#[1]alternate [2]English [3]b"lgarski [4]català [5]cestina [6]dansk [7]Deutsch
   [8]ellynika' [9]español [10]f+a+r+s+ÛU8C [11]français [12]hrvatski [13]italiano
   [14]æU97¥æU9C¬èªU9E [15]Nederlands [16]polski [17]português [18]româna
   [19]russkij [20]Shqip [21]srpski [22]Türkçe [23]ç®U80ä½U93ä¸æU96U87
   [24]ç¹U81é«U94ä¸æU96U87

   [25]Skip to main text
   [26]Free Software Supporter: email address_____ Sign up
   [27]JOIN THE FSF

   [28] [A GNU head]  GNU Operating System
   Supported by the [29]Free Software Foundation
   [30] [Search www.gnu.org]
   [31] [Other languages]
   [32]Site navigation [33]Skip
     * [34]ABOUT GNU
     * = [35]PHILOSOPHY =
     * [36]LICENSES
     * [37]EDUCATION
     * [38]SOFTWARE
     * [39]DISTROS
     * [40]DOCS
     * [41]MALWARE
     * [42]HELP GNU
     * [43]AUDIO & VIDEO
     * [44]GNU ART
     * [45]FUN
     * [46]GNU'S WHO?
     * [47]SOFTWARE DIRECTORY
     * [48]HARDWARE
     * [49]SITEMAP

     * [50]Essays & articles
     * [51]Speeches & interviews
     * [52]Third party ideas
     * [53]Latest articles
     * [54]Recordings

Philosophy of the GNU Project

   Free software means that the software's users have freedom. (The issue is not
   about price.) We developed the GNU operating system so that users can have
   freedom in their computing.

   Specifically, free software means users have the [55]four essential freedoms: (0)
   to run the program, (1) to study and change the program in source code form, (2)
   to redistribute exact copies, and (3) to distribute modified versions.

   Software differs from material objects--such as chairs, sandwiches, and
   gasoline--in that it can be copied and changed much more easily. These facilities
   are why software is useful; we believe a program's users should be free to take
   advantage of them, not solely its developer.

   The articles in the short list below give an overview of GNU philosophy. For
   further reading, please check the menu above, especially [56]Essays & Articles,
   and [57]Speeches & Interviews.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

   See the [58]Audio & Video section for recordings of Richard Stallman's speeches.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

Introduction

     * [59]What is Free Software?
     * [60]Why we must insist on free software
     * [61]Proprietary Software Is Often Malware
     * [62]History of GNU/Linux
     * [63]Copyleft: Pragmatic Idealism
     * [64]Why Free Software Needs Free Documentation
     * [65]Selling Free Software is OK!
     * [66]Motives For Writing Free Software
     * [67]The Right to Read: A Dystopian Short Story by Richard Stallman
     * [68]Why "Open Source" Misses the Point of Free Software
     * [69]When Free Software Isn't (Practically) Superior
     * [70]Measures Governments Can Use to Promote Free Software
     * [71]Free Software and Education
     * [72]Giving the Software Field Protection from Patents

   We also keep a list of [73]Organizations that Work for Freedom in Computer
   Development and Electronic Communications.
     ____________________________________________________________________________

   [74]^
   [75]BACK TO TOP
   [76]Set language

   Available for this page:

   [en] [77]English   [bg] [78]b"lgarski   [ca] [79]català   [cs] [80]cestina
   [da] [81]dansk   [de] [82]Deutsch   [el] [83]ellynika'   [es] [84]español
   [fa] [85]f+a+r+s+   [fr] [86]français   [hr] [87]hrvatski   [it] [88]italiano
   [ja] [89]¥¬   [nl] [90]Nederlands   [pl] [91]polski   [pt-br] [92]português
   [ro] [93]româna   [ru] [94]russkij   [sq] [95]Shqip   [sr] [96]srpski
   [tr] [97]Türkçe   [zh-cn] [98]­   [zh-tw] [99]­
     ____________________________________________________________________________

   [100]BACK TO TOP ^

     [101] [FSF logo]  "The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a
     worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom. We defend the rights of
     all software users".

   [102]JOIN [103]DONATE [104]SHOP

   Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to [105]. There are also
   [106]other ways to contact the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or
   suggestions can be sent to [107].

   Please see the [108]Translations README for information on coordinating and
   contributing translations of this article.

   Copyright © 2013, 2015-2018, 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

   This page is licensed under a [109]Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0
   International License.

   [110]Copyright Infringement Notification

   Updated: $Date: 2022/10/20 10:06:39 $

References

   1. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
   2. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.en.html
   3. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.bg.html
   4. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ca.html
   5. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.cs.html
   6. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.da.html
   7. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.de.html
   8. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.el.html
   9. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.es.html
  10. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.fa.html
  11. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.fr.html
  12. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.hr.html
  13. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.it.html
  14. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ja.html
  15. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.nl.html
  16. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.pl.html
  17. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.pt-br.html
  18. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ro.html
  19. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ru.html
  20. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.sq.html
  21. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.sr.html
  22. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.tr.html
  23. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.zh-cn.html
  24. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.zh-tw.html
  25. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#content
  26. http://www.fsf.org/fss
  27. https://www.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom?referrer=4052
  28. http://www.gnu.org/
  29. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#mission-statement
  30. http://www.gnu.org/cgi-bin/estseek.cgi
  31. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#language-container
  32. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#navigation
  33. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#content
  34. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu.html
  35. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html
  36. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/licenses.html
  37. http://www.gnu.org/education/education.html
  38. http://www.gnu.org/software/software.html
  39. http://www.gnu.org/distros/distros.html
  40. http://www.gnu.org/doc/doc.html
  41. http://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html
  42. http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html
  43. http://www.gnu.org/audio-video/audio-video.html
  44. http://www.gnu.org/graphics/graphics.html
  45. http://www.gnu.org/fun/humor.html
  46. http://www.gnu.org/people/people.html
  47. http://directory.fsf.org/
  48. https://h-node.org/
  49. http://www.gnu.org/server/sitemap.html
  50. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/essays-and-articles.html
  51. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/speeches-and-interviews.html
  52. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/third-party-ideas.html
  53. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/latest-articles.html
  54. http://www.gnu.org/audio-video/philosophy-recordings.html
  55. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
  56. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/essays-and-articles.html
  57. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/speeches-and-interviews.html
  58. http://www.gnu.org/audio-video/philosophy-recordings.html
  59. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
  60. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html
  61. http://www.gnu.org/proprietary/proprietary.html
  62. http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu.html
  63. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/pragmatic.html
  64. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-doc.html
  65. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
  66. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/fs-motives.html
  67. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  68. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
  69. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/when-free-software-isnt-practically-superior.html
  70. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/government-free-software.html
  71. http://www.gnu.org/education/education.html
  72. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/limit-patent-effect.html
  73. http://www.gnu.org/links/links.html#FreedomOrganizations
  74. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#top
  75. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#top
  76. http://www.gnu.org/server/select-language.html?callback=/philosophy/philosophy.html
  77. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.en.html
  78. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.bg.html
  79. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ca.html
  80. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.cs.html
  81. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.da.html
  82. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.de.html
  83. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.el.html
  84. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.es.html
  85. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.fa.html
  86. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.fr.html
  87. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.hr.html
  88. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.it.html
  89. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ja.html
  90. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.nl.html
  91. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.pl.html
  92. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.pt-br.html
  93. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ro.html
  94. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.ru.html
  95. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.sq.html
  96. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.sr.html
  97. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.tr.html
  98. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.zh-cn.html
  99. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.zh-tw.html
 100. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html#header
 101. http://www.fsf.org/
 102. http://www.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom?referrer=4052
 103. http://donate.fsf.org/
 104. http://shop.fsf.org/
 105. mailto:gnu@gnu.org
 106. http://www.gnu.org/contact/
 107. mailto:webmasters@gnu.org
 108. http://www.gnu.org/server/standards/README.translations.html
 109. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
 110. http://www.fsf.org/about/dmca-notice