Difference between revisions of "Free software movement"
(Why “Free Software” is better than “Open Source”) |
(bringing Richard Stallman into it, even though he can be personally very irritating at times!) |
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The '''free software movement''' advocates the creation and sharing of '''free software'''. | The '''free software movement''' advocates the creation and sharing of '''free software'''. | ||
| − | + | Software genius and [[GNU]] pioneer [[Richard Stallman]] defines free software as respecting the "essential freedoms" to: | |
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* Run the program for any purpose | * Run the program for any purpose | ||
* Study how the software works and modify it to meet your needs | * Study how the software works and modify it to meet your needs | ||
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In order to fulfill these requirements access to the [[source code]] is essential, so free software is a type of [[open source]] software. The right to distribute the software may be subject to a clause that ensures that future recipients of the software have the same freedoms. | In order to fulfill these requirements access to the [[source code]] is essential, so free software is a type of [[open source]] software. The right to distribute the software may be subject to a clause that ensures that future recipients of the software have the same freedoms. | ||
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| + | Stallman and his [[Free Software Foundation]] created the [[General Public License]], which grants the user specific rights that are not typically granted for proprietary software. | ||
Examples of free software are the [[Linux]] operating system and the [[Apache (software)|Apache]] web server, which this very site runs on. | Examples of free software are the [[Linux]] operating system and the [[Apache (software)|Apache]] web server, which this very site runs on. | ||
Revision as of 16:41, December 18, 2009
The free software movement advocates the creation and sharing of free software.
Software genius and GNU pioneer Richard Stallman defines free software as respecting the "essential freedoms" to:
- Run the program for any purpose
- Study how the software works and modify it to meet your needs
- Distribute copies of the software
- Publish modifications to the software
In order to fulfill these requirements access to the source code is essential, so free software is a type of open source software. The right to distribute the software may be subject to a clause that ensures that future recipients of the software have the same freedoms.
Stallman and his Free Software Foundation created the General Public License, which grants the user specific rights that are not typically granted for proprietary software.
Examples of free software are the Linux operating system and the Apache web server, which this very site runs on.