Free software movement

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The Free Software Movement is a movement that aims to create and distribute software that is free in all sense of the word, not just monetarily. The movement was formally initiated by Richard Stallman in 1983 with the creation of the GNU Project.

How it works

See also: right to own

Creating free software means creating software that "the user has the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve [...]." This means that the source code must be available. This is in contrast with most commercial software that hides its real mechanisms from the user.

Why it is beneficial

See also: Security

By making software free in all sense of the word, including the freedom to study the source code, GNU creates trust in software that abides by these rules. Trust that the software does not spy on you, trust that the software will never stop working for monetary reasons, trust that the user will always be in control, instead of a corporation.

Examples

GNU+Linux