This article is about Free Software as defined by the sociopolitical Free Software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. For other uses, see free software (disambiguation).
Image File history File links Nuvola_apps_emacs. ... Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. ... The free software movement began in 1983 when Richard Stallman announced the GNU project. ... Freeware is computer software which is made available free of charge, as opposed to payware where the user is required to pay. ... Free software may refer to one of the following. ...

Free software is software which grants recipients the freedom to modify and redistribute the software. This would normally be prohibited by Copyright law, so with free software, the copyright holder must give recipients the explicit permission to do these things. This grant of rights is called a license, and if the above noted freedoms are included in the grant, the license is a free software license. Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... Freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Copyright symbol. ...

Put another way, a free software license is a license which grants permissions to the recipient to remove any ownership issues which would otherwise prevent the software from being free software. Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. ...

FSF-approved free software licenses

Free Software Foundation, the group that maintains The Free Software Definition, maintains a list of free software licenses. The list distinguishes between free software licenses that are compatible or incompatible with the FSF license of choice, the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license. The list also contains licenses which the FSF considers non-free for various reasons. Note that the open source license list differs slightly, but in almost all cases the definitions apply to the same licenses. The Free Software Foundation logo The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most popular free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organisation founded in 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ... An open-source license is a copyright license for computer software that makes the source code available under terms that allow for modification and royalty-free redistribution. ...

The Academic Free License is an open source software license written in 2002 by Lawrence E. Rosen, general counsel of the Open Source Initiative. ... The Apache License (Apache Software License previous to version 2. ... The Apple Public Source License is the open source license under which Apple Computers Darwin Project was released. ... The Artistic License is a software license used for certain free software packages, most notably the standard Perl implementation, most of CPAN modules and Parrot, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public License (GPL). ... Sleepycat Public License is an OSI-approved open-source license used by Sleepycat Software for their products Berkeley DB, Berkeley DB Java Edition and Berkeley DB XML. According to Free Software Foundation, it qualifies as a free software license, and is compatible with the GNU General Public License. ... CeCILL (from CEA CNRS INRIA Logiciel Libre) is a Free Software license adapted to both International and French legal matters, in the spirit of and retaining compatibility with the GNU General Public License. ... Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) is an open source license, produced by Sun Microsystems, based on the Mozilla Public License, version 1. ... The CPL (Common Public License) is a free software / open-source software license published by IBM. Its license terms have been approved by the Open Source Initiative and Free Software Foundation. ... License in use by the Cryptix project, well known for their Java Cryptography Extension. ... The Eclipse Public License (EPL) is a license for free software. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most popular free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... GNU logo The GNU Lesser General Public License (formerly the GNU Library General Public License) is an FSF approved free software license designed as a compromise between the GNU General Public License and simple permissive licenses such as the BSD license and the MIT License. ... The IBM Public License is a free software / open-source software license used by IBM. It is ratified by the Open Source Initiative and Free Software Foundation (FSF). ... The LaTeX Project Public License is a software license originally written for the LaTeX system. ... The GNU logo The GNAT Modified General Public License (short: Modified GPL, GMGPL) is a version of the GNU General Public License specifically modified for the generic feature found in the Ada programming language. ... The zlib/libpng license is a software license that applies to zlib, libpng and other non-related software packages. ... The BSD license is an acronym for the Berkeley Software Distribution license agreement, and is one of the most widely used licenses for free software (a subset of open source software). ... FreeBSD is a Unix-like free software operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch through 386BSD and 4. ... OpenBSD is a freely available Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative created by the University of California, Berkeley. ... In computing, the Mozilla Public License is an open source and free software license. ... The Netscape Public License (NPL) is an open-source license, one of the licenses under which Mozilla is distributed. ... The Open Software License (OSL) is a software licence created by Lawrence Rosen. ... The OpenSSL exception is a clause added to the GNU General Public License (GPL) by free software developers who want to use OpenSSL with their software. ... The BSD license is a permissive license and is one of the most widely used licenses for free software. ... NetBSD was the second freely redistributable, open source version of the BSD Unix-like computer operating systems to produce a formal release (after 386BSD) and continues to be actively developed. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Python Software Foundation License is a free software license which is compatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL). ... The Q Public License (QPL) is a non-copyleft free software license created by Trolltech for its free edition of the Qt toolkit. ... The Sun Industry Standards Source License (SISSL) is recognized as a free and open source license by the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative. ... The Sun Public License (SPL) is a software license that applies to some open-source software released by Sun Microsystems (such as NetBeans). ... Ruby is an object-oriented programming language. ... W3C Software Notice and License is an Open Source licence used by software released by W3C, like Amaya. ... The MIT License, originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a license for the use of certain types of computer software. ... The MIT License, also called the X License or the X11 License, originated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a license for the use of certain types of computer software. ...

BSD philosophy

Many users and developers of BSD-based operating systems have a different position on licensing. The main difference is the belief that the copyleft licenses, particularly the GNU General Public License (GPL), are too complicated and have restrictions which are undesirable. The GPL, instead, requires derivative work to be released according to the GPL, in what is termed a "viral" effect of copyleft licenses. Essentially, the BSD license's only requirement is to acknowledge the original authors, and poses no restrictions on how the source code may be used. As a result, BSD code can find its way into proprietary software that only acknowledge the source. For instance, the IP stack in Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X are derived from BSD-licensed software. BSD redirects here; for other uses see BSD (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most popular free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ... Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ... Proprietary software is software that has restrictions on using and copying it, usually enforced by a proprietor. ... The internet protocol suite is the set of communications protocols that implement the protocol stack on which the Internet and most commercial networks run. ... Windows redirects here. ... Mac OS X is a proprietary operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. ...

GPL supporters claim that mandating derivative works remain free fosters the growth of free software and requires equal participation by all users. Developers who use GPL code have to share their improvements with the community, supporting the growth of the software they received.

Supporters of the BSD license argue that it is more free than the GPL because it grants the right to do anything with the source code, second only to software in the public domain. The nature of BSD has encouraged the inclusion of well-developed standard code into proprietary software. In response, GPL supporters claim that this is more a form of power than a freedom.[2] The right to make closed-source code is therefore not included in the Free Software Foundation's "four freedoms of free software"; using, studying, copying, and distrubiting modifications of the code. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... The Free Software Foundation logo The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ...

Code licensed under the BSD license can be relicensed under the GPL (is "GPL-compatible") without securing the consent of all original authors. Code under the GPL cannot be relicensed under the BSD license without securing the consent of all original authors, as the BSD license is not copyleft and therfore "GPL-incompatible". Existing free software BSDs tend to avoid including software licensed under the GPL in the core operating system, or the base system, except as a last resort when alternatives are non-existent or vastly less capable, such as with GCC. The OpenBSD project has acted to remove GPL-licensed tools in favour of BSD-licensed alternatives, some newly written and some adapted from older code. The GNU Compiler Collection (usually shortened to GCC) is a set of programming language compilers produced by the GNU Project. ... OpenBSD is a freely available Unix-like computer operating system descended from Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a Unix derivative created by the University of California, Berkeley. ...

For more details on this topic, see BSD and GPL licensing.

Two of the most common free software licenses are the BSD and GPL licenses. ...

Debian

The Debian project uses the criteria laid out in its Debian Free Software Guidelines. The only notable cases where Debian and Free Software Foundation disagree are over the Artistic License and the GNU Free Documentation License. Debian accept the original Artistic License as being a free software license, but FSF disagree. This has very little impact however since the Artistic License is almost always used in a dual-license setup, along with the GNU General Public License. It has been suggested that Embedded Debian be merged into this article or section. ... The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) are a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in the main, free software distribution of Debian. ... The Artistic License is a software license used for certain free software packages, most notably the standard Perl implementation, most of CPAN modules and Parrot, which are dual-licensed under the Artistic License and the GNU General Public License. ... GNU logo (similar in appearance to a gnu) The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free content, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project. ... Licenses are granted by copyright holders to grant exceptions of copyright law to users for a work. ... The GNU logo The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is the most popular free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project. ...

Regarding the GNU Free Documentation License, Debian and FSF disagree over whether it is a software license at all, and therefore whether any criteria for free software should be applied to it. Debian argues that documentation is a "subset of software", and so documentation licenses must be examined against free software guidelines [3]. FSF say that documentation is qualitatively different from software and is subject to different requirements. GNU logo (similar in appearance to a gnu) The GNU Free Documentation License (GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a copyleft license for free content, designed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) for the GNU project. ...

See also

• Free software movement
• Free software
• Copyleft
• DFSG

The free software movement began in 1983 when Richard Stallman announced the GNU project. ... Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed without restriction. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... The Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG) are a set of guidelines that the Debian Project uses to determine whether a software license is free software license, which in turn is used to determine whether a piece of software can be included in the main, free software distribution of Debian. ...

External links

• The Free Software Definition (Free Software Foundation).
• The Free Software Foundation's list of free and unfree licenses
• Debian's license information page
• Open Source Initiative's list of license
• OpenBSD's "goals" page describes its view of free software