They do not all have to be copylefted, however; any type of free software is legally appropriate to incorporate if it helps meet technical objectives. The GNU operating system is the Unix-like operating system, which is entirely free software program, that we within the GNU Project have developed since 1984. To equate free software with GPL-coated software is therefore an error. Noncopylefted free software program comes from the creator with permission to redistribute and modify, and in addition to add extra restrictions to it. Many languages have two separate words for “free” as in freedom and “free” as in zero worth. For example, French has “libre” and “gratuit.” Not so English; there’s a word “free of charge” that refers unambiguously to price, but no common adjective that refers unambiguously to freedom.
In the past we subdivided nonfree software program into “semifree software,” which could possibly be modified and redistributed noncommercially, … Read More