1 00:00:01,230 --> 00:00:03,100 What is free software? 2 00:00:03,780 --> 00:00:08,179 Free software means software that respects the user's freedom. 3 00:00:09,495 --> 00:00:13,300 Typical software that most people still use 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,497 is proprietary software. 5 00:00:15,698 --> 00:00:18,183 That means nonfree software, 6 00:00:18,420 --> 00:00:22,069 software that keeps the users divided and helpless. 7 00:00:23,715 --> 00:00:26,921 Typically the users are divided 8 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,689 because each one is forbidden to share with anyone else. 9 00:00:30,789 --> 00:00:32,420 And the users are helpless, 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,095 because none of them has the source code, 11 00:00:35,195 --> 00:00:37,469 so they can't change anything. 12 00:00:37,569 --> 00:00:40,819 They can't even tell what the program is really doing. 13 00:00:41,244 --> 00:00:44,193 But free software respects the user's freedom. 14 00:00:44,493 --> 00:00:45,743 What does that mean? 15 00:00:47,193 --> 00:00:50,000 Free software means that the users have 16 00:00:50,100 --> 00:00:52,117 four essential freedoms, 17 00:00:52,942 --> 00:00:56,592 freedoms that every software user ought to have. 18 00:00:57,067 --> 00:00:58,341 Freedom Zero 19 00:00:58,441 --> 00:01:01,791 is the freedom to run the program as you wish. 20 00:01:02,228 --> 00:01:03,766 Freedom One 21 00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:06,674 is the freedom to study the source code of the program, 22 00:01:06,827 --> 00:01:07,827 and change it 23 00:01:07,990 --> 00:01:10,442 so that it does what you wish when you run it. 24 00:01:11,216 --> 00:01:12,347 Freedom Two 25 00:01:12,447 --> 00:01:13,447 is the freedom 26 00:01:13,547 --> 00:01:17,429 To make copies and distribute them to others when you wish. 27 00:01:18,163 --> 00:01:19,447 And Freedom Three 28 00:01:19,579 --> 00:01:20,579 is the freedom 29 00:01:20,679 --> 00:01:23,490 to distribute copies of your modified versions, 30 00:01:23,590 --> 00:01:24,590 when you wish. 31 00:01:24,956 --> 00:01:26,424 Freedom two 32 00:01:26,524 --> 00:01:27,583 is also known 33 00:01:27,683 --> 00:01:30,104 as the freedom to help your neighbor, 34 00:01:30,955 --> 00:01:32,306 and freedom three 35 00:01:32,816 --> 00:01:35,401 is the freedom to help build your community. 36 00:01:36,582 --> 00:01:37,582 If a program 37 00:01:37,682 --> 00:01:40,422 gives you all four of these essential freedoms, 38 00:01:40,826 --> 00:01:42,496 that means it's free software, 39 00:01:43,123 --> 00:01:45,612 because the social system 40 00:01:46,108 --> 00:01:48,744 of the program's distribution and use 41 00:01:48,844 --> 00:01:49,844 is ethical, 42 00:01:50,022 --> 00:01:53,386 respecting the freedom of everyone. 43 00:01:53,486 --> 00:01:57,102 But if one of these freedoms is substantially missing, 44 00:01:57,483 --> 00:02:00,960 that means the program is proprietary software. 45 00:02:01,353 --> 00:02:05,469 It means that the social system of the program's distribution and use 46 00:02:05,968 --> 00:02:06,968 is unethical. 47 00:02:07,605 --> 00:02:09,950 Such software should not be developed, 48 00:02:10,075 --> 00:02:11,682 and it should not be used. 49 00:02:12,047 --> 00:02:16,171 Distributing and developing proprietary software is not 50 00:02:16,271 --> 00:02:18,657 a contribution to society. 51 00:02:18,757 --> 00:02:20,777 It creates a social problem, 52 00:02:21,328 --> 00:02:23,387 and the aim of the free software movement 53 00:02:23,565 --> 00:02:25,220 is to correct this problem 54 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,420 by moving to free software. 55 00:02:28,466 --> 00:02:30,934 But why define free software this way? 56 00:02:31,034 --> 00:02:33,305 What make these four freedoms essential? 57 00:02:34,640 --> 00:02:37,700 Freedom two, the freedom to help your neighbor, 58 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,739 the freedom to distribute copies of the program to others, 59 00:02:42,182 --> 00:02:45,584 is essential on basic moral grounds, 60 00:02:45,684 --> 00:02:48,302 so that you can live an upright life 61 00:02:48,411 --> 00:02:50,329 as a good member of your community. 62 00:02:50,634 --> 00:02:53,300 If you don't have freedom number two, 63 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,861 then your are in danger of falling into a moral dilemma 64 00:02:56,961 --> 00:03:00,542 at any moment, whenever your friend says, 65 00:03:00,642 --> 00:03:02,678 “Can I have a copy of that program?” 66 00:03:03,229 --> 00:03:06,717 At that moment you'll be forced to choose between two evils. 67 00:03:06,996 --> 00:03:08,953 One evil is to 68 00:03:09,311 --> 00:03:13,481 give your friend a copy and violate the license of the program. 69 00:03:13,581 --> 00:03:14,662 The other evil 70 00:03:14,762 --> 00:03:19,516 is to deny your friend a copy and comply with the license of the program. 71 00:03:20,642 --> 00:03:24,323 Being in a dilemma, you ought to choose the lesser evil, 72 00:03:24,423 --> 00:03:25,519 which is 73 00:03:25,619 --> 00:03:29,706 to give your friend a copy, and violate the license of the program. 74 00:03:30,731 --> 00:03:33,511 What makes this evil the lesser evil? 75 00:03:34,544 --> 00:03:38,863 We can assume that your friend is a decent person, and helpful, 76 00:03:38,963 --> 00:03:41,301 and deserves your cooperation, 77 00:03:42,497 --> 00:03:45,317 because if he didn't you'd just say “Why should I help you?” 78 00:03:45,456 --> 00:03:46,994 That case is no problem. 79 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:49,700 Therefore let's look at the case which is a problem, 80 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,291 where it's a decent person, a good friend, 81 00:03:53,394 --> 00:03:54,582 whereas 82 00:03:54,908 --> 00:03:57,797 the developer of the propriatory program 83 00:03:58,023 --> 00:04:01,976 has deliberately attacked the social solidarity of your community, 84 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:04,523 which is doing something very bad. 85 00:04:04,927 --> 00:04:08,189 So, if you can't help doing some kind of wrong to somebody, 86 00:04:08,547 --> 00:04:10,600 better to choose the wrong 87 00:04:10,700 --> 00:04:13,121 that's directed at somebody who deserves it, 88 00:04:13,245 --> 00:04:14,845 somebody who has done wrong, 89 00:04:15,133 --> 00:04:17,967 the developer of the proprietary program. 90 00:04:20,144 --> 00:04:23,808 However, to be the lesser evil does not mean it's good. 91 00:04:24,251 --> 00:04:27,202 It's never a good thing to make an agreement and break it. 92 00:04:27,808 --> 00:04:31,404 Some agreements are inherently evil, 93 00:04:31,621 --> 00:04:34,635 and keeping them is worse than breaking them. 94 00:04:34,953 --> 00:04:37,373 This is one example, but 95 00:04:38,029 --> 00:04:41,881 making the agreement only to break it is not a good thing. 96 00:04:42,937 --> 00:04:46,152 And if you do give your friend a copy, what will he have? 97 00:04:46,424 --> 00:04:49,966 He will have an unauthorized copy of a proprietary program. 98 00:04:50,533 --> 00:04:52,614 That's not a very good thing either. 99 00:04:52,770 --> 00:04:55,682 That's almost as bad as an authorized copy. 100 00:04:58,993 --> 00:05:04,000 So, once you've clearly understood this dilemma, 101 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:05,390 what you should really do 102 00:05:05,490 --> 00:05:07,355 is make sure you are never in it. 103 00:05:09,111 --> 00:05:10,780 There are two ways to do that. 104 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,374 One is: don't have any friends; 105 00:05:14,485 --> 00:05:18,027 that's the method suggested by the proprietary software developers. 106 00:05:18,570 --> 00:05:23,005 And the other method is: don't use the propriatory program; 107 00:05:23,269 --> 00:05:24,706 that's the method I've chosen. 108 00:05:24,954 --> 00:05:26,904 If somebody offers me a program 109 00:05:27,401 --> 00:05:30,834 on the condition that I promise not to share it with you, 110 00:05:31,385 --> 00:05:32,636 I will say no, 111 00:05:32,750 --> 00:05:38,000 because to agree to that condition would be a betrayal, and I won't do it. 112 00:05:38,694 --> 00:05:41,653 So that's the reason for freedom number two, 113 00:05:41,753 --> 00:05:43,711 the freedom to help your neighbor, 114 00:05:43,811 --> 00:05:47,664 the freedom to distribute copies to others when you wish. 115 00:05:48,775 --> 00:05:52,704 Freedom zero is essential on practical grounds, 116 00:05:52,976 --> 00:05:56,836 so that you can have control of your own computing, 117 00:05:57,846 --> 00:06:01,535 which means, to be in control of your own life 118 00:06:01,842 --> 00:06:03,303 in use of computers. 119 00:06:03,500 --> 00:06:04,990 It may be surprising, 120 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:07,594 but there are proprietary programs 121 00:06:07,694 --> 00:06:12,359 that even restrict how you can use an authorized copy. 122 00:06:13,700 --> 00:06:17,100 They may restrict who can run them, or how much, 123 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,544 or how many, or on which computers, or for what purpose. 124 00:06:20,964 --> 00:06:24,073 This is obviously NOT having control of your own computing. 125 00:06:24,236 --> 00:06:26,094 So freedom zero is essential. 126 00:06:26,879 --> 00:06:28,091 But it's not enough, 127 00:06:28,191 --> 00:06:31,558 because that's just the freedom to either do or not do 128 00:06:31,683 --> 00:06:34,901 whatever the developer already decided. 129 00:06:35,056 --> 00:06:37,271 So the developer still controls you; 130 00:06:37,427 --> 00:06:41,321 he controls you through the code of the program. 131 00:06:43,450 --> 00:06:46,490 So, in order to really have control of your own computing, 132 00:06:46,590 --> 00:06:48,511 you need freedom number one, 133 00:06:48,651 --> 00:06:51,535 the freedom to study the source code, and then change it 134 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:53,875 so the program does what you want. 135 00:06:54,699 --> 00:06:58,290 With this freedom, you decide what your computing is 136 00:06:58,390 --> 00:07:00,894 instead of the developer deciding for you. 137 00:07:02,254 --> 00:07:05,013 If you use a program without freedom number one, 138 00:07:05,192 --> 00:07:07,198 you can't even tell what it's really doing. 139 00:07:08,063 --> 00:07:11,574 Many nonfree programs have malicious features 140 00:07:11,674 --> 00:07:15,056 which are not typically announced to the users. 141 00:07:15,305 --> 00:07:19,013 For instance, many nonfree programs are spyware, 142 00:07:19,191 --> 00:07:22,339 they report on what their users are doing. 143 00:07:23,132 --> 00:07:26,000 One nonfree program you may have heard of, 144 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:29,219 that spies on the user, is called Microsoft Windows. 145 00:07:30,190 --> 00:07:32,017 When the user of Windows, 146 00:07:32,359 --> 00:07:36,502 and I won't say “you” because I'm sure you wouldn't use a program like this, 147 00:07:36,642 --> 00:07:38,640 but when the user of Windows 148 00:07:38,873 --> 00:07:43,381 uses the Windows feature to search her own files for a word, 149 00:07:44,151 --> 00:07:47,882 Windows sends a message saying what word was searched for. 150 00:07:48,138 --> 00:07:50,540 That's one spy feature, but there is another. 151 00:07:51,131 --> 00:07:55,845 When Windows XP asks for an upgrade, 152 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,000 it also sends a message 153 00:07:58,100 --> 00:08:01,500 with a list of all the software installed on the machine. 154 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,350 That's another spy feature. 155 00:08:03,459 --> 00:08:07,097 Microsoft did not tell the public about these spy features. 156 00:08:07,197 --> 00:08:10,602 People had to figure them out, and it wasn't easy. 157 00:08:11,667 --> 00:08:14,714 So there may be others that we don't know about. 158 00:08:15,717 --> 00:08:17,256 Please however don't think 159 00:08:17,497 --> 00:08:20,163 that it's only Windows that spies on the user. 160 00:08:20,762 --> 00:08:22,192 Windows Media Player 161 00:08:22,292 --> 00:08:26,389 also spies on the user; it reports everything that the user looks at. 162 00:08:27,224 --> 00:08:34,900 But this is not something that is unique to the most evil of companies. 163 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,531 Microsoft is just another proprietary software developer, 164 00:08:38,631 --> 00:08:40,544 and lots of those spy on the user. 165 00:08:40,644 --> 00:08:41,644 For instance, 166 00:08:41,744 --> 00:08:46,374 Real Player also spies on the user in the same way as Windows Media Player, 167 00:08:46,778 --> 00:08:49,304 and I think Real Player did it first. 168 00:08:50,703 --> 00:08:53,929 But malicious features get worse than just spying. 169 00:08:54,201 --> 00:08:57,614 There is also the “functionality” of refusing to function, 170 00:08:58,686 --> 00:09:00,793 where the program says: 171 00:09:01,065 --> 00:09:04,127 “I don't wanna let you see this file, 172 00:09:04,555 --> 00:09:07,757 I don't wanna let you copy part of this file, 173 00:09:07,991 --> 00:09:10,867 I'm not gonna print this file for you, 174 00:09:10,967 --> 00:09:12,849 'cause I don't like you.” 175 00:09:14,465 --> 00:09:18,888 This is also known as Digital Restrictions Management, 176 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:20,933 or DRM: 177 00:09:21,127 --> 00:09:23,886 the intentional functionality 178 00:09:24,057 --> 00:09:26,622 of refusing to function for you. 179 00:09:27,579 --> 00:09:30,859 Because the program isn't designed to serve you, 180 00:09:30,959 --> 00:09:33,377 it's designed to serve someone else 181 00:09:33,696 --> 00:09:35,717 by controlling you. 182 00:09:38,336 --> 00:09:40,800 There are also backdoors, 183 00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:44,462 malicious features designed to attack the user. 184 00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:49,000 One proprietary program that you might have heard of, 185 00:09:49,100 --> 00:09:50,913 that has a backdoor, 186 00:09:51,013 --> 00:09:53,610 is called Microsoft Windows. 187 00:09:53,727 --> 00:09:56,595 You see, when Windows asks for an upgrade, 188 00:09:57,015 --> 00:10:00,054 Microsoft more or less knows the user's identity, 189 00:10:00,287 --> 00:10:03,132 which means that Microsoft could deliver to him 190 00:10:03,232 --> 00:10:06,187 an upgrade designed specifically for him. 191 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,900 In other words, Microsoft can take control of his computer, 192 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:11,740 and do anything it wants to him. 193 00:10:12,841 --> 00:10:17,600 That is the backdoor whose existence we can deduce from known facts. 194 00:10:17,700 --> 00:10:19,961 Are there others? Maybe. We can't tell. 195 00:10:20,948 --> 00:10:23,800 A few years ago, some programmers in India 196 00:10:23,900 --> 00:10:26,817 who were working on developing Windows XP 197 00:10:26,917 --> 00:10:29,693 were arrested and accused of working for Al-Qaeda, 198 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,600 accused of trying to put in another backdoor 199 00:10:33,700 --> 00:10:36,500 that Microsoft wasn't supposed to know about. 200 00:10:36,844 --> 00:10:38,694 Apparently that attempt failed. 201 00:10:39,137 --> 00:10:40,303 Was there another? 202 00:10:41,829 --> 00:10:42,829 We don't know. 203 00:10:43,350 --> 00:10:46,187 But Microsoft was caught in 1999 204 00:10:46,405 --> 00:10:49,895 having installed a backdoor in some server software, 205 00:10:50,727 --> 00:10:55,800 on behalf of another dangerous, powerful, violent organization: 206 00:10:55,900 --> 00:10:58,096 the United States government, 207 00:10:58,368 --> 00:11:01,189 specifically the National Security Agency. 208 00:11:02,549 --> 00:11:06,366 And this illustrates the fact that you simply can't trust 209 00:11:06,584 --> 00:11:08,208 a nonfree program. 210 00:11:08,542 --> 00:11:11,279 And yet all the nonfree software developers 211 00:11:11,379 --> 00:11:14,333 that don't give you the source code 212 00:11:14,433 --> 00:11:18,927 demand blind faith, blind total trust. 213 00:11:19,456 --> 00:11:24,361 All nonfree software is therefore just-trust-me software. 214 00:11:24,532 --> 00:11:27,882 And yet we know that many of those developers 215 00:11:27,982 --> 00:11:29,934 have betrayed their users already. 216 00:11:30,323 --> 00:11:33,129 Of course there are also those that have not, 217 00:11:33,595 --> 00:11:36,549 but there's no way anyone could tell which is which. 218 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,100 There are the nonfree programs in which 219 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,282 we know there are malicious features, 220 00:11:41,382 --> 00:11:44,073 and then there are the nonfree programs in which we don't know. 221 00:11:44,173 --> 00:11:45,768 But we can never be sure 222 00:11:45,868 --> 00:11:48,752 that any given program doesn't have a malicious feature, 223 00:11:49,273 --> 00:11:51,076 because we can't see the source code. 224 00:11:52,095 --> 00:11:58,267 So, they all demand trust based on NOTHING, 225 00:11:58,694 --> 00:12:01,912 and none of them really can be trusted. 226 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:04,800 We can't tell which of those developers 227 00:12:04,900 --> 00:12:07,700 are the ones that don't put in malicious features. 228 00:12:07,890 --> 00:12:09,250 But what about them? 229 00:12:09,500 --> 00:12:12,300 Even though they don't put in malicious features, 230 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,000 they're still humans, so they still make mistakes. 231 00:12:15,235 --> 00:12:16,844 Their code has errors, 232 00:12:16,944 --> 00:12:20,477 and the user of a program without freedom number one, 233 00:12:20,899 --> 00:12:23,611 the freedom to study and change the source code, 234 00:12:24,383 --> 00:12:29,349 is just as helpless facing an unintentional error 235 00:12:30,048 --> 00:12:33,159 as he is facing a deliberate malicious feature. 236 00:12:33,259 --> 00:12:36,600 If you use a program without freedom number one, 237 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:39,945 you're a prisoner of your software. 238 00:12:42,248 --> 00:12:44,400 We, the developers of free software, 239 00:12:44,500 --> 00:12:47,926 we are human too, so we also make mistakes. 240 00:12:48,432 --> 00:12:50,554 Our code also has errors. 241 00:12:50,819 --> 00:12:52,133 The difference is that 242 00:12:52,233 --> 00:12:55,966 we don't keep you prisoner of our errors. 243 00:12:56,605 --> 00:12:59,546 We respect your freedom to correct them. 244 00:12:59,646 --> 00:13:02,700 If there are errors in our code, you can change them, 245 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:06,000 you can change anything in our code that you don't like. 246 00:13:06,237 --> 00:13:11,312 We can't make ourselves superhuman, but we can respect your freedom. 247 00:13:12,903 --> 00:13:16,001 However, freedom number one is not enough. 248 00:13:16,291 --> 00:13:20,546 Freedom one is the freedom to personally study and change the source code, 249 00:13:20,646 --> 00:13:24,200 and that's not enough because there are millions of computer users 250 00:13:24,300 --> 00:13:26,272 that don't know how to program: 251 00:13:26,372 --> 00:13:29,756 they can't personally exercise freedom number one. 252 00:13:30,612 --> 00:13:33,026 But even for programmers like me, 253 00:13:33,126 --> 00:13:35,346 freedom number one is not  enough 254 00:13:35,446 --> 00:13:38,354 because there's just too much free software 255 00:13:39,883 --> 00:13:43,529 for any one person to study and master it all, 256 00:13:43,629 --> 00:13:46,664 and make all the changes that she might want. 257 00:13:46,868 --> 00:13:50,743 So the only way we could fully take control of our own computing 258 00:13:50,843 --> 00:13:54,239 is to do it working together, cooperating, 259 00:13:54,339 --> 00:13:57,294 and for that we need freedom number three, 260 00:13:57,394 --> 00:14:02,214 the freedom to distribute copies of our modified versions, 261 00:14:03,132 --> 00:14:04,406 when we wish. 262 00:14:04,763 --> 00:14:07,200 This freedom makes it possible for us to work together 263 00:14:07,300 --> 00:14:11,300 changing the program to do what it is we want. 264 00:14:11,416 --> 00:14:14,756 Suppose there is a free program and there are million users 265 00:14:14,856 --> 00:14:16,515 who want a certain change. 266 00:14:16,615 --> 00:14:20,313 Well, by chance a few thousand will know how to program, 267 00:14:20,593 --> 00:14:21,970 and some day, 268 00:14:22,070 --> 00:14:25,411 a few of them will make the change they wanted and distribute it, 269 00:14:25,511 --> 00:14:28,598 and all those million users can adopt that change. 270 00:14:28,954 --> 00:14:30,790 So they all get what they wanted, 271 00:14:31,325 --> 00:14:35,939 even though most of them didn't know how to write it themselves. 272 00:14:36,039 --> 00:14:37,600 And the rest could have 273 00:14:37,700 --> 00:14:40,604 but they didn't have to, because someone did it for them. 274 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,100 And this shows how all users 275 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:49,475 get the benefit of the four freedoms. 276 00:14:50,164 --> 00:14:54,571 Every user can directly take advantage of freedom zero, 277 00:14:54,671 --> 00:14:56,921 the freedom to run the program as you wish, 278 00:14:57,021 --> 00:15:01,290 and freedom two, the freedom to distribute copies when you wish. 279 00:15:01,724 --> 00:15:04,330 You don't have to program to do those things. 280 00:15:04,892 --> 00:15:08,100 Freedoms one and three, 281 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,900 the freedom to study and modify the source code, 282 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,577 and then to distribute your modified version, 283 00:15:13,677 --> 00:15:16,438 these entail programming. 284 00:15:16,538 --> 00:15:19,811 So, any given user can take advantage of these freedoms, 285 00:15:19,911 --> 00:15:22,851 to the point that he knows how to program. 286 00:15:22,951 --> 00:15:25,380 But when programmers do these things, 287 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,400 all the other users can then install 288 00:15:28,500 --> 00:15:31,587 those modified versions distributed under freedom three. 289 00:15:31,687 --> 00:15:36,135 So everybody gets the benefit of the four freedoms. 290 00:15:36,235 --> 00:15:39,430 And the result is democracy, 291 00:15:40,656 --> 00:15:46,200 because free software develops under the control of its users. 292 00:15:48,422 --> 00:15:50,568 Proprietary software 293 00:15:50,668 --> 00:15:54,017 develops always under the control of its developer. 294 00:15:54,117 --> 00:15:57,159 Its developer decides what to let you do, 295 00:15:57,593 --> 00:16:00,863 and the developer decides what NOT to let you do, 296 00:16:00,963 --> 00:16:03,213 and there is nothing you can do about it. 297 00:16:03,418 --> 00:16:05,206 With free software, 298 00:16:05,359 --> 00:16:07,454 if you are motivated enough, 299 00:16:07,554 --> 00:16:10,341 you always can do something about it. 300 00:16:11,669 --> 00:16:14,530 If you know how to program, you can change it yourself. 301 00:16:14,630 --> 00:16:16,702 If not, if you really care, 302 00:16:16,802 --> 00:16:18,311 you can learn how to program, 303 00:16:18,411 --> 00:16:20,900 or you can convince your cousin the programmer 304 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,063 and do some other favor for her. 305 00:16:23,163 --> 00:16:28,121 Or you can get together some money and pay a programmer 306 00:16:28,221 --> 00:16:30,037 to make whatever change you wanted. 307 00:16:30,137 --> 00:16:32,361 Of course it's usually businesses 308 00:16:32,461 --> 00:16:34,635 that take advantage of that option, 309 00:16:34,735 --> 00:16:36,781 but anyone can. 310 00:16:36,881 --> 00:16:41,967 So we always can change the programs if we want to enough. 311 00:16:42,832 --> 00:16:46,862 What happens therefore if there are a thousand users 312 00:16:46,962 --> 00:16:49,297 who want a certain change in a free program, 313 00:16:49,811 --> 00:16:53,787 and none of them — let's suppose — knows how to program? 314 00:16:54,003 --> 00:16:56,600 They can take advantage of the four freedoms 315 00:16:56,700 --> 00:16:58,656 by getting in touch with each other, 316 00:16:58,756 --> 00:17:00,847 and then starting an organization 317 00:17:00,947 --> 00:17:02,307 which they all join. 318 00:17:02,407 --> 00:17:03,606 And the idea is that 319 00:17:03,706 --> 00:17:06,040 each one has to pay money to join; 320 00:17:06,140 --> 00:17:09,340 and that way the organization gets money 321 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,396 and can hire some programmers, 322 00:17:11,496 --> 00:17:12,802 to make the change 323 00:17:12,902 --> 00:17:15,210 and then release their modified version. 324 00:17:15,310 --> 00:17:18,428 So they use freedom number one and freedom three, 325 00:17:18,969 --> 00:17:22,269 and thus these users get the change they want. 326 00:17:25,700 --> 00:17:28,300 Of course, once the organization is set up 327 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,817 and has collected the money from the members, 328 00:17:30,917 --> 00:17:32,331 it has to hire someone, 329 00:17:32,431 --> 00:17:34,225 it has to choose who to hire. 330 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:39,800 And at that point, the people in the organization 331 00:17:39,900 --> 00:17:43,367 will talk to various programmers, asking each group: 332 00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:47,208 “When could you do this? What would you charge? 333 00:17:47,308 --> 00:17:49,480 Please show us what you've done already, 334 00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:51,536 so that we can judge your abilities.” 335 00:17:51,725 --> 00:17:54,268 And this illustrates the important fact: 336 00:17:54,370 --> 00:17:56,450 free software brings with it a free market 337 00:17:56,550 --> 00:18:00,679 for all kinds of support and service, 338 00:18:02,166 --> 00:18:05,050 because anyone who has a copy of the program 339 00:18:05,150 --> 00:18:08,063 can study the source code and master it, 340 00:18:08,163 --> 00:18:11,904 and start providing support. 341 00:18:12,004 --> 00:18:14,338 By contrast, proprietary software 342 00:18:14,438 --> 00:18:16,908 generally means a monopoly for support. 343 00:18:17,008 --> 00:18:19,450 Only the developer has the source code, 344 00:18:19,550 --> 00:18:22,000 so only the developer can make any change. 345 00:18:22,209 --> 00:18:26,200 If the user wants a change, the user has to beg: 346 00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:30,595 “Oh almighty developer, please make this change for me.” 347 00:18:31,217 --> 00:18:33,353 Sometimes the developer says: 348 00:18:33,453 --> 00:18:36,112 “Pay us and we'll listen to your problem.” 349 00:18:36,212 --> 00:18:38,763 If the user pays, the developer says: 350 00:18:38,863 --> 00:18:42,200 “Thank you. In six month there will be an upgrade. 351 00:18:42,300 --> 00:18:45,800 Buy the upgrade and you'll see if we fixed your problem, 352 00:18:45,900 --> 00:18:49,637 and you'll see what new problems we have in store for you.” 353 00:18:51,693 --> 00:18:53,045 Therefore 354 00:18:55,128 --> 00:18:58,942 this monopoly of support is very painful, 355 00:18:59,915 --> 00:19:05,406 and thus all the organizations that believe a free market is advantageous, 356 00:19:05,506 --> 00:19:09,382 and that say that good support is essential for them 357 00:19:09,518 --> 00:19:12,600 ought to be stampeding over to free software, 358 00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:16,523 so that they can get the best support for their money. 359 00:19:18,552 --> 00:19:24,000 Now this leads us to a paradox, 360 00:19:24,259 --> 00:19:28,000 because usually, when there's a choice between products to do a job, 361 00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:29,453 we say there's no monopoly. 362 00:19:29,553 --> 00:19:33,000 But when there's a choice between proprietary programs, 363 00:19:33,100 --> 00:19:35,511 then yes, there is monopoly. 364 00:19:35,611 --> 00:19:38,460 Because if the user chooses this program, 365 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,138 then he's stuck afterwards in this monopoly for support. 366 00:19:42,238 --> 00:19:45,249 But if the user chooses this proprietary program, 367 00:19:45,349 --> 00:19:48,387 he's stuck afterward in this monopoly for support. 368 00:19:48,487 --> 00:19:51,146 So it's a choice between monopolies. 369 00:19:51,246 --> 00:19:53,700 The only way to escape from monopoly 370 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,393 is to escape from proprietary software, 371 00:19:56,493 --> 00:19:58,584 to escape to the free world; 372 00:19:58,684 --> 00:19:59,684 and that 373 00:20:00,342 --> 00:20:03,480 is what the free software movement is all about. 374 00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:04,859 We have built 375 00:20:04,959 --> 00:20:08,186 a new continent in cyberspace, 376 00:20:09,052 --> 00:20:13,894 a continent where everyone is welcome to come and live in freedom, 377 00:20:13,994 --> 00:20:15,706 and that's the purpose of it. 378 00:20:16,220 --> 00:20:19,628 We developed the GNU operating system 379 00:20:19,728 --> 00:20:23,307 so that it can be a place in cyberspace 380 00:20:23,407 --> 00:20:26,390 that we can go, and you can go, 381 00:20:26,490 --> 00:20:29,609 so that you and we can all live in freedom. 382 00:20:30,015 --> 00:20:32,693 Because it's a virtual continent, 383 00:20:32,793 --> 00:20:35,614 it has room for all users. 384 00:20:35,714 --> 00:20:37,967 And because we built it, 385 00:20:38,067 --> 00:20:41,862 we didn't have to take it away from any indigenous peoples. 386 00:20:41,962 --> 00:20:43,133 Everyone, 387 00:20:43,233 --> 00:20:44,233 legitimately, 388 00:20:44,486 --> 00:20:45,541 is welcome 389 00:20:45,838 --> 00:20:47,407 in the free world 390 00:20:47,507 --> 00:20:49,679 of the GNU plus Linux system. 391 00:20:49,896 --> 00:20:51,762 I hope that you will all 392 00:20:51,862 --> 00:20:53,412 move to free software, 393 00:20:53,512 --> 00:20:55,495 and live in freedom with us. 394 00:20:56,441 --> 00:21:01,418 But we can't take for granted that freedom will last for ever. 395 00:21:05,043 --> 00:21:09,885 Freedom is frequently threatened. That's what life is like. 396 00:21:11,589 --> 00:21:13,500 In order to keep your freedom, 397 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,566 you have to be prepared at any time to defend your freedom. 398 00:21:18,838 --> 00:21:22,489 When people are not willing to defend their freedom, 399 00:21:22,922 --> 00:21:26,060 we get something like the United States today, 400 00:21:26,899 --> 00:21:27,899 where 401 00:21:28,494 --> 00:21:30,874 our most basic freedoms, 402 00:21:30,974 --> 00:21:34,688 such as the freedom not to be put in prison without a trial, 403 00:21:35,446 --> 00:21:38,400 have been taken away by our own leaders, 404 00:21:38,500 --> 00:21:42,803 who say they are protecting us from some other secondary enemies. 405 00:21:44,345 --> 00:21:45,643 So, 406 00:21:46,725 --> 00:21:49,000 you must, if you want to have freedom, 407 00:21:49,100 --> 00:21:51,567 you must be ready to defend it. 408 00:21:52,730 --> 00:21:55,600 If we're to succeed in defending our freedom, 409 00:21:55,700 --> 00:21:58,653 there must be many of us prepared to defend it. 410 00:21:59,627 --> 00:22:05,172 But that requires many of us who value freedom, who appreciate it. 411 00:22:06,092 --> 00:22:09,419 And in order to appreciate and value our freedom, 412 00:22:09,519 --> 00:22:12,070 we first need to know what it is. 413 00:22:12,935 --> 00:22:17,831 And in the community of users of the GNU plus Linux system, 414 00:22:18,643 --> 00:22:20,915 we haven't got very far on this. 415 00:22:21,015 --> 00:22:24,025 Most of the users of the GNU plus Linux system 416 00:22:24,125 --> 00:22:27,600 have never even heard the ideas I've told you today. 417 00:22:27,893 --> 00:22:30,887 And the reason is that, 418 00:22:31,869 --> 00:22:38,700 when the GNU system was finished off 419 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,202 by the development of the kernel Linux by Linus Torvalds, 420 00:22:42,302 --> 00:22:44,636 when the two were combined 421 00:22:44,736 --> 00:22:48,032 (the almost finished GNU system, and the kernel Linux), 422 00:22:48,132 --> 00:22:51,500 when they were put together to make a complete system 423 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,275 that you could install in a PC, 424 00:22:55,181 --> 00:22:59,138 people got confused, and they thought the whole system was Linux. 425 00:23:00,197 --> 00:23:04,210 And as a result they tended to listen to the philosophical views 426 00:23:04,433 --> 00:23:06,049 of Linus Torvalds, 427 00:23:06,467 --> 00:23:08,961 thinking he had done the whole thing. 428 00:23:09,825 --> 00:23:11,302 Now, as it happens, 429 00:23:11,402 --> 00:23:14,600 Torvalds doesn't agree with these ideas of freedom 430 00:23:14,700 --> 00:23:16,709 of the free software movement. 431 00:23:17,238 --> 00:23:18,465 He never did. 432 00:23:18,729 --> 00:23:21,753 He likes to refer to himself as “apolitical”. 433 00:23:21,853 --> 00:23:22,853 Now, 434 00:23:22,953 --> 00:23:24,860 when you say you're apolitical, 435 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,564 you're actually making a political statement. 436 00:23:27,664 --> 00:23:28,664 You're saying: 437 00:23:28,764 --> 00:23:31,493 “Don't pay attention to those political issues; 438 00:23:31,593 --> 00:23:34,851 make your decisions based on other criteria.” 439 00:23:35,729 --> 00:23:38,400 And he advises people to choose software 440 00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:41,080 based on practical convenience alone. 441 00:23:41,428 --> 00:23:44,200 He says that we shouldn't value freedom, 442 00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:46,600 we shouldn't insist on freedom, 443 00:23:46,793 --> 00:23:48,590 we shouldn't work together 444 00:23:48,925 --> 00:23:50,653 to defend each other's freedom. 445 00:23:51,283 --> 00:23:52,283 Well, 446 00:23:52,673 --> 00:23:55,251 when people listen to him, what happens? 447 00:23:55,951 --> 00:23:56,951 They 448 00:23:57,620 --> 00:23:59,459 don't value freedom, 449 00:23:59,559 --> 00:24:01,000 they aren't ready to defend it, 450 00:24:01,100 --> 00:24:04,643 and our community is weak when our freedom is threatened. 451 00:24:06,496 --> 00:24:08,753 Starting in 1998, 452 00:24:09,784 --> 00:24:13,101 some people stopped talking about free software, 453 00:24:13,201 --> 00:24:15,372 and started using a different term. 454 00:24:15,472 --> 00:24:18,646 They coined the term “open source”, 455 00:24:19,037 --> 00:24:23,900 and they promoted this as a way to talk about the same free software, 456 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,185 without saying free software, 457 00:24:26,533 --> 00:24:32,079 and without ever presenting it as an ethical issue of right and wrong. 458 00:24:32,887 --> 00:24:36,008 So the result is that today 459 00:24:36,608 --> 00:24:39,701 most of the users of GNU/Linux 460 00:24:39,801 --> 00:24:42,571 have hardly heard the term “free software”, 461 00:24:42,671 --> 00:24:44,771 and have never heard 462 00:24:44,871 --> 00:24:48,591 the philosophical ideas that it stands for. 463 00:24:49,427 --> 00:24:50,611 So they think 464 00:24:50,711 --> 00:24:54,541 that what's good about the software is that it's powerful and reliable. 465 00:24:55,739 --> 00:24:57,161 Well, I'm glad 466 00:24:57,356 --> 00:25:01,132 if free software also turns out to be powerful and reliable, 467 00:25:01,232 --> 00:25:03,041 I appreciate that too. 468 00:25:03,779 --> 00:25:07,291 But if we're going to defend our freedom, 469 00:25:07,751 --> 00:25:10,691 and keep our freedom through the years, 470 00:25:11,081 --> 00:25:13,100 we need to teach these people 471 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,571 to appreciate freedom and value it, and defend it as well. 472 00:25:17,017 --> 00:25:20,277 And that's a place where we need your help. 473 00:25:20,598 --> 00:25:24,611 We need your help in explaining these ideas to other people. 474 00:25:24,931 --> 00:25:26,339 We need your help 475 00:25:26,548 --> 00:25:27,899 in doing work 476 00:25:27,999 --> 00:25:29,864 to defend free software: 477 00:25:31,857 --> 00:25:35,856 in technical work such as developing software and manuals, 478 00:25:35,956 --> 00:25:38,629 and in political organizing, 479 00:25:38,729 --> 00:25:40,106 to campaign 480 00:25:40,301 --> 00:25:44,328 against the dangerous laws, that are proposed in many countries, 481 00:25:44,428 --> 00:25:46,738 that would take away 482 00:25:47,310 --> 00:25:50,111 the right to develop free software. 483 00:25:51,546 --> 00:25:54,221 India is right now considering 484 00:25:54,765 --> 00:25:57,050 a change in copyright law 485 00:25:57,774 --> 00:26:02,526 that would follow the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US. 486 00:26:02,749 --> 00:26:05,300 This law, if adopted, 487 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,000 would prohibit free software for important jobs 488 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:11,221 such as playing a DVD. 489 00:26:12,684 --> 00:26:14,663 Not that long ago, 490 00:26:14,763 --> 00:26:19,108 India considered a law to authorize software patents. 491 00:26:19,944 --> 00:26:21,268 That was blocked 492 00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:26,367 through the help of friends of the Free Software Foundation of India. 493 00:26:29,001 --> 00:26:31,453 That law, if it had been adopted, 494 00:26:31,553 --> 00:26:34,450 would have meant that every software developer 495 00:26:34,550 --> 00:26:37,375 was constantly in danger of getting sued 496 00:26:38,267 --> 00:26:41,709 because of the techniques implemented in the program. 497 00:26:41,900 --> 00:26:46,739 Complicated programs combine thousands of different ideas and techniques. 498 00:26:46,839 --> 00:26:47,839 So, 499 00:26:48,049 --> 00:26:50,766 if only ten percent of them are patented, 500 00:26:50,866 --> 00:26:53,051 that means hundreds of patents, 501 00:26:53,151 --> 00:26:58,458 each one prohibiting some piece of a large program. 502 00:26:59,155 --> 00:27:01,600 The proprietory software developers, 503 00:27:01,700 --> 00:27:05,899 sometimes, can get out of this problem by paying for licenses. 504 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,000 But free software developers 505 00:27:08,100 --> 00:27:10,500 don't usually have the money to do that, 506 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,785 so we're likely to be totally excluded. 507 00:27:15,625 --> 00:27:17,450 Twenty three years ago, 508 00:27:17,550 --> 00:27:20,502 when we started developing the GNU operating system, 509 00:27:20,602 --> 00:27:23,190 nobody knew if we would, 510 00:27:23,290 --> 00:27:27,200 if we and the free software community would have the capability 511 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:30,994 to develop such a large collection of software. 512 00:27:31,094 --> 00:27:33,962 Today we've done that, and much more. 513 00:27:34,062 --> 00:27:40,024 Today there are two basically different free software operating systems; 514 00:27:40,124 --> 00:27:41,320 there are two 515 00:27:41,724 --> 00:27:44,538 graphical interfaces that are free, 516 00:27:44,638 --> 00:27:47,000 two office productivity suites, 517 00:27:47,100 --> 00:27:50,042 and thousands of free application programs. 518 00:27:51,826 --> 00:27:54,900 So we've shown that we can develop 519 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,163 the software that people need. 520 00:27:57,263 --> 00:28:01,036 We haven't done all of it yet, there is still a lot of work to do, 521 00:28:01,273 --> 00:28:03,349 but we're within, 522 00:28:03,449 --> 00:28:07,181 perhaps, an order of magnitude of doing the whole job. 523 00:28:08,366 --> 00:28:10,512 What's not certain today 524 00:28:10,612 --> 00:28:14,580 is whether powerful wealthy companies 525 00:28:15,389 --> 00:28:18,552 will let us continue to serve the public. 526 00:28:19,611 --> 00:28:22,286 To make sure that we can continue doing so, 527 00:28:22,704 --> 00:28:25,742 we now need political organizing, 528 00:28:26,034 --> 00:28:30,229 to add that to the work of software development. 529 00:28:31,399 --> 00:28:33,280 I hope that you will join 530 00:28:33,380 --> 00:28:36,457 in one part of the movement or the other. 531 00:28:36,987 --> 00:28:38,882 We need your help. 532 00:28:38,982 --> 00:28:45,000 Copyright (C) 2001 Richard Stallman This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/).