What Is Free Software?
According to the Free Software Foundation, "Free Software" refers to software that gives users the freedom to run, copy, distribute, learn, modify, and improve the software.
Free software
- The freedom to run the software for whatever purpose you want (Zero Freedom).
- The freedom to learn how the software works, and the freedom to modify the software to fit your calculations (one of the freedoms). Access to source code is a prerequisite for this freedom.
- The freedom to distribute copies of the software so you can help others (freedom two).
- The freedom to redistribute your modified version of the software to others (third freedom). This gives the entire community the opportunity to share your changes to the software. Access to source code is a prerequisite for this freedom.
- Under free software
- Free software is "free software" in English. "Free" has the dual meanings of "freedom" and "free of charge" in English, so
- According to Stallman and the Free Software Foundation (FSF), free software gives users four freedoms:
- Degree of freedom 3 allows users to freely distribute modified versions of the software. Free software does not necessarily require modified versions to continue under a free software license. In other words, a free software license can be a non-
- Free software is freely available, and its
- The spiritual leader of free software is
- In fact, open source standards are weaker than free software. Basically all free software is considered open source software. Almost all open source software is free software, but there are exceptions. The first is that some open source licenses are too harsh and cannot be considered free licenses. For example, the license of "Open Watcom" is not free, because it does not allow private use of the modified software. Fortunately, only a few programs use such a license.
- Second, and more importantly in practice, many products include a method by which a computer can check the signature of an executable program to prevent users from installing other versions of the executable program. Even if the executable is built from free source code, users cannot run modified versions, so the executable is still non-free.
The meaning of free software
- With the development of the free software movement, users' computers will no longer be subject to severe copyright restrictions, and things that violate your control of your files will be avoided-you can have complete control over computer processes and formats in the free software world Control. Free software frees us from having to worry about software bugs and worry about software scalability. Each company can customize its own computer and company's specific conditions, and there is no need to worry about Cracker being able to damage a large server by finding a vulnerability-because you have the right to hire programmers you trust to upgrade And customizing your (or your company's) internal use of the software version (the Free Software Movement does not object to the use of software for internal use only but not for external release).
Free software security
- Some people think that since the source code of free software is available, it is unlikely to be safe.
- A short and powerful rebuttal: most servers run free software. They are Internet-connected computers that hold sensitive or confidential information such as your bank account details or trade secrets.
- A more precise answer is that source code is a guarantee of security, not a hidden danger. The freedom of the software ensures that it can be viewed, tested and improved by a wide community. A good lock, even if the technology used to design it, is public and secure, because only the key holder can open it. The same is true for software.