[A2k] Free Software Essentials Reference Sheet

[Georg C. F. Greve]

--
Hi all,

with the help of others here in Geneva, I also prepared the following
handout, which was distributed alongside FSFE's statement on the table
outside the room.

Regards,
Georg


[ http://fsfeurope.org/projects/wipo/fser.en.html ]

                            Free Software

                      Essentials Reference Sheet

   Free Software has become an issue of increasing importance in all
   political fora, national and international. This paper aims to provide
   a reference of some Free Software essentials to allow delegates to
   focus on the substance.

Free for freedom, not price

   Free in Free Software exclusively refers to freedom, it never refers
   to price. This fact warrants highlighting because it is at times
   obscured by a particular weakness of the English language that is
   generally not shared by other languages. Primarily used in this
   definition since the 1980s, Free Software is defined by four
   fundamental freedoms:
     * The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
       Placing restrictions on the use of Free Software, such as time (30
       days trial period'', ''license expires January 1st, 2007'')
       purpose (''permission granted for research and non-commercial
       use'') or geographic area (''must not be used in country X'')
       makes a program non-free.
     * The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your
       needs.
       Placing legal or practical restrictions on the comprehension or
       modification of a program, such as mandatory purchase of special
       licenses, signing of a Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) or making
       the preferred human way of comprehending and editing a program
       (and its ''source code'') inaccessible also makes it proprietary.
     * The freedom to make and redistribute copies.
       If you are not allowed to give a program to someone else, that
       makes a program non-free. This can be done for a charge, if you so
       choose.
     * The freedom to improve the program, and release improvements.
       Not everyone is a programmer, or a programmer equally good in all
       fields. This freedom allows those with the necessary skills to
       share them with those who do not possess them. This can be done
       for a charge.

Rights, not obligations

   These freedoms are rights, not obligations. Any institution and person
   can choose to not make use of them, but may also choose to make use of
   all of them. In particular, it should be understood that Free Software
   does not exclude commercial use. If a program fails to allow
   commercial use and commercial distribution, it is not Free Software.
   Indeed a growing number of companies base their business model
   completely or partially on Free Software, including some of the
   largest proprietary software vendors. Free Software makes it legal to
   provide help and assistance, it does not make it mandatory.

Implemented in Copyright

   These freedoms are generally implemented by means of copyright,
   although not in all cases: public domain software is also Free
   Software, although a special case. For the vast majority of Free
   Software it is the copyright license that determines whether a
   particular program is indeed Free Software. If a copyright license
   grants the freedoms described above, it is a Free Software license, of
   which between 50 and 150 are in use today.

   This suprisingly low number is caused by the tradition to choose
   established and well-understood licenses for Free Software, rather
   than writing a new license for every program. Thus, by examining a
   handful of comparatively simple licenses, it is possible to understand
   the licensing terms of more than 90% of all Free Software, greatly
   reducing the overhead of licensing administration and compliance.

Terminology

   Free Software is discussed under various headings, with alleged
   antonyms and synonyms, which frequently cause confusion and doubt and
   will therefore be explained briefly.

Antonyms

   The antonym of Free Software is proprietary software, or non-free
   software. Commercial software is not an antonym to Free Software,
   being commercial is unrelated to freedom. Commercial Free Software is
   just as normal as non-commercial proprietary software, sometimes also
   referred to as ''freeware''.

Synonyms

   As of 1992, the term ''Libre Software'' was promoted as a synoym to
   Free Software in parts of Europe to address the particular confusion
   of the English language. The term ''Open Source'' was proposed in 1998
   as a marketing term for Free Software by the Open Source Initiative
   (OSI). The OSI definition of ''Open Source'' covers an identical body
   of copyright licenses to that of the 1989 Free Software Definition
   explained above.

   From the copyright licensing viewpoint, both ''Libre Software'' and
   ''Open Source'' are Free Software synonyms. Combination of terms, such
   as ''FOSS'' and ''FLOSS'' combine synonyms, redundantly identifying
   the same body of software.

Ambiguities

   The term ''Open Source'' was occasionally used in various ways before
   its 1998 definition, and is used in several meanings today, which are
   often mutually exclusive with each other, and in particular the Open
   Source Definition of the OSI. So ''Open Source'' can refer to Free
   Software, but it can also refer to software not meeting the criteria
   above. It is also at times used to describe a particular software
   development model, although some parts of Free Software are developed
   in closed development models, and proprietary software is increasingly
   experimenting with open development approaches. This makes the term
   ''Open Source'' highly ambiguous, and indeed difficult for all areas
   that depend on precision in their language, such as science, law and
   politics.

Public Policy Considerations

   Unlike proprietary software, there is never any single company that
   has absolute control of a Free Software solution. By choosing Free
   Software, governments protect their independence from the corporate
   interests of any single vendor, local or foreign. Maintaining their
   ability to freely and independently live up to their political mandate
   is the sovereign right of any government. Preferring or mandating Free
   Software promotes this goal and is always non-discriminatory. It
   preserves technological and political neutrality because Free Software
   belongs to no single vendor or organisation, and any vendor is welcome
   to supply Free Software of third parties. If vendors seek to do
   business with governments, they can make the decision to give them
   independence by releasing their own software under a Free Software
   license.

About the FSFE

   The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a European NGO
   dedicated to all aspects of Free Software. It provides a competence
   center for industry, politics and society at large and participates in
   numerous activities, including as fiduciary for Free Software authors,
   and participates in research and development activities on European
   and national levels. More information at http://fsfeurope.org. To
   contact the author of this document, send email to Georg C.F. Greve
   greve@fsfeurope.org, comments and questions welcome.

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Georg C. F. Greve                                 <greve@fsfeurope.org>
Free Software Foundation Europe	                 (http://fsfeurope.org)
Join the Fellowship and protect your freedom!     (http://www.fsfe.org)
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