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The Free Software Definition is a definition published by Free Software Foundation (FSF) for what constitutes free software. The earliest known publication of the definition was in the January 1989 edition of the now-discontinued GNU's Bulletin publication of FSF. The canonical source for the document is on the website of the GNU Project, in the philosophy section. As of September 2006, it is officially published in 31 languages.
The definition The original definition, back in January 1989, had two points: The word "free" in our name refers to two specific freedoms: first, the freedom to copy a program and give it away to your friends and co-workers; second, the freedom to change a program as you wish, by having full access to source code. Furthermore, you can study the source and learn how such programs are written. You may then be able to port it, improve it, and share your changes with others. 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: It also notes that "Access to the source code is a precondition" for freedoms 1 and 3. See also | ||||||||
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