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3.1 KiB
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19 lines
3.1 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>free software</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../F.html" title="F"/><link rel="previous" href="frednet.html" title="frednet"/><link rel="next" href="freeware.html" title="freeware"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">free software</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="frednet.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">F</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="freeware.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="free-software"/><dt xmlns="" id="free-software"><b>free software</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> As defined by Richard M. Stallman and used by the Free Software
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movement, this means software that gives users enough freedom to be used by
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the free software community. Specifically, users must be free to modify
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the software for their private use, and free to redistribute it either with
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or without modifications, either commercially or noncommercially, either
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gratis or charging a distribution fee. Free software has existed since the
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dawn of computing; Free Software as a movement began in 1984 with the GNU
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Project.</p><p>RMS observes that the English word “<span class="quote">free</span>” can refer
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either to liberty (where it means the same as the Spanish or French
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“<span class="quote">libre</span>”) or to price (where it means the same as the Spanish
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“<span class="quote">gratis</span>” or French “<span class="quote">gratuit</span>”). RMS and other
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people associated with the FSF like to explain the word “<span class="quote">free</span>”
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in “<span class="quote">free software</span>” by saying “<span class="quote">Free as in speech, not as
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in beer.</span>”</p><p>See also <a href="../O/open-source.html"><i class="glossterm">open source</i></a>. Hard-core proponents of
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the term “<span class="quote">free software</span>” sometimes reject this newer term,
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claiming that the style of argument associated with it ignores or downplays
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the moral imperative at the heart of free software.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="frednet.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../F.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="freeware.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">frednet </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> freeware</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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