Freedom

"Free software" is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer."

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

  1. The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
  2. The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
  3. The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
  4. The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
more...

Put an End to Word Attachments

Most computer users use Microsoft Word. That is unfortunate for them, since Word is proprietary software, denying its users the freedom to study, change, copy, and redistribute it. And because Microsoft changes the Word file format with each release, its users are locked into a system that compels them to buy each upgrade whether they want a change or not. They may even find, several years from now, that the Word documents they are writing this year can no longer be read with the version of Word they use then.

more...

My Bookmarks

AskUbuntu.com
Ubuntu Community Forums
OMG!Ubuntu
Ubuntu Planet
The Linux Documentation Project
GeodSoft Password Generator

more...

Towards a Standard of Freedom: Creative Commons and the Free Software Movement

Creative Commons (CC) advocates, like Lawrence Lessig, have become fixtures on panels discussing Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) [1]. Frequently, they are seen as representative of the growing movement to translate the principles of Free Software to the world beyond code. Creative Commons advocates, directors, and supporters increasingly describe the project as an attempt to apply the principles of Free Software, appropriately adapted, to less technical forms of creative expressions like music, writing, and the visual arts. Comparisons between CC and Free Software are hardly coincidental. The CC website proudly describes the inspiration for the project as, in part, "the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)." Many of the minds behind CC (Lawrence Lessig, James Boyle, and others) made important contributions to legal and philosophical discussions of the Free Software movement before starting CC. However, while the GNU GPL is FOSS's most famous legal artifact, Free Software existed as a concept, as a movement, as code, and as licenses before the GPL. As the GPL is revised and replaced [2], Free Software remains unchanged. There are many free software licenses and most look little like the GPL

more...