The Free Software Definition

The Free Software Definition, written by Richard Stallman and published by Free Software Foundation (FSF), defines free software - free in the "free as in freedom" sense. The earliest known publication of the definition was in the February 1986 editioncite web
url=http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull1.txt
title=GNU's Bulletin, Volume 1 Number 1, page 8|] of the now-discontinued GNU's Bulletin publication of FSF. The canonical source for the document is in the philosophy section of the GNU Project website. As of April 2008, it is published there in 39 languages. [cite web
url=http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html#translations
title=The Free Software Definition - Translations of this page] FSF publishes a list of licences which meet this definition.

It was by far the earliest published definition for the concept of free software.

The definition

The definition published by FSF in February 1986 had two points:

The word "free" in our name does not refer to price; it refers to freedom. First, the freedom to copy a program and redistribute it to your neighbors, so that they can use it as well as you. Second, the freedom to change a program, so that you can control it instead of it controlling you; for this, the source code must be made available toyou.

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: [cite web
url=http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
title=The Free Software Definition
accessdate=2007-06-18|]
*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.

Later definitions

In July 1997, Bruce Perens published the Debian Free Software Guidelines. [cite web
author=Bruce Perens
url=http://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/debian-announce-1997/msg00017.html
title=Debian's "Social Contract" with the Free Software Community
work=debian-announce mailing list|] This was also used by Open Source Initiative (OSI) under the name "The Open Source Definition", the only change being that use of the term "free software" was replaced by OSI's alternative term for free software, "open-source software".

ee also

*Free software movement
*GNU Manifesto
*Debian Free Software Guidelines

External links

* [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html The Free Software Definition] - published by FSF
* [http://www.gnu.org/bulletins/bull1.txt GNU's Bulletin, volume 1, number 1] - a February 1986 document defining free software. Possibly the first published definition.
* [http://fsfeurope.org/documents/freesoftware.en.html The Free Software Definition with notes] , by Free Software Foundation Europe
* [http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html Why “Open Source” misses the point of Free Software] , by Richard Stallman

References