or is its sole purpose to perpetuate itself?</p> 96 97 <p> 98 In persuading the university, it helps to approach the issue with 99 determination and based on an ethical perspective, as we do in the 100 free software movement. To treat the public ethically, the software 101 should be free—as in freedom—for the whole public.</p> 102 103 <p> 104 Many developers of free software profess narrowly practical reasons 105 for doing so: they advocate allowing others to share and change 106 software as an expedient for making software powerful and reliable. 107 If those values motivate you to develop free software, well and good, 108 and thank you for your contribution. But those values do not give you 109 a good footing to stand firm when university administrators pressure 110 or tempt you to make the program nonfree.</p> 111 112 <p> 113 For instance, they may argue that “We could make it even more 114 powerful and reliable with all the money we can get.” This claim 115 may or may not come true in the end, but it is hard to disprove in 116 advance. They may suggest a license to offer copies “free of 117 charge, for academic use only,” which would tell the general 118 public they don't deserve freedom, and argue that this will obtain the 119 cooperation of academia, which is all (they say) you need.</p> 120 121 <p> 122 If you start from values of convenience alone, it is hard to make a 123 good case for rejecting these dead-end proposals, but you can do it 124 easily if you base your stand on ethical and political values. What 125 good is it to make a program powerful and reliable at the expense of 126 users' freedom? Shouldn't freedom apply outside academia as well as 127 within it? The answers are obvious if freedom and community are among 128 your goals. Free software respects the users' freedom, while nonfree 129 software negates it.</p> 130 131 <p> 132 Nothing strengthens your resolve like knowing that the community's 133 freedom depends, in one instance, on you.</p> 134 135 <hr class="no-display" /> 136 <div class="edu-note c"><p id="fsfs">This essay is published in 137 <a href="https://shop.fsf.org/product/free-software-free-society/"><cite>Free 138 Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard 139 M. Stallman</cite></a>.</p></div> 140 </div> 141 142 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> 143 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> 144 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> 145 <div class="unprintable"> 146 147 <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a 148 href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a 149 href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. 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