Computersight -

Free software (also called open-source software) is software which can be copied, distributed, studied, and changed without a penalty from the creators. This means the the software can be freely used, freely studied and adapted, and freely shared with others.

Issues

Many people currently use proprietary software. The idea of the Free Software movement is that using free software, shows that one supports the right to learn. It also allows us to share our ideas with others. Doing so with with propietary software, often risks labeling people as “software pirates”. Followers of this movement also believed that propietary software represents a danger to a free society.

Origins

Before the Free Software movement free software communities existed as “hacker” communities. One of the first software sharing communities existed at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. A few years later the GNU Project was created by Richard Stallman. This project eventually grew and lead to the ation of the Free Software Foundation. This foundation created many free licenses that are in use today by many free products.

Philosophy

1. The values of free software are made up of four freedoms. These are:
3. The freedom to use the program for any use
4. The freedom to stdy how a program works, and adapt it to your needs.
5. The freedom to share it with those around you.
6. The freedom to improve the program and share it with others who are interested.

Outcomes

The free software movment has created many copyleft licenses such as the GNU General Public License and the GNU Free Documentation License. Various programs such as Openoffice.org (office suite) and The GIMP (graphics editor) are a few software that have been created during the free software movement. Various Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and the K Desktop Environment have also been developed. This movement has also show that when people work together an improved society can be created.