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What is free software?
Free software supports the user's ability to control their software. The developer offers it without legal restrictions regarding its study, modification, redistribution, or modification of redistributed forms.
The free-software movement began in 1983 when Richard Stallman announced the GNU Project. In 1985, Stallman launched the Free Software Foundation (FSF). According to the FSF, software must have four essential freedoms to be considered free. These include the freedom to study, change, and redistribute copies or modified copies of the software, and to run the software as desired for any purpose.
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How is free software different from regular (proprietary) software?
Free software ensures users have full control by granting the freedom to use, study, modify, and share the software. Unlike proprietary software, free software provides access to the source code, allowing users to adapt it to their needs.
Proprietary software, on the other hand, restricts user access to the source code, giving the developers control over its distribution and modification. While free software promotes collaboration and innovation, proprietary software prioritizes the developer's intellectual property rights and product stability.
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What rights do users have with free software?
With free software, users have the freedom to control their software fully. A developer offers it without legal restrictions regarding studying, modifying, redistributing, or sharing modified forms.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) says that to be considered free software, users must have four essential freedoms:
* The freedom to use the software for any purpose and as desired
* The freedom to study or change the software
* The freedom to distribute copies of the software
* The freedom to distribute modified copies of the softwareThese freedoms mean that free software must be open source with accessible source code. Free software can be offered at a price as long as it is distributed without use restrictions. The innovation of copyleft uses copyright law to enshrine, rather than restrict, user freedoms. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) promotes free software and the GNU Project.
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Why do some developers choose to create free software?
Developers choose to create free software for several reasons, including the promotion of user freedom to control their software, and the rejection of secrecy and centralized control of creative work. This allows the study, modification, redistribution, and improvement of software without legal restrictions. The open-source approach facilitates extensive peer review, which minimizes bugs and security risks.
The free-software movement was initiated in 1983 by Richard Stallman, who aimed to develop a free operating system. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) was subsequently launched in 1985 and continues to be a leading voice in the movement. Free software aligns with a hacker ethos, promoting transparency, decentralization, and unrestricted sharing of information.
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What are some popular examples of free software?
Free software gives users complete control over their software, allowing them to study, share, modify, and redistribute it. The best-known example of free and open-source software in commercial use is the operating system Linux. The Linux "kernel" is also the basis for the smartphone operating system Android and the laptop operating system ChromeOS.
Firefox is another popular example of free, open-source software. Created by Mozilla Corporation, it is a widely used web browser known for its security features and customization options.
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How does free software help people learn about programming or computer science?
Free software helps people learn about programming and computer science by granting them the freedom to study, modify, and redistribute software. This access to source code allows aspiring programmers to examine how software works, make changes, and learn from experienced developers. The free-software movement promotes these principles, viewing them as essential for fostering innovation and knowledge sharing. This approach enables collaborative learning and empowers individuals to enhance their skills in computer science.
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free software, principle supporting the freedom of users to fully control their software. Software is considered âfreeâ if it is offered by a developer without legal restriction against its study, redistribution, modification, or redistribution in modified form.
The promotion and propagation of free software is the chief aim of the free-software movement. The movement began in 1983, when programmer Richard Stallman announced his intention to create a free-software operating system named the GNU Project. Stallman went on to launch the Free Software Foundation (FSF) in 1985, an organization that remains a leading voice in the movement today.
According to the FSF, four essential freedoms must be available to a piece of softwareâs users for that software to be considered free software. Those freedoms are: (0) the freedom to run the software as desired and for any purpose, (1) the freedom to study or change the software, (2) the freedom to redistribute copies of the software, and (3) the freedom to distribute modified copies of the software. The numbering of these four freedoms begins with zero because âFreedom 0â was added to the list after the other three, but it is considered more foundational than the others.
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There are implications to each of these four freedoms. To be exercised, for example, the first and third freedoms require that all free software be open sourceâthat is, have the softwareâs source code accessible to users. Consequently, free software and open-source software are sometimes collectively referred to under the acronym FOSS, for free and open-source software. Some free software advocates object to this coupling, however, on the basis that the two terms are not necessarily synonymous; all free software is open source, but not all open-source software is free.
There are also notable exclusions from the FSFâs definition of free software. Perhaps counterintuitively, there is no requirement that free software be distributed without cost. On the contrary, free software advocates insist on its commercial viability. This for-profit use means that despite often being used interchangeably in common speech, âfree softwareâ and âfreewareâ are technically opposites: Free software may be offered at a price, so long as it is distributed without restrictions on its use, whereas freeware is defined by its lack of cost but not its restrictions.
In practice, free software has had mixed success in the for-profit world. Andrew Oram has written for the Linux Professional Institute that it is clear that âthe accusation made by critics of free software over the past few decadesâthat you canât build a business selling free softwareâis true.â However, many companies have successfully built their business models around the use of free softwareâe.g., the IBM subsidiary Red Hat, Inc. Moreover, free software is widely used by for-profit companies in non-customer-facing capacities, such as in their backend operations or the operating systems of their for-profit hardware. According to some studies, in fact, nine out of ten businesses may use free software in some capacity.
The best-known example of free software in commercial use is the free and open-source operating system Linux. Linux is currently the leading operation system for servers, mainframe computers, and supercomputers worldwide. The Linux âkernelâ (core program) is also the basis for the best-selling smartphone operating system Android and the laptop operating system ChromeOS, arguably making it the most popular general operating system in the world.
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Due to free-software developersâ efforts, free software now exists as an alternative to proprietary software for almost any functionality an individual user might desire, including e-mailing, word processing, graphics editing, Web surfing, and video calling. On the organizational level, free software is employed by organizations as different as Netflix, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the New York Stock Exchange. Studies agree that the resulting economic impact has been immensely positive, reducing the total cost of ownership and preventing vendor lock-in.
Perhaps as a result of this success, the free-software movementâs ideas and methods have been adopted by other industries and movements. Of particular note is the innovation of âcopyleft,â a practice that uses copyright law to enshrine rather than restrict usersâ freedoms. By placing free software under a license that requires any copy or modified form of the software to adhere to free-software principles, free-software developers prevent less altruistic users from modifying their software and then copyrighting the new version.