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Shown are the GNOME desktop environment, the GNU Emacs text editor, the GIMP image editor, and the VLC media player. Free software, libre software, or libreware [1] [2] is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions.
Freeware (green) seldom expose their source codes. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) defines "open source software" (i.e., free software or free and open-source software), as distinct from "freeware" or "shareware"; it is software where "the Government does not have access to the original source code".
"Free and open-source software" (FOSS) is an umbrella term for software that is simultaneously considered both free software and open-source software. The precise definition of the terms "free software" and "open-source software" applies them to any software distributed under terms that allow users to use, modify, and redistribute said software in any manner they see fit, without requiring ...
Freeware is software that is available for use at no monetary cost or for an optional fee, but usually (although not necessarily) closed source with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software , which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the aim to ...
The Free Software Foundation ( FSF) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman [5] on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed under copyleft ("share alike") terms, [6] such as with its own GNU General Public License. [7]
The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is one such organization keeping a list of open-source licenses. [1] The Free Software Foundation (FSF) maintains a list of what it considers free. [2] FSF's free software and OSI's open-source licenses together are called FOSS licenses. There are licenses accepted by the OSI which are not free as per the Free ...
Linux (1991–present) The Linux kernel, started by Linus Torvalds, was released as freely modifiable source code in 1991. The license was not a free software license, but with version 0.12 in February 1992, Torvalds relicensed the project under the GNU General Public License. [30]
The Free Software Definition written by Richard Stallman and published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), defines free software as being software that ensures that the users have freedom in using, studying, sharing and modifying that software. The term "free" is used in the sense of "free speech," not of "free of charge." [1]