The term ‘free software’ is often misunderstood as simply meaning software that costs nothing. However, the core idea is about liberty, not price. The free software movement, pioneered by Richard Matthew Stallman, is built on the principle that users deserve to have control over the software they use. This guide explains the fundamental concepts and the ‘four essential freedoms’ that define free software.
Table of Contents
The Philosophy of Freedom
Proprietary software, by its nature, keeps users divided and helpless. Users are forbidden from sharing it and cannot see or change the source code, placing all the power in the hands of the owner. The free software movement was started to end this injustice. A program is considered ‘free’ if it grants its users the following four essential freedoms.
The Four Essential Freedoms
| Freedom | Description |
|---|---|
| Freedom 0 | The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose. |
| Freedom 1 | The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. |
| Freedom 2 | The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others. |
| Freedom 3 | The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. |
Free Software vs. Open Source
While often used interchangeably, ‘free software’ and ‘open source’ stem from different philosophies. The free software movement is a social movement that views the issue as an ethical one concerning user freedom. The open source movement, on the other hand, was created to be more business-friendly, focusing on the pragmatic benefits of shared code, such as higher quality and reliability, rather than the moral imperative of freedom. While the outcomes are often similar, the underlying values are fundamentally different.
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