What is software freedom?
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
· The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
· The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs i.e. Access to the source code.
· The freedom to redistribute copies.
· The freedom to improve the program for our own personal interset, may be business,and release improvements to the public (but again as free software), so that the whole community benefits.
A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus, one should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. One should also have the freedom to make modifications and use them privately in his own work or play, without even mentioning that they exist.
The freedom to use a program means the freedom for any kind of person or organization to use it on any kind of computer system, for any kind of overall job, and without being required to communicate subsequently with the developer or any other specific entity. The freedom to redistribute copies must include binary or executable forms of the program, as well as source code, for both modified and unmodified versions.
Distributing programs in runnable form is necessary for conveniently installable free operating systems. In order for the freedoms to make changes, and to publish improved versions, to be meaningful, access to the source code of the program is must. Therefore, accessibility of source code is a necessary condition for free software. In order for these freedoms to be real, they must be irrevocable as long as you do nothing wrong; if the developer of the software has the power to revoke the license, without your doing anything to give cause, the software is not free.
Categories of Software
Free software is software that comes with permission for anyone to use, copy, and distribute, either verbatim or with modifications, either gratis or for a fee. In particular, this means that source code must be available. “If it's not source, it's not software.'' If a program is free, then it can potentially be included in a free operating system such as GNU, or free versions of the GNU/Linux system.
There are many different ways to make a program free---many questions of detail, which could be decided in more than one way and still make the program free. Many languages have two separate words for ``free'' as in freedom and ``free'' as in zero price. For example, French has ``libre'' and ``gratuit''. English has a word ``gratis'' that refers unambiguously to price, but no common adjective that refers unambiguously to freedom. This is unfortunate, because such a word would be useful here. Free software is often more reliable than non-free software.
The term ``open source'' software is used by some people to mean more or less the same thing as free software. However, their criteria are somewhat lax; they accept some license restrictions that we consider too restrictive.
The term ``free software'' is preferred because it refers to freedom--something that the term ``open source'' does not do. The term was coined by Eric Raymond and Bruce Perens. However their intention was almost same as Free Software Foundation. But some companies are using the term in confusing way. They give source code with software but no freedoms are granted.
Public domain software is software that is not copyrighted. If the source code is in the public domain, that is a special case of non-copylefted free software,which means that some copies or modified versions may not be free at all. In some cases, an executable program can be in the public domain but the source code is not available. This is not free software, because free software requires accesibility of source code. Meanwhile, most free software is not in the public domain; it is copyrighted, and the copyright holders have legally given permission for everyone to use it in freedom, using a free software license.
Sometimes people use the term ``public domain'' in a loose fashion to mean ``free'' or ``available gratis.'' However, ``public domain'' is a legal term and means, precisely, ``not copyrighted''. For clarity, we recommend using ``public domain'' for that meaning only, and using other terms to convey the other meanings.
Copylefted software is free software whose distribution terms do not let redistributors add any additional restrictions when they redistribute or modify the software. This means that every copy of the software, even if it has been modified, must be free software.
In the GNU Project, almost all the software which are written are copylefted, because goal is to give every user the freedoms implied by the term ``free software.''
Copyleft is a general concept; to actually copyleft a program, we need to use a specific set of distribution terms. There are many possible ways to write copyleft distribution terms, so in principle there can be many copyleft free software licenses. However, in actual practice nearly all copylefted software uses the GNU General Public License. Two different copyleft licenses are usually ``incompatible'', which means it is illegal to merge the code using one license with the code using the other license; therefore, it is good for the community if people use a single copyleft license.
Non-copylefted free software comes from the author with permission to redistribute and modify, and also to add additional restrictions to it. If a program is free but not copylefted, then some copies or modified versions may not be free at all. A software company can compile the program, with or without modifications, and distribute the executable file as a proprietary software product.
The X Window System illustrates this. The X Consortium releases X11 with distribution terms that make it non-copylefted free software. If you wish, you can get a copy which has those distribution terms and is free. However, there are non-free versions as well, and there are popular workstations and PC graphics boards for which non-free versions are the only ones that work. If you are using this hardware, X11 is not free software for you. The developers of X11 even made X11 non-free for a while.
The GNU GPL (General Public License) is one specific set of distribution terms for copylefting a program. The GNU Project uses it as the distribution terms for most GNU software.
Semi-free software is software that is not free, but comes with permission for individuals to use, copy, distribute, and modify (including distribution of modified versions) for non-profit purposes. PGP is an example of a semi-free program. Semi-free software is much better ethically than proprietary software, but it still poses problems, and we cannot use it in a free operating system.
The restrictions of copyleft are designed to protect the essential freedoms for all users. For us, the only justification for any substantive restriction on using a program is to prevent other people from adding other restrictions. Semi-free programs have additional restrictions, motivated by purely selfish goals.
It is impossible to include semi-free software in a free operating system. This is because the distribution terms for the operating system as a whole are the conjunction of the distribution terms for all the programs in it. Adding one semi-free program to the system would make the system as a whole just semi-free. The Free Software Foundation itself is non-commercial, and therefore we would be legally permitted to use a semi-free program ``internally''. But we don't do that, because that would undermine our efforts to obtain a program which we could also include in GNU.
Proprietary software is software that is not free or semi-free. Its use, redistribution or modification is prohibited, or requires you to ask for permission, or is restricted so much that you effectively can't do it freely.
The term ``freeware'' has no clear accepted definition, but it is commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but not modification (and their source code is not available). These packages are not free software, so please don't use ``freeware'' to refer to free software.
Shareware is software which comes with permission for people to redistribute copies, but says that anyone who continues to use a copy is required to pay a license fee.
Commercial software is software being developed by a business which aims to make money from the use of the software. ``Commercial'' and ``proprietary'' are not the same thing! Most commercial software is proprietary, but there is commercial free software, and there is non-commercial non-free software.
For example, GNU Ada is always distributed under the terms of the GNU GPL, and every copy is free software; but its developers sell support contracts. When their salesmen speak to prospective customers, sometimes the customers say, ``We would feel safer with a commercial compiler.'' The salesmen reply, ``GNU Ada is a commercial compiler; it happens to be free software.''
here is a diagram showing categories of software.
Benefits from Software Freedom
· 1. Improved Quality of Software.
Lots of people look at a piece of code, and it is likely that problem will be noticed and solved. (many eyes make bugs shallow) In contrast, a properitary company that sells upgrade will have a financial incentive to leave at least some bugs in its code. This is so its customer will have an incentive to buy the upgrade.
· 2. In terms of customers and businesses.
Customers will have choice in the market. He will not be in a situation like “take it or leave it”. Since software is sold in a competitive market, its price is low. This means no one tells software as such, instead they sell services or they sell hardware as. Software freedom creates the world in which software does what you want. If you don't find an application that does, what you want you may write your own code, or hire someone to do so.
· 3. Ethical Consquences
Schools teach kids not to be selfish and not to be a theif, but students have to learn these thing as well if they want to survive in the arena of restricted software.
Buisness Models
1. Paid for Training : companies can provide training to customers. This is the education for which people pay privately.
2. Companies can follow Gillete strategy i.e. Give away the razor and sell the blades. (this means Gillete is selling razors at some computed loss). Software companies can sell the software at some low prices (because competition will be tough) and earn actually through some other Software related services.
** Some people argue that in such markets, innovation will have no importance. But if someone has developed a software, obviously he/she can provide a better support.
Shanya Almafeta
Invite as author
Small errors...