clipped from: www.pcworld.idg.com.au   
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
The founder of the Free Software Foundation asks readers whether they will fight for freedom or be too lazy to resist.

12/09/2007 12:00:00

Richard Stallman - President - Free Software Foundation
Richard Stallman - President - Free Software Foundation

The free software movement is concerned with ethical and social values. Our goal is to win, for computer users, the freedom to cooperate and control your own computing. Therefore, you should have these four essential freedoms for each program you use:


0. To run the program as you wish. 1. To study the source code and change it so the program does what you wish. 2. To redistribute exact copies when you wish, either giving them away or selling them. 3. To distribute copies of your modified versions when you wish.


Supporters of open source (which I am not) promote a "development model" in which users participate in development, claiming that this typically makes software "better"