Free as in Freedom
Free software is software that you may copy, study modify, and redistribute. These , freedoms lead to collaboration and empowerment. The specific legal tool that creates these freedoms and the resulting benefit is a specially drafted copyright license, the GNU General Public License (GPL). Unlike many licenses, the GPL gives you more rights than plain copyright does. In essence, the GPL forbids you to forbid. It permits you to do everything else.
Because of the freedoms associated with it, this software is called Free software. There are other free software licenses besides the GPL; we recommend the GPL because it best provides for freedom.
The low price of Free software leads some English speakers to think that the word free in the phrase Free software means they can obtain it without cost. This is not the definition, which is about freedom, but it is an easy misunderstanding. The English word free has several meanings. As Miguel de Icaza, a famous Mexican programmer once said, English is broken; it does not distinguish, between free beer and free speech. Indian Languages, on the other hand, distinguishes between gratis and libre. Free software is Swatantra Software. Swantantra Software gives you the freedom to share and cooperate with others. Since Free software comes with the freedom to copy, manufacture, and redistribute, media containing free software are sold in a competitive, free market. This leads to low prices and even gratis distributions. Incidentally, the phrase open source was invented a few years ago as a synonym for free software. It does not offend people who dislike the word free. The phrase is popular; it has succeeded in its purpose. However, the term free software better conveys the goal of freedom; the proposition that every man and woman has the right to work on software or documentation, and must not be forbidden from doing so.
The Right to Copy
The right to copy software is the right to use your own property as a factory that you own. Not many people own a factory that would enable them to copy a car. Indeed, to copy a car is so difficult that we use a different word, we speak of manufacturing a car. And there are not many car manufacturers in the world. But everyone with a computer owns a software factory, a device for manufacturing software, that is to say, for making new copies. Because copying software is so easy we, don't use the word manufacturing; we usually do not even think of it as a kind of manufacturing, but it is. If you own a computer, you own property that you are able to use to manufacture software.
The Right to Study
The right to study means that you and everyone else can study the great as well as the lesser works of software. It means you are not kept from learning how others succeeded. While the right to study is of little direct interest to people who are not programmers, it is vital for those who wish to program.
Many programmers work under restrictions that forbid them from seeing others' code. Rather than sit on the shoulders of those who went before, which is the best way to see ahead and to advance, they are thrown into the mud. The right to study is the right to look ahead, to advance, by sitting on the shoulders of giants. Software may be delivered in a form that is difficult for a human to read. This hinders study. The right to study means that the software itself must be made available in a manner that humans can read.
The Right to Modify
The right to modify is the right to solve a problem or enhance a program. For most people, this means your right, or your organization's right, to hire someone to do the job for you, in much the same way you hire an auto mechanic to repair your car. Modification is helpful. Application developers cannot think of all the ways others will use their software. Developers cannot foresee the new burdens that will be put on their code. They cannot anticipate all the local conditions, whether someone in Thailand will use a program first written in Finland.
The Right to Redistribute
The right to redistribute means that you, who own a computer, a software factory have the, right to make copies of a program and redistribute it. You may share your software. You may share these copies without payment, or charge for the act of transferring a copy. Others may do the same.
If you redistribute the code, you have a duty to redistribute it in a manner that others can use. Your changes must be readable by others and you must permit the author of a program, and others, to use the improvements or changes you have made if they wish. Otherwise, some people will attempt to rob the community off the code and the subsequent improvements. The right to redistribute, so long as it is defended and upheld, means that software is sold in a competitive, free market, which leads to lower prices and higher quality. The duty to redistribute changes means the software continues to evolve and improve.