What is “Free Software”?
I think it’s worth being quite specific about what is meant by "Free Software".
The "Free", in this term, refers to freedom ("Free as in Freedom"). That is, when translated to French, it is "libre" (liberty), not "gratis" (price). In fact, it has been proposed that the term "libre software" be used to avoid the confusion. This hasn’t been adopted en masse, but is used by some. I capitalise the initials of "Free Software" to emphasise it as a proper noun with a definition and set it apart from software that is only available gratis.
Four Freedoms
The best source of a definition is the originators of the term - Richard Stallman, and the "Free Software Foundation".
Their definition can be found at the FSF web site (worth reading), and is often called "The Four Freedoms":
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
- The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
[EDIT] Took out the ramble about Firefox and IceWeasel, and wrote the following.
The essence of this is that you must be able to see the source code. And you must be able to change it in whatever way you wish, and let others reap the benefits of your improvements or crash because of your bugs. There should be no restrictions on your freedom to do these things, other than to ensure you cannot prevent others from having these freedoms.
These freedoms are embodied in the GNU General Public License (GPL), which is quite thorough about protecting these freedoms for those using derived works.
I believe the GPL says that a work derived from the original must be clearly marked as such, and not misrepresented as being the original. This should help companies who want to preserve their reputation, without restricting people based on trademarks.
The GPL does not say that you cannot charge for distributing an application, whether it be yours or anyone else’s. Many companies have been successful in distributing Linux CDs for a fee. Nor does it say that fee should be nominal. However, anyone who pays a fee to receive the programmes may distribute them for free, or for a fee of their choosing.
In order to protect your freedom to access the source code, the GPL does stipulate that source code must be available at no cost. This does, of course mean that you can download the code for free, and compile it yourself.
This leads to a more service-based industry. Many companies make a good sum, by providing technical support, or further development of Free Software. In fact, have made their success in providing these services for proprietary software. Rather than limiting the industry, it shifts the focus, and even levels the playing-field.
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I hope this has been a reasonably clear explanation. If anyone would like clarification on any issue, or has any corrections, please leave a comment.
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Copyright (c) 2006-2007 Michael J Kaye.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the content of this blog post under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
This is a great article. I am new to your blog and i like what I see. I look forward to your future work.
Comment by Jeremy Jones — February 1, 2007 @ 7:39 pm
Thanks Jeremy.
You may want to start with the interviews category. They have been very popular.
You may also be interested in the gNewSense category. gNewSense is a GNU/Linux distribution that only includes completely Free Software. Admirably, they’ve also taken out the binary-blob drivers from the kernel.
As for the future, I’m planning a series on the importance of Free Software web applications, such as web mail (see “ippimail: Free Software web-mail with a feel-good factor“) and web search. I expect to talk a lot about the problem of creating a competitive (hosted) Free Software search engine. I also intend to do a series on hardware that works well with Free Software - I think this is particularly relevant with the release of gNewSense -, and another on “Why Free Software?”.
I hope you like the new stuff as much as this one.
Comment by mjkaye — February 2, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
Hi, I think you’ve misunderstood what the GPL means about distributing source code. As far as I know, instead of having to give out source code at no cost, you have to supply it to anyone who you give or sell an executable copy to, or you have to give them a written offer to supply them with it at a later date. Otherwise, this would be prohibiting commercial distribution in a very significant way.
Also, I think you should include a mention of the freedom to make copies and share them with other people in the summary of the essence of free software. This is a very important freedom, and I’ve come across at least one speech where Richard Stallman has said it’s the most important of them all.
Comment by Guy Johnston — February 5, 2007 @ 9:45 pm