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This article has been tagged since February 2007. The following is a timeline-style look at how free software has evolved and existed from its inception. This article is about free software as defined by the sociopolitical free software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ...
Before 1983
In the 60s and 70s, people who received sofware generally had the freedoms to run it for any purpose, to study and modify the source code, and to redistribute modified versions.
At this time, software was free, not because of an effort of software users or developers but simply because that was the culture.
The GNU project and FSF In 1983, Richard Stallman launched the GNU project to write enough software such that people could do the tasks they want with their computers without having to give up these freedoms.
In 1989, the first version of the GNU General Public License was published. A slightly updated version 2 was published in 1991.
GNU+Linux In 1992, a kernel that Linus Torvalds started the previous year was released as free software. At this time, the GNU project had produced or integrated everything needed for an operating system except a kernel. The combination of Linux and the GNU system created the first complete free software operating system since 1983. Linus Benedict Torvalds ( ; born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish software engineer best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel. ...
Quite possibly the gayest image ever made by anyone, ever. ...
The Free BSDs Meanwhile, the lawsuit ended and FreeBSD was released as free software. FreeBSD is a Unix-like free operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) branch through the 386BSD and 4. ...
The DotCom years In the mid to late 90s, when many website-based companies were starting up, free software became a popular webserver system. Apache webserver became the most used webserver - a title that still holds as of 2007. These systems were called LAMP systems. The Apache HTTP Server is a web server for Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows, Novell NetWare, Mac OS X and other operating systems. ...
The acronym LAMP (or L.A.M.P.) refers to a set of free software programs commonly used together to run dynamic Web sites or servers: Linux, (more precisely GNU/Linux) the operating system; Apache, the Web server; MySQL, the database management system (or database server); PHP (Sometimes Perl or...
Business coming aboard In March 1998, Netscape Communications Corporation released most of the code base for its popular Netscape Communicator suite under a free software licence which they wrote: the Netscape Public License. This software package became Mozilla and produced the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Netscape Communications Corporation was the publisher of the Netscape Navigator web browser as well as many other internet and intranet client and server software products. ...
Netscape Communicator was a proprietary Internet suite produced by Netscape Communications Corporation. ...
This article is about Free Software as defined by the sociopolitical Free Software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ...
The Netscape Public License (NPL) is a free software license, the license under which Netscape Communications Corporation originally released Mozilla. ...
Mozilla was the official, public, original name of Mozilla Application Suite by the Mozilla Foundation, nowadays called SeaMonkey suite. ...
Mozilla Firefox is a graphical web browser developed by the Mozilla Corporation and a large community of external contributors. ...
In August 1999, Sun Microsystems released the StarOffice office suite as under the GNU General Public License. The package was renamed OpenOffice.org. SUN redirects here. ...
StarOffice is Sun Microsystems commercial office suite software package. ...
OpenOffice. ...
In 2007, Sun Microsystems announced that they would be releasing their Java platform under the GNU General Public License. SUN redirects here. ...
Java is an object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s. ...
Freesoftware laws Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez's presidency, implemented a free software law in January 2006. Directive 3.390 mandated all government agencies to migrate to free software over a two year period [1]. President Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954) has been the President of Venezuela since 1999. ...
References The cover for the third issue in April 2005. ...
See also Image File history File links Floss_draft. ...
This timeline shows the development of the Linux kernel. ...
Mozilla Application Suite began as an open source base of the Netscape suite. ...
External links - Richard Stallman speaking about free software and the GNU project in 1986, Sweden
- The Daemon, the GNU, and the Penguin, by Peter Salus
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