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Free Software: What Is It? History? How It Evolved? Free Software Today

Free software refers to software that can be used, modified, and shared without restriction. It began as the norm in the 1950s-1970s but companies later restricted access through technical and legal means. In 1983, Richard Stallman founded the GNU project to develop a free operating system, establishing the four essential freedoms that define free software today: the freedom to use, study, share, and improve the software. The Free Software Foundation was later founded to promote these ideals of user cooperation and control over their own software.

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56 views6 pages

Free Software: What Is It? History? How It Evolved? Free Software Today

Free software refers to software that can be used, modified, and shared without restriction. It began as the norm in the 1950s-1970s but companies later restricted access through technical and legal means. In 1983, Richard Stallman founded the GNU project to develop a free operating system, establishing the four essential freedoms that define free software today: the freedom to use, study, share, and improve the software. The Free Software Foundation was later founded to promote these ideals of user cooperation and control over their own software.

Uploaded by

Elijah Hanson
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Free Software

What is it?
History?
How it evolved?
Free Software Today.
What is Free Software?
Free software, software libre or libre software is software
that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction,
and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or
unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal
restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do
these things and that manufacturers of consumer-facing
hardware allow user modifications to their hardware. Free
software is generally available without charge.
 
In short it is software that anyone may run, share, and
change, at any time, for any reason.
History
In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, it was normal for computer users
to have the freedoms that are provided by free software. Software
was commonly shared by individuals who used computers and by
hardware manufacturers who were glad that people were making
software that made their hardware useful.

While some software might have always remained free, there was
a growing amount of software that was for sale only. In the 1970s
and early 1980s, the software industry began using technical
measures (such as only distributing binary copies of computer
programs) to prevent computer users from being able to study
and modify software. In 1980 copyright law was extended to
computer programs.
Evolution
In 1983, Richard Stallman, longtime member of the
hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory, announced the GNU Project, saying that
he had become frustrated with the effects of the
change in culture of the computer industry and its
users. Software development for the GNU Operating
System began in January 1984, and the Free Software
Foundation (FSF) was founded in October 1985. He
developed a free software definition and the concept of
"copyleft”, designed to ensure software freedom for all.
Evolution-Continued
The first formal definition of free software was published by
FSF in February 1986. That definition, written by Richard
Stallman, is still maintained today and states that software is
free software if people who receive a copy of the software
have the following four freedoms:
Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works,
and change it to make it do what you wish.
Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can
help your neighbor.
Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release
your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the
public, so that the whole community benefits.
Evolution-Final
Thus, free software means that computer users have
the freedom to cooperate with whom they choose, and
to control the software they use. To summarize this
Richard Stallman said: "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’

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