The Free Software Foundation (FSF) promotes and supports the development and adoption of free software, defined as software with freely accessible source code that can be run, copied, distributed, studied, modified and improved without restrictions. The FSF campaigns against restrictions on software freedom and supports policy initiatives, legal issues, and public awareness. The FSF maintains the definition of free software, including four essential freedoms. The FSF collaborates with other organizations in the free software movement.
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit corporation, founded in the United States in 1985 with the stated mission “to promote the freedom of computer users and to defend the rights of all users of free software”. Free software is defined by the FSF as software with freely accessible source code that can be run, copied, distributed, studied, modified and improved without restrictions. The Free Software Foundation is active worldwide and claims to have 3,000 active members in 48 countries. It promotes and supports the development and adoption of free software, and campaigns against what it perceives as restrictions on software freedom, such as proprietary software and user interface copyright. The FSF’s recent software development efforts have focused on its high priority projects, including the development of a free Flash player, free PDF management and video editing software, and free alternatives to Skype and Google Earth.
On its website, the Free Software Foundation maintains the definition of free software. This is a list of four freedoms that the FSF considers essential for users if a program is to be considered free software: the freedom to run the program for any purpose; the freedom to study and make changes to the source code of the program; the freedom to redistribute copies of the software; and the freedom to distribute copies of modified versions of the program. Other activities of the FSF include publishing a free software license and hosting free software projects on its servers.
The most important software development project supported by the Free Software Foundation is the GNU Project, a free software operating system that was completed in 1992. The organization is still involved in free software development for this project, but much of its focus has shifted to policy initiatives, legal issues and public awareness. For example, the FSF campaigns against software patents and Digital Rights Management (DRM), which it sees as violations of software freedom.
The FSF also promotes the free audio format OGG+Vorbis as an alternative to mp3 and AAC and has sponsored campaigns against some proprietary software, including Windows Vista, the so-called “BadVista” campaign. Some people in the computer industry have criticized these campaigns for being too negative and claim that free software is not always a credible alternative for users. The Free Software Foundation frequently collaborates with other organizations in the free software movement. This includes the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and the League for Programming Freedom (LPF).
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