I have been pondering the meaning of “free” in association with Free Open Source Software (FOSS) in general and GNU/Linux in particular. If one asks a FOSS advocate what free means in regard to these one might hear the reply, “Free as in beer!” and/or “Free as in freedom!”. While that means something to the FOSS advocate it may not mean the same thing to whoever asks the question. Frankly, my beer has rarely been free and furthermore what is “freedom”? I think I have answers to the question in the title. Bear with me while I attempt to explain what free means in relation to FOSS and GNU/Linux.
First let us take the “free as in beer” response. This phrase is an attempt to say it is gratis. Here is the meaning of gratis:
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
gratis
adv 1: without payment; "I'll give you this gratis" [syn:
{gratis}, {for free}, {free of charge}]
adj 1: costing nothing; "complimentary tickets"; "free
admission" [syn: {complimentary}, {costless}, {free},
{gratis(p)}, {gratuitous}]
So, the idea here is that FOSS, including GNU/Linux, costs nothing and requires no payment. This is a fact in that one is not required to fork over hard earned money for any FOSS. But there is some cost associated with FOSS and that is the cost of learning to use it. While this is not a monetary cost, it is a cost if one considers one’s time to be of value. We will call this a time cost. Is this an onerous cost? That depends on one’s point of view. If one is needing to learn how to use an operating system and associated software and has little to no experience with either then this time cost will apply if one pays money for the software or gets the software gratis. If one is already familiar with some other costly operating system and software for same then it is possible this time cost will outweigh the gratis nature of FOSS.
This brings us to the second meaning of free in relation to FOSS. Free as in freedom. The idea of freedom in association with software is an alien concept to the majority of folk outside the FOSS community. It is also more difficult to explain. Certainly a programmer can understand the freedom that comes with being able to view and modify the source code for software. But this means nothing to an average computer user, also known as the end-user, who does not write software. So, other than FOSS being gratis where is the freedom for that person? The freedom for the end-user is freedom from restrictions.
Here is what I mean by freedom from restrictions for the end-user. One may share one’s copy of FOSS with one’s neighbors, friends, family, enemies and pets without ever breaking a law. One may not do so with most software that is under non-free licensing. If one downloads a copy of OpenOffice.org to use one’s self then one may give that to anyone else without restriction. That is freedom. If one purchases a copy of Microsoft Office to use one’s self then one may not give that to anyone else without breaking some laws somewhere. That is not freedom. If one acquires an installation DVD for Mandriva GNU/Linux to use one’s self then one may give that to anyone else without restriction. That is freedom. If one purchases an installation media and license for Microsoft Vista to use one’s self then one may not give that to anyone else without breaking some laws somewhere. That is not freedom.
Does this freedom outweigh the time cost mentioned above? That too depends on one’s point of view. If one values the ability to share with others with no restrictions then a time cost for learning is probably of less importance. How many “pirated” copies of Microsoft Office are in use? There is no way to know. But obviously all these people “stealing” Microsoft Office want freedom as well as gratis. FOSS is the answer for anyone that wants these, not “piracy” of Microsoft’s products.
This is my understanding of “free” in relation to GNU/Linux and FOSS. I think this article is a good explanation, understandable to average end-users. I look forward to seeing what others have to say on this matter, so feel free to post a comment. Thank you for taking the time to read this article.
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Edit Mon Jun 29 14:07:57 CDT 2009: Clarify the last paragraph of the article as my meaning was ambiguous in the second sentence.
Edit Wed Jul 1 17:34:28 CDT 2009: Fix run-on sentences.
on Jun 25th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Visit http://www.gnu.org
It’s explained there.
on Jun 25th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Gene (comment #1), thanks for the pointer to gnu.org. I have read the information under The Free Software Definition and that was considered when I was writing this article. I wanted to contrast freedom with not freedom in a way that is simple enough for even the most obtuse reader. That is not what is done at gnu.org in the detailed explanation at the URL above. While that page is understandable to the average geek, like me and you, it is probably too much information for most other people.
on Jun 25th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
The second meaning of freedom is more than freedom to distribute. It is the freedom to do useful things.
I’m pretty sure you will find in most EULAs a clause on not disassembling or decompiling software. If you’ve ever debugged software, you will find these two things invaluable.
Most software also explicitly excludes any warranty. FOSS is no exception. But if you (or your neighbour) are presented with faulty software and don’t have the freedom to make it work then your screwed. You cannot go crying back to the vendor. And if you do, they usually shrug their shoulders and say something like “we’ll fix that in the upgrade next year”.
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Austin (comment #2), thank you for your comment. While your comment is true I am posing this question to answer it from the perspective of an average end-user. Most of which are not programmers, would not care to fix a broken program and would not know how to fix a broken program if they cared. So, the point that they are free to fix the code is absolutely meaningless to the majority of end-users. We in the FOSS community that advocate for FOSS need to think this way, “What does the average end-user want?”. I can assure you that freedom to fix or modify the source code to software they use is not one of those desires. The ability to use and share their software with no restrictions is much more likely to strike a chord.
on Jun 26th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
“Free” is a strange word because it means absolutely nothing by itself. It’s only helpful to know that you’re “free from …” or “free to do …”
My favorite FOSS freedom is from corporate whims. The easiest way I’ve found to explain FOSS to my techie friends is to say, “You know, Apple could brick your computer tomorrow” This is usually followed by someone naively trying to pretend to know what Apple’s business interests are. They know, though, that we can’t assume any company’s benevolence. Computing history is full of examples of “bricking”, literal or de facto.
on Jun 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Free software is software that respect’s the user’s freedom. Four freedoms define Free Software. A program is Free Software for a user when the user is permitted to do all the following:
* Freedom 0: Run the software as you wish.
* Freedom 1: Share the source code and change it.
* Freedom 2: Help your neighbour and distribute and publish.
* Freedom 3: Help your community and distribute your modified versions.
Users do not need any technical or programming skill to benefit from freedom 1. The important matter here is that the software should respect the user’s freedom. When the user has her freedom, then it should be the user’s responsibility to find skilled people to help perform technical matter. This might mean asking for help from friends or maybe it means hiring a professional software programmer or professional software specialist.
on Aug 28th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
[...] GNU/Linux: What Does “Free” Mean? – The ERACC Web Log blog.eracc.com/2009/06/25/gnulinux-what-does-free-mean – view page – cached I have been pondering the meaning of “free” in association with Free Open Source Software (FOSS) in general and GNU/Linux in particular. If one asks a FOSS advocate what free means in regard to these one might hear the reply, “Free as in beer!” and/or “Free as in freedom!”. While that means something to the FOSS advocate it may not mean the same thing to whoever asks the question. Frankly, my beer has rarely been free and furthermore what is “freedom”? I think I have answers to the question in the title. Bear with me while I attempt to explain what free means in relation to FOSS and — From the page [...]