[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
www/gnu manifesto.html
|
From: |
Therese Godefroy |
|
Subject: |
www/gnu manifesto.html |
|
Date: |
Tue, 2 Nov 2021 09:29:17 -0400 (EDT) |
CVSROOT: /webcvs/www
Module name: www
Changes by: Therese Godefroy <th_g> 21/11/02 09:29:17
Modified files:
gnu : manifesto.html
Log message:
Use dl list for rebutted objections (similar to FAQ);
restyle footnote refs with square brackets; http > https;
standardize quotes; only list copyrightable years;
add breadcrumb; update to boilerplate 1.96;
CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/gnu/manifesto.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.71&r2=1.72
Patches:
Index: manifesto.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /webcvs/www/www/gnu/manifesto.html,v
retrieving revision 1.71
retrieving revision 1.72
diff -u -b -r1.71 -r1.72
--- manifesto.html 2 Jun 2015 12:55:15 -0000 1.71
+++ manifesto.html 2 Nov 2021 13:29:17 -0000 1.72
@@ -1,13 +1,24 @@
<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
-<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 -->
+<!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html -->
+<!--#set var="TAGS" value="gnu-history" -->
+<!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" -->
<title>The GNU Manifesto
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<style type="text/css" media="print,screen"><!--
+a.ftn { font-size: .94em; }
+--></style>
<!--#include virtual="/gnu/po/manifesto.translist" -->
<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/gnu/gnu-breadcrumb.html" -->
+<!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" -->
+<div class="article reduced-width">
<h2>The GNU Manifesto</h2>
+<div class="comment">
<p> The GNU Manifesto (which appears below) was written
-by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/";>Richard Stallman</a> in 1985 to
+by <a href="https://www.stallman.org/";>Richard Stallman</a> in 1985 to
ask for support in developing the GNU operating system. Part of the
text was taken from the original announcement of 1983. Through 1987,
it was updated in minor ways to account for developments; since then,
@@ -29,13 +40,15 @@
who disagree with the Free Software Movement's ethical values. They
use it to promote an
<a href="/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html">amoral approach</a> to
the same field.</p>
+<hr class="no-display" />
+</div>
<h3 id="whats-gnu">What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix!</h3>
<p>
GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete
Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give
-it away free to everyone who can use it.<a href="#f1">(1)</a> Several
+it away free to everyone who can use it <a class="ftn"
href="#f1">[1]</a>. Several
other volunteers are helping me. Contributions of time, money,
programs and equipment are greatly needed.</p>
@@ -94,7 +107,7 @@
decided to put together a sufficient body of free software so that I
will be able to get along without any software that is not free. I
have resigned from the AI Lab to deny MIT any legal excuse to prevent
-me from giving GNU away.<a href="#f2a">(2)</a></p>
+me from giving GNU away <a class="ftn" href="#f2a">[2]</a>.</p>
<h3 id="compatible">Why GNU Will Be Compatible with Unix</h3>
@@ -143,7 +156,7 @@
<h3 id="contribute">How You Can Contribute</h3>
-<blockquote>
+<div class="comment">
<p>
(Nowadays, for software tasks to work on, see the <a
href="http://fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects";>High Priority Projects
@@ -152,7 +165,7 @@
ways to help, see <a href="/help/help.html">the guide to helping
the GNU operating system</a>.)
</p>
-</blockquote>
+</div>
<p>
I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and
@@ -191,7 +204,7 @@
<p>
Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system
-software free, just like air.<a href="#f2">(3)</a></p>
+software free, just like air <a class="ftn" href="#f2">[3]</a>.</p>
<p>
This means much more than just saving everyone the price of a Unix
@@ -237,18 +250,19 @@
<h3 id="rebutted-objections">Some Easily Rebutted Objections to GNU's
Goals</h3>
-<p id="support">
+<dl>
+<dt id="support">
<strong>“Nobody will use it if it is free, because that means
-they can't rely on any support.”</strong></p>
+they can't rely on any support.”</strong></dt>
-<p>
+<dt>
<strong>“You have to charge for the program to pay for providing
-the support.”</strong></p>
-
+the support.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
If people would rather pay for GNU plus service than get GNU free
without service, a company to provide just service to people who have
-obtained GNU free ought to be profitable.<a href="#f3">(4)</a></p>
+obtained GNU free ought to be profitable <a class="ftn"
href="#f3">[4]</a>.</p>
<p>
We must distinguish between support in the form of real programming
@@ -279,15 +293,15 @@
will compete in quality and price; users will not be tied to any
particular one. Meanwhile, those of us who don't need the service
should be able to use the program without paying for the service.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="advertising">
+<dt id="advertising">
<strong>“You cannot reach many people without advertising, and
-you must charge for the program to support that.”</strong></p>
-
-<p>
+you must charge for the program to support that.”</strong></dt>
+<dt>
<strong>“It's no use advertising a program people can get
-free.”</strong></p>
-
+free.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
There are various forms of free or very cheap publicity that can be
used to inform numbers of computer users about something like GNU. But
@@ -301,12 +315,13 @@
On the other hand, if many people get GNU from their friends, and
such companies don't succeed, this will show that advertising was not
really necessary to spread GNU. Why is it that free market advocates
-don't want to let the free market decide this?<a href="#f4">(5)</a></p>
+don't want to let the free market decide this? <a class="ftn"
href="#f4">[5]</a></p>
+</dd>
-<p id="competitive">
+<dt id="competitive">
<strong>“My company needs a proprietary operating system to get
-a competitive edge.”</strong></p>
-
+a competitive edge.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
GNU will remove operating system software from the realm of
competition. You will not be able to get an edge in this area, but
@@ -319,23 +334,25 @@
<p>
I would like to see GNU development supported by gifts from many
-manufacturers and users, reducing the cost to each.<a href="#f5">(6)</a></p>
+manufacturers and users, reducing the cost to each <a class="ftn"
href="#f5">[6]</a>.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="deserve">
+<dt id="deserve">
<strong>“Don't programmers deserve a reward for their
-creativity?”</strong></p>
-
+creativity?”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
If anything deserves a reward, it is social contribution.
Creativity can be a social contribution, but only in so far as society
is free to use the results. If programmers deserve to be rewarded for
creating innovative programs, by the same token they deserve to be
punished if they restrict the use of these programs.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="reward">
+<dt id="reward">
<strong>“Shouldn't a programmer be able to ask for a reward for
-his creativity?”</strong></p>
-
+his creativity?”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
There is nothing wrong with wanting pay for work, or seeking to
maximize one's income, as long as one does not use means that are
@@ -358,10 +375,11 @@
to do so. Specifically, the desire to be rewarded for one's creativity
does not justify depriving the world in general of all or part of that
creativity.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="starve">
-<strong>“Won't programmers starve?”</strong></p>
-
+<dt id="starve">
+<strong>“Won't programmers starve?”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
I could answer that nobody is forced to be a programmer. Most of us
cannot manage to get any money for standing on the street and making
@@ -381,7 +399,7 @@
<p>
Restricting copying is not the only basis for business in software.
-It is the most common basis<a href="#f8">(7)</a> because it brings in
+It is the most common basis <a class="ftn" href="#f8">[7]</a> because it
brings in
the most money. If it
were prohibited, or rejected by the customer, software business would
move to other bases of organization which are now used less often.
@@ -394,11 +412,12 @@
now do. If programmers made the same, that would not be an injustice
either. (In practice they would still make considerably more than
that.)</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="right-to-control">
+<dt id="right-to-control">
<strong>“Don't people have a right to control how their
-creativity is used?”</strong></p>
-
+creativity is used?”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
“Control over the use of one's ideas” really constitutes
control over other people's lives; and it is usually used to make
@@ -406,7 +425,7 @@
<p>
People who have studied the issue of intellectual property
-rights<a href="#f6">(8)</a> carefully (such as lawyers) say that there
+rights <a class="ftn" href="#f6">[8]</a> carefully (such as lawyers) say
that there
is no intrinsic right to intellectual property. The kinds of supposed
intellectual property rights that the government recognizes were
created by specific acts of legislation for specific purposes.</p>
@@ -448,11 +467,12 @@
which a person who enforces a copyright is harming society as a whole
both materially and spiritually; in which a person should not do so
regardless of whether the law enables him to.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="competition">
+<dt id="competition">
<strong>“Competition makes things get done
-better.”</strong></p>
-
+better.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we
encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this
@@ -468,11 +488,12 @@
to object to fights; he just regulates them (“For every ten
yards you run, you can fire one shot”). He really ought to
break them up, and penalize runners for even trying to fight.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="stop-programming">
+<dt id="stop-programming">
<strong>“Won't everyone stop programming without a monetary
-incentive?”</strong></p>
-
+incentive?”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
Actually, many people will program with absolutely no monetary
incentive. Programming has an irresistible fascination for some
@@ -503,18 +524,20 @@
will come to expect and demand it. Low-paying organizations do poorly
in competition with high-paying ones, but they do not have to do badly
if the high-paying ones are banned.</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="desperate">
+<dt id="desperate">
<strong>“We need the programmers desperately. If they demand
-that we stop helping our neighbors, we have to obey.”</strong></p>
-
+that we stop helping our neighbors, we have to obey.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
You're never so desperate that you have to obey this sort of demand.
Remember: millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute!</p>
+</dd>
-<p id="living">
-<strong>“Programmers need to make a living somehow.”</strong></p>
-
+<dt id="living">
+<strong>“Programmers need to make a living somehow.”</strong></dt>
+<dd>
<p>
In the short run, this is true. However, there are plenty of ways
that programmers could make a living without selling the right to use a
@@ -533,7 +556,7 @@
<p>
People with new ideas could distribute programs as
-freeware<a href="#f7">(9)</a>, asking for donations from satisfied
+freeware <a class="ftn" href="#f7">[9]</a>, asking for donations from
satisfied
users, or selling handholding services. I have met people who are
already working this way successfully.</p>
@@ -570,6 +593,10 @@
<li>Users who care which projects their share is spent on can
choose this for themselves.</li>
</ul>
+</dd>
+</dl>
+<div class="column-limit"></div>
+
<p>
In the long run, making programs free is a step toward the
postscarcity world, where nobody will have to work very hard just to
@@ -588,9 +615,9 @@
competition. Free software will greatly reduce these drains in the
area of software production. We must do this, in order for technical
gains in productivity to translate into less work for us.</p>
+<div class="column-limit"></div>
-
-<h3 id="footnotes">Footnotes</h3>
+<h3 id="footnotes" class="footnote">Footnotes</h3>
<!-- The anchors do not match the actual footnote numbers because of
revisions over time. And if a new footnote is added, the references
@@ -619,7 +646,7 @@
Words and Phrases</a>” for more explanation.</li>
<li id="f2">This is another place I failed to distinguish
-carefully between the two different meanings of “free”.
+carefully between the two different meanings of “free.”
The statement as it stands is not false—you can get copies of GNU
software at no charge, from your friends or over the net. But it does
suggest the wrong idea.</li>
@@ -648,7 +675,7 @@
<li id="f6">In the 1980s I had not yet realized how confusing
it was to speak of “the issue” of “intellectual
-property”. That term is obviously biased; more subtle is the
+property.” That term is obviously biased; more subtle is the
fact that it lumps together various disparate laws which raise very
different issues. Nowadays I urge people to reject the term
“intellectual property” entirely, lest it lead others to
@@ -658,7 +685,7 @@
this term spreads confusion and bias.</li>
<li id="f7">Subsequently we learned to distinguish
-between “free software” and “freeware”. The
+between “free software” and “freeware.” The
term “freeware” means software you are free to
redistribute, but usually you are not free to study and change the
source code, so most of it is not free software. See
@@ -666,10 +693,11 @@
Words and Phrases</a>” for more explanation.</li>
</ol>
+</div>
</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
-<div id="footer">
+<div id="footer" role="contentinfo">
<div class="unprintable">
<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to
@@ -687,13 +715,13 @@
to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org";>
<web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p>
- <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+ <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of
our web pages, see <a
href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
README</a>. -->
Please see the <a
href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
-README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations
of this article.</p>
</div>
@@ -714,7 +742,7 @@
There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
-<p>Copyright © 1985, 1993, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015
+<p>Copyright © 1985, 1993, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015
Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p>
<p>
@@ -731,10 +759,10 @@
<p class="unprintable">Updated:
<!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2015/06/02 12:55:15 $
+$Date: 2021/11/02 13:29:17 $
<!-- timestamp end -->
</p>
</div>
-</div>
+</div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include -->
</body>
</html>
- www/gnu manifesto.html,
Therese Godefroy <=