The four freedoms of Free Software.

This post is all about explaining what the four freedoms are, as given by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation. I think this is another area that sometimes gets glossed over or ignored altogether, so I thought I would sum them up here.

Part of the problem is that so many people hear the free, and equate it with price. And it is true that Free and Open Source software is often available at little or no cost, so that's not a bad thing, but it's not the primary point either. Free Software is software that respects the user's right to do what they want and need with their computer.

Briefly, the four freedoms are:

0. The right to use the software in any manner you wish, without restrictions.

1. The right to distribute the software to as many others as you wish, without penalty.

2. The right to modify the source code, or have the source code modified, to make the program function as you need it to.

3. The right to distribute your modified copies of the program so that everyone benefits from the improvements.

I realize I started counting at zero. That is a common programming convention in numbering things and is also the way the four freedoms are most often represented, so I stuck with it.

Any software that is distributed under a GNU or GNU compatible license gives you these freedoms, as well as the source code of the program in question, or access to the source code if you want it.

Now I realize that freedoms 2 and 3 don't mean as much to end-users as to programmers, but it can be good for businesses, who can hire programmers to modify almost suitable software to be just right. It's also great for hobby programmers like myself who can study and learn and play with real world code, and not just examples from books.

Freedoms 0 and 1, however, are much more applicable to end users. What they mean is that you can be free of the licensing restrictions that govern use and installation of proprietary software. It also means that you can LEGALLY copy and share your copies of Free Software with however many people you wish. Not only can you, but you are encouraged to do so.

So, in a nutshell, that's it. Freedom that isn't just about price, but actual freedom.

Linux and GNU

Linux and the GNU Project.

When discussing the history of Linux, it is often attributed to Linus Torvalds, the Finnish student who began writing the Linux kernel in 1991. Certainly, the kernel is a key component, without which the operating system would be useless. However, there is more to the story than Linus alone.

Back in the early days of computing, most programmers wrote,shared, and improved each others programs for the benefit of all.

Richard Stallman, who was a programmer at MIT from 1971 to 1983 worked extensively in this environment and continued to believe software should be shared, not closed off and made proprietary. When he left MIT, he started the GNU Project to develop a free clone of the Unix operating system. Freedom, in this case, refers not to price, but to what you are allowed to do with your computer and its software.

In 1991, Linux Torvalds began working on the kernel which came to be known as Linux. He also wanted to produce a Unix like operating system.

At the time when Linus began the his kernel, the GNU Project had most of the other components which would make up a working Unix-like system, but they lacked a suitable kernel. Linus and the people working with him had that kernel.

By putting the Linux kernel together with the GNU libraries and utilities, a working Unix-like system came to be.

Members of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation prefer that Linux be referred to as GNU/Linux. Others simply call it Linux, after the kernel.

While I don't intend to go into that debate, I do feel it is important to understand the proper history of Linux and the contributions of both Linus Torvalds and the GNU Project. Take away the contributions of either, and there would be no Linux as an operating system.

More information on the GNU Project can be found at The GNU Project for those interested.