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   Free software movement - Conservapedia
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}</script><body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr ns-0 ns-subject page-Free_software_movement skin-vector action-view vector-animateLayout"><div class=noprint id=mw-page-base></div><div class=noprint id=mw-head-base></div><div class=mw-body id=content role=main><a id=top> </a><h1 class=firstHeading id=firstHeading lang=en><span dir=auto> Free software movement </span></h1><div class=mw-body-content id=bodyContent><div id=siteSub>From Conservapedia</div><div id=contentSub></div><div class=mw-jump id=jump-to-nav>Jump to: <a href=#mw-navigation> navigation </a> , <a href=#p-search> search </a></div><div class=mw-content-ltr dir=ltr id=mw-content-text lang=en><p>The <b> free software movement </b> advocates the creation and sharing of <b> free software </b> (compare <a title="Open source"href=/Open_source> open source </a> ).<p>Software genius and <a class=mw-redirect href=/GNU title=GNU> GNU </a> pioneer <a title="Richard Stallman"href=/Richard_Stallman> Richard Stallman </a> defines free software as respecting the "essential freedoms" to:<ul><li>Run the program for any purpose<li>Study how the software works and modify it to meet your needs<li>Distribute copies of the software<li>Publish modifications to the software</ul><p>In order to fulfill these requirements access to the <a title="Source code"href=/Source_code> source code </a> is essential, so free software is a type of <a title="Open source"href=/Open_source> open source </a> 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.<p>Stallman and his <a title="Free Software Foundation"href=/Free_Software_Foundation> Free Software Foundation </a> created the <a title="General Public License"href=/General_Public_License> General Public License </a> , which grants the user specific rights that are not typically granted for proprietary software.<p>Examples of free software are the <a class=mw-redirect href=/Linux title=Linux> Linux </a> operating system and the <a title="Apache (software) (page does not exist)"class=new href=/index.php?title=Apache_(software)&action=edit&redlink=1> Apache </a> web server, which this very site runs on.<h2><span class=mw-headline id=Free_software_and_Open_Source_software> Free software and Open Source software </span></h2><p>Stallman wrote:<ul><li>The two terms describe almost the same category of software, but they stand for views based on fundamentally different values. Open source is a <a title="Development methodology (page does not exist)"class=new href=/index.php?title=Development_methodology&action=edit&redlink=1> development methodology </a> ; free software is a <a title="Social movement (page does not exist)"class=new href=/index.php?title=Social_movement&action=edit&redlink=1> social movement </a> . For the free software movement, free software is an <a title="Ethical imperative (page does not exist)"class=new href=/index.php?title=Ethical_imperative&action=edit&redlink=1> ethical imperative </a> , because only free software respects the users' freedom. By contrast, the philosophy of open source considers issues in terms of how to make software “better”—in a practical sense only. <a class="external autonumber"href=http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html rel=nofollow> [1] </a></ul><h2><span class=mw-headline id=Links> Links </span></h2><p>Articles by <a title="Richard Stallman"href=/Richard_Stallman> Richard Stallman </a> :<ul><li><a class="external text"href=http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html rel=nofollow> Why “Free Software” is better than “Open Source” </a><li><a class="external text"href=http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html rel=nofollow> Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software </a></ul></div><div class=printfooter>Retrieved from " <a dir=ltr href=https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Free_software_movement&oldid=1120400> https://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Free_software_movement&oldid=1120400 </a> "</div><div class=catlinks id=catlinks><div class=mw-normal-catlinks id=mw-normal-catlinks><a href=/Special:Categories title=Special:Categories> Categories </a> : <ul><li><a href=/Category:Software title=Category:Software> Software </a><li><a href=/Category:Internet title=Category:Internet> Internet </a><li><a href=/Category:Libertarianism title=Category:Libertarianism> Libertarianism </a><li><a title="Category:Operating Systems"href=/Category:Operating_Systems> Operating Systems </a><li><a href=/Category:Linux title=Category:Linux> Linux </a><li><a href=/Category:Computers title=Category:Computers> Computers </a><li><a href=/Category:Philosophy title=Category:Philosophy> Philosophy </a><li><a title="Category:Open Source"href=/Category:Open_Source> Open Source </a></ul></div></div><div class=visualClear></div></div></div><div id=mw-navigation><h2>Navigation menu</h2><div id=mw-head><div aria-labelledby=p-personal-label id=p-personal role=navigation><h3 id=p-personal-label>Personal tools</h3><ul><li id=pt-createaccount><a href=/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Free+software+movement&type=signup> Create account </a><li id=pt-login><a title="You are encouraged to log in; however, it is not mandatory [o]"accesskey=o href=/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Free+software+movement> Log in </a></ul></div><div id=left-navigation><div aria-labelledby=p-namespaces-label class=vectorTabs id=p-namespaces role=navigation><h3 id=p-namespaces-label>Namespaces</h3><ul><li class=selected id=ca-nstab-main><span> <a title="View the content page [c]"accesskey=c href=/Free_software_movement> Article </a> </span><li id=ca-talk><span> <a title="Discussion about the content page [t]"accesskey=t href=/Talk:Free_software_movement> talk page </a> </span></ul></div><div class="vectorMenu emptyPortlet"aria-labelledby=p-variants-label id=p-variants role=navigation><h3 id=p-variants-label><span> Variants </span> <a href=#> </a></h3><div class=menu><ul></ul></div></div></div><div id=right-navigation><div aria-labelledby=p-views-label class=vectorTabs id=p-views role=navigation><h3 id=p-views-label>Views</h3><ul><li class=selected id=ca-view><span> <a href=/Free_software_movement> Read </a> </span><li id=ca-viewsource><span> <a title="This page is protected.
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