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The Free Software Definition is a definition published by Free Software Foundation (FSF) for what constitutes free software. The earliest known publication of the definition was in the January 1989 edition[1] of the now-discontinued GNU's Bulletin publication of FSF. The canonical source for the document is on the website of the GNU Project, in the philosophy section. As of January 2007, it is officially published in 33 languages. FSF publishes a list of licences which meet this definition. The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit corporation founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ...
Clockwise from top: The logo of the GNU Project (the GNU head), the Linux kernel mascot Tux the Penguin, and the FreeBSD daemon Free software is a term coined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation[1] to refer to software that can be used, studied, and modified without...
The GNU logo, drawn by Etienne Suvasa The GNU Project was announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman. ...
The following is a list of software licences which Free Software Foundation has approved as complying with their Free Software Definition. ...
The definition
The original definition, published in January 1989, had two points: The word "free" in our name refers to two specific freedoms: first, the freedom to copy a program and give it away to your friends and co-workers; second, the freedom to change a program as you wish, by having full access to source code. Furthermore, you can study the source and learn how such programs are written. You may then be able to port it, improve it, and share your changes with others. The modern definition has four points, which it numbers zero to three. It defines free software by whether or not the recipient has the freedoms to: - run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0)
- study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1)
- redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2)
- improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3)
It also notes that "Access to the source code is a precondition" for freedoms 1 and 3. Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ...
References - ^ http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull6.html#SEC5
See also Image File history File links Floss_draft. ...
The free software movement, also known as the free software philosophy, began in 1983 when Richard Stallman announced the GNU Project. ...
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 Open Source Definition is used by the Open Source Initiative to determine whether or not a software license can be considered open source. ...
Richard Matthew Stallman (often abbreviated as RMS) (born March 16, 1953) is a software freedom activist, hacker, and software developer. ...
External links - The Free Software Definition - published by FSF
- GNU's Bulletin, volume 1, number 6 - a January 1989 document defining free software. Possibly the first published definition.
- The Free Software Definition with notes, by Free Software Foundation Europe
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