Free_Software_Movement_and_GNULinux

FREE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT AND GNU/LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM

Free software is a matter of the users freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

    1. The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
    2. The freedom to study hoe the program works, and adapt it to the users needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
    3. The freedom to redistribute copies so that the users can help each other.
    4. The freedom to improve the program, and release the improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

In order to have the freedom of making changes, and publishing the improved versions of software, the user must have access to the source code of the software. Thus, ACCESSIBILITY of the SOURCE CODE is a necessary condition for free software.

The user may or may not have paid money to get copies of free software. But regardless of how one got copies, he or she always have the freedom to copy and change the software, even to sell copies. Being free means that the freedoms described above must be irrevocable as long as one does nothing wrong. If the developer of the software has the power to revoke the license, without a valid cause, the software is not FREE.

Free Software does not mean Non Commercial. A free program must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution

A term Copyleft is used in the field of redistribution of free software in order to ensure the flow of freedoms (defined above) to the users in a proper manner. Copyleft is the general method for making a program free software and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free.

GNU PROJECT:

This project was conceived in 1983 as a way of bringing back the cooperative spirit that prevailed in the computing community in earlier daysto make the cooperation possible once again by removing the obstacles presented by proprietary software(A software owned by an individual and without his permission one cant modify the software).To this end the development of a free operating system was necessary as without an operating system the computer is useless.

GNU/LINUX Operating System:

The GNU Projects aim was to develop a FREE Unix-like system: GNU. By the 1990s, all the major components of GNU system were either found or written, except one- the kernel. At that time (1991), Linus Torvalds developed a free kernel-Linux. Combining Linux with the almost complete GNU system resulted in a complete operating system:

Linux based GNU system. The whole system is basically GNU, with Linux functioning as its kernel. GNU/Linux is used to indicate the fact that it is a Linux based GNU version (Think of Input/Output).

Actually, more than 90% of the facilities provided by the Linux are developed under the GNU project. So, the name GNU/Linux itself justifies its significance.

Difference between Free Software and Open Source Software:

The fundamental difference between the two movements is in their values, their ways of looking at the world. For the Open Source movement, the issue of whether software should be open source is a practical question, not an ethical one. As one person put it, ``Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement.'' For the Open Source movement, non-free software is a suboptimal solution. For the Free Software movement, non-free software is a social problem and free software is the solution.

Relationship between the Free Software movement and Open Source movement:

The Free Software movement and the Open Source movement are like two political camps within the free software community. Radical groups in the 1960s developed a reputation for factionalism: organizations split because of disagreements on details of strategy, and then treated each other as enemies. At least, such is the image people have of them, whether or not it was true. The relationship between the Free Software movement and the Open Source movement is just the opposite of that picture. We disagree on the basic principles, but agree more or less on the practical recommendations. So we can and do work together on many specific projects. We do not think of the Open Source movement as an enemy. The enemy is proprietary software.

Estimates today are that there are ten million users of GNU/Linux systems such as Debian GNU/Linux and Red Hat Linux. Free software has developed such practical advantages that users are flocking to it for purely practical reasons. The good consequences of this are evident: more interest in developing free software, more customers for free software businesses, and more ability to encourage companies to develop commercial free software instead of proprietary software products.

Dr. Richard M Stallman:

He is the founder of Free Software Foundation (FSF), which works with a zeal to end the monopoly of proprietary software currently prevailing in the computing world.

He was associated with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Hacking Lab (i.e. the Artificial Intelligence Lab) for nine long years.

After resigning from MIT, he started to develop the GNUHurd operating system along with other free software. It is expected that GNUHurd will become the kernel of the free GNU operating system in near future.

He has also developed Emacs, GNOME and many other utilities found in the GNU/Linux operating system.

"Injustice is happening now; suffering is happening now. We have choices to make now. To insist on absolute certainty before starting to apply ethics to life decisions is a way of choosing to be amoral" - Richard M. Stallman.