Free Software Foundation (FSF), Free software is a matter of the users freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.

1. DONE BY: FATMA RAJAB

2.  Free Software Foundation (FSF), Free software
is a matter of the users freedom to run, copy,
distribute, study, change and improve the
software.

3.  To use free software is to make a political and
ethical choice asserting the right to learn, and
share what we learn with others. Free software
has become the foundation of a learning
society where we share our knowledge in a
way that others can build upon and enjoy.

4.  The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose
(freedom 0).
 The freedom to study how the program works, and change it
so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to
the source code is a precondition for this.
 The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your
neighbor (freedom 2).
 The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions
to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole
community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access
to the source code is a precondition for this.

5.  In 1998, some of the people in the free software community began
using the term “open source software” instead of “free
software” to describe what they do. The term “open source”
quickly became associated with a different approach, a different
philosophy, different values, and even a different criterion for
which licenses are acceptable. The Free Software movement and
the Open Source movement are today separate movements with
different views and goals, although we can and do work together
on some practical projects.

6.  The FSF provides critical infrastructure and funding
for theGNU project, the foundation of the popular
GNU/Linux family of free operating systems and the
keystone of the Internet.
 Our Campaigns Team creates educational
materials about free software, convenes the
yearly LibrePlanet conferenceand goes toe to toe
against powerful interests that threaten computer
user rights.
 Our Licensing & Compliance Lab defends freely
licensed software from proprietary hoarding,
advises on licensing issues, and certifies devices
that Respect Your Freedom.

7.  The FSF holds copyright on a large proportion of the GNU operating system, and
other free software. We hold these assets to defend free software from efforts to
turn free software proprietary. Every year we collect thousands of copyright
assignments from individual software developers and corporations working on
free software. We register these copyrights with the US copyright office and
enforce the license under which we distribute free software — typically the GNU
General Public License. We do this to ensure that free software distributors respect
their obligations to pass on the freedom to all users, to share, study and modify
the code. We do this work through our Free Software Licensing and Compliance
Lab.

8.  The FSF publishes the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL),
the world's most popular free software license, and the only
license written with the express purpose of promoting and
preserving software freedom. Other important licenses we publish
include the GNU Lesser General Public License (GNU LGPL), the
GNU Affero General Public License (GNU AGPL) and the GNU
Free Document License (GNU FDL). Read more about our free
software licensing and related issues.

9.  The free software movement is one of the
most successful social movements to arise
from computing culture, driven by a
worldwide community of ethical
programmers dedicated to the cause of
freedom and sharing. But the ultimate success
of the free software movement depends upon
teaching our friends, neighbors and work
colleagues about the danger of not having
software freedom, about the danger of a
society losing control over its computing.

10.  http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-
sw.html