1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2005-08-10 15:40:54 +00:00
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@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004,
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@c 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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@ifclear justgnu
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@node Manifesto,, MS-DOS, Top
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@unnumbered The GNU Manifesto
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@end ifclear
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@ifset justgnu
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2005-08-10 15:40:54 +00:00
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Copyright (C) 1985, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,
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2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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2001-04-19 15:26:37 +00:00
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Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
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under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
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any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
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Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
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Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
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license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
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License'' in the Emacs manual.
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1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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2001-04-19 15:26:37 +00:00
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(a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
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this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
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Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
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This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
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Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
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separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
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license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
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1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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@node Top
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@top The GNU Manifesto
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@end ifset
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@quotation
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The GNU Manifesto which appears below was written by Richard Stallman at
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the beginning of the GNU project, to ask for participation and support.
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For the first few years, it was updated in minor ways to account for
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developments, but now it seems best to leave it unchanged as most people
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have seen it.
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Since that time, we have learned about certain common misunderstandings
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that different wording could help avoid. Footnotes added in 1993 help
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clarify these points.
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2005-07-07 22:54:34 +00:00
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For up-to-date information about the available GNU software, please
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see @uref{http://www.gnu.org}. For software tasks to work on, see
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@uref{http://savannah.gnu.org/projects/tasklist}. For other ways to
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contribute, see @uref{http://www.gnu.org/help}.
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1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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@end quotation
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@unnumberedsec What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix!
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GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete
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Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give it
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away free to everyone who can use it.@footnote{The wording here was
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careless. The intention was that nobody would have to pay for
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@emph{permission} to use the GNU system. But the words don't make this
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clear, and people often interpret them as saying that copies of GNU
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should always be distributed at little or no charge. That was never the
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intent; later on, the manifesto mentions the possibility of companies
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providing the service of distribution for a profit. Subsequently I have
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learned to distinguish carefully between ``free'' in the sense of
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freedom and ``free'' in the sense of price. Free software is software
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that users have the freedom to distribute and change. Some users may
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obtain copies at no charge, while others pay to obtain copies---and if
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the funds help support improving the software, so much the better. The
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important thing is that everyone who has a copy has the freedom to
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cooperate with others in using it.} Several other volunteers are helping
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me. Contributions of time, money, programs and equipment are greatly
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needed.
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So far we have an Emacs text editor with Lisp for writing editor commands,
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a source level debugger, a yacc-compatible parser generator, a linker, and
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around 35 utilities. A shell (command interpreter) is nearly completed. A
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new portable optimizing C compiler has compiled itself and may be released
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this year. An initial kernel exists but many more features are needed to
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emulate Unix. When the kernel and compiler are finished, it will be
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possible to distribute a GNU system suitable for program development. We
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will use @TeX{} as our text formatter, but an nroff is being worked on. We
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will use the free, portable X window system as well. After this we will
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add a portable Common Lisp, an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of
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other things, plus on-line documentation. We hope to supply, eventually,
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everything useful that normally comes with a Unix system, and more.
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GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical to Unix.
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We will make all improvements that are convenient, based on our experience
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with other operating systems. In particular, we plan to have longer
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file names, file version numbers, a crashproof file system, file name
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completion perhaps, terminal-independent display support, and perhaps
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eventually a Lisp-based window system through which several Lisp programs
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and ordinary Unix programs can share a screen. Both C and Lisp will be
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available as system programming languages. We will try to support UUCP,
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MIT Chaosnet, and Internet protocols for communication.
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GNU is aimed initially at machines in the 68000/16000 class with virtual
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memory, because they are the easiest machines to make it run on. The extra
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effort to make it run on smaller machines will be left to someone who wants
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to use it on them.
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To avoid horrible confusion, please pronounce the `G' in the word `GNU'
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when it is the name of this project.
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@unnumberedsec Why I Must Write GNU
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I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must
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share it with other people who like it. Software sellers want to divide
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the users and conquer them, making each user agree not to share with
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others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way. I
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cannot in good conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software
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license agreement. For years I worked within the Artificial Intelligence
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Lab to resist such tendencies and other inhospitalities, but eventually
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they had gone too far: I could not remain in an institution where such
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things are done for me against my will.
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So that I can continue to use computers without dishonor, I have decided to
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put together a sufficient body of free software so that I will be able to
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get along without any software that is not free. I have resigned from the
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AI lab to deny MIT any legal excuse to prevent me from giving GNU away.
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@unnumberedsec Why GNU Will Be Compatible with Unix
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Unix is not my ideal system, but it is not too bad. The essential features
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of Unix seem to be good ones, and I think I can fill in what Unix lacks
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without spoiling them. And a system compatible with Unix would be
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convenient for many other people to adopt.
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@unnumberedsec How GNU Will Be Available
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GNU is not in the public domain. Everyone will be permitted to modify and
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redistribute GNU, but no distributor will be allowed to restrict its
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further redistribution. That is to say, proprietary modifications will not
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be allowed. I want to make sure that all versions of GNU remain free.
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@unnumberedsec Why Many Other Programmers Want to Help
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I have found many other programmers who are excited about GNU and want to
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help.
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Many programmers are unhappy about the commercialization of system
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software. It may enable them to make more money, but it requires them to
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feel in conflict with other programmers in general rather than feel as
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comrades. The fundamental act of friendship among programmers is the
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sharing of programs; marketing arrangements now typically used essentially
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forbid programmers to treat others as friends. The purchaser of software
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must choose between friendship and obeying the law. Naturally, many decide
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that friendship is more important. But those who believe in law often do
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not feel at ease with either choice. They become cynical and think that
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programming is just a way of making money.
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By working on and using GNU rather than proprietary programs, we can be
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hospitable to everyone and obey the law. In addition, GNU serves as an
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example to inspire and a banner to rally others to join us in sharing.
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This can give us a feeling of harmony which is impossible if we use
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software that is not free. For about half the programmers I talk to, this
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is an important happiness that money cannot replace.
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@unnumberedsec How You Can Contribute
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I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and money.
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I'm asking individuals for donations of programs and work.
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One consequence you can expect if you donate machines is that GNU will run
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on them at an early date. The machines should be complete, ready to use
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systems, approved for use in a residential area, and not in need of
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sophisticated cooling or power.
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I have found very many programmers eager to contribute part-time work for
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GNU. For most projects, such part-time distributed work would be very hard
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to coordinate; the independently-written parts would not work together.
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But for the particular task of replacing Unix, this problem is absent. A
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complete Unix system contains hundreds of utility programs, each of which
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is documented separately. Most interface specifications are fixed by Unix
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compatibility. If each contributor can write a compatible replacement for
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a single Unix utility, and make it work properly in place of the original
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on a Unix system, then these utilities will work right when put together.
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Even allowing for Murphy to create a few unexpected problems, assembling
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these components will be a feasible task. (The kernel will require closer
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communication and will be worked on by a small, tight group.)
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If I get donations of money, I may be able to hire a few people full or
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part time. The salary won't be high by programmers' standards, but I'm
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looking for people for whom building community spirit is as important as
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making money. I view this as a way of enabling dedicated people to devote
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their full energies to working on GNU by sparing them the need to make a
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living in another way.
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@unnumberedsec Why All Computer Users Will Benefit
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Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system
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software free, just like air.@footnote{This is another place I failed to
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2001-02-17 17:50:28 +00:00
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distinguish carefully between the two different meanings of ``free.''
|
1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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The statement as it stands is not false---you can get copies of GNU
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software at no charge, from your friends or over the net. But it does
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suggest the wrong idea.}
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This means much more than just saving everyone the price of a Unix license.
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It means that much wasteful duplication of system programming effort will
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be avoided. This effort can go instead into advancing the state of the
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art.
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Complete system sources will be available to everyone. As a result, a user
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who needs changes in the system will always be free to make them himself,
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or hire any available programmer or company to make them for him. Users
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will no longer be at the mercy of one programmer or company which owns the
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sources and is in sole position to make changes.
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Schools will be able to provide a much more educational environment by
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encouraging all students to study and improve the system code. Harvard's
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computer lab used to have the policy that no program could be installed on
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the system if its sources were not on public display, and upheld it by
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actually refusing to install certain programs. I was very much inspired by
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this.
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Finally, the overhead of considering who owns the system software and what
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one is or is not entitled to do with it will be lifted.
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Arrangements to make people pay for using a program, including licensing of
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copies, always incur a tremendous cost to society through the cumbersome
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mechanisms necessary to figure out how much (that is, which programs) a
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person must pay for. And only a police state can force everyone to obey
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them. Consider a space station where air must be manufactured at great
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cost: charging each breather per liter of air may be fair, but wearing the
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metered gas mask all day and all night is intolerable even if everyone can
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afford to pay the air bill. And the TV cameras everywhere to see if you
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ever take the mask off are outrageous. It's better to support the air
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plant with a head tax and chuck the masks.
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Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as
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breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free.
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@unnumberedsec Some Easily Rebutted Objections to GNU's Goals
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@quotation
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``Nobody will use it if it is free, because that means they can't rely
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on any support.''
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``You have to charge for the program to pay for providing the
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support.''
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@end quotation
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If people would rather pay for GNU plus service than get GNU free without
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service, a company to provide just service to people who have obtained GNU
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free ought to be profitable.@footnote{Several such companies now exist.}
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We must distinguish between support in the form of real programming work
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and mere handholding. The former is something one cannot rely on from a
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software vendor. If your problem is not shared by enough people, the
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vendor will tell you to get lost.
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If your business needs to be able to rely on support, the only way is to
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have all the necessary sources and tools. Then you can hire any available
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person to fix your problem; you are not at the mercy of any individual.
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With Unix, the price of sources puts this out of consideration for most
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businesses. With GNU this will be easy. It is still possible for there to
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be no available competent person, but this problem cannot be blamed on
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distribution arrangements. GNU does not eliminate all the world's problems,
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only some of them.
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Meanwhile, the users who know nothing about computers need handholding:
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doing things for them which they could easily do themselves but don't know
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how.
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Such services could be provided by companies that sell just hand-holding
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and repair service. If it is true that users would rather spend money and
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get a product with service, they will also be willing to buy the service
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having got the product free. The service companies will compete in quality
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and price; users will not be tied to any particular one. Meanwhile, those
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of us who don't need the service should be able to use the program without
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paying for the service.
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@quotation
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``You cannot reach many people without advertising,
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and you must charge for the program to support that.''
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``It's no use advertising a program people can get free.''
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@end quotation
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There are various forms of free or very cheap publicity that can be used to
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inform numbers of computer users about something like GNU. But it may be
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true that one can reach more microcomputer users with advertising. If this
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is really so, a business which advertises the service of copying and
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mailing GNU for a fee ought to be successful enough to pay for its
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advertising and more. This way, only the users who benefit from the
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advertising pay for it.
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On the other hand, if many people get GNU from their friends, and such
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companies don't succeed, this will show that advertising was not really
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necessary to spread GNU. Why is it that free market advocates don't
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want to let the free market decide this?@footnote{The Free Software
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Foundation raises most of its funds from a distribution service,
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although it is a charity rather than a company. If @emph{no one}
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chooses to obtain copies by ordering from the FSF, it will be unable
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to do its work. But this does not mean that proprietary restrictions
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are justified to force every user to pay. If a small fraction of all
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the users order copies from the FSF, that is sufficient to keep the FSF
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afloat. So we ask users to choose to support us in this way. Have you
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done your part?}
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@quotation
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``My company needs a proprietary operating system
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to get a competitive edge.''
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@end quotation
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GNU will remove operating system software from the realm of competition.
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You will not be able to get an edge in this area, but neither will your
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competitors be able to get an edge over you. You and they will compete in
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other areas, while benefiting mutually in this one. If your business is
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selling an operating system, you will not like GNU, but that's tough on
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you. If your business is something else, GNU can save you from being
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pushed into the expensive business of selling operating systems.
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I would like to see GNU development supported by gifts from many
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manufacturers and users, reducing the cost to each.@footnote{A group of
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computer companies recently pooled funds to support maintenance of the
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GNU C Compiler.}
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@quotation
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``Don't programmers deserve a reward for their creativity?''
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@end quotation
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If anything deserves a reward, it is social contribution. Creativity can
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be a social contribution, but only in so far as society is free to use the
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results. If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative
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programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict
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the use of these programs.
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@quotation
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``Shouldn't a programmer be able to ask for a reward for his creativity?''
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@end quotation
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There is nothing wrong with wanting pay for work, or seeking to maximize
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one's income, as long as one does not use means that are destructive. But
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the means customary in the field of software today are based on
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destruction.
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Extracting money from users of a program by restricting their use of it is
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destructive because the restrictions reduce the amount and the ways that
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the program can be used. This reduces the amount of wealth that humanity
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derives from the program. When there is a deliberate choice to restrict,
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the harmful consequences are deliberate destruction.
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The reason a good citizen does not use such destructive means to become
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wealthier is that, if everyone did so, we would all become poorer from the
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mutual destructiveness. This is Kantian ethics; or, the Golden Rule.
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Since I do not like the consequences that result if everyone hoards
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information, I am required to consider it wrong for one to do so.
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Specifically, the desire to be rewarded for one's creativity does not
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justify depriving the world in general of all or part of that creativity.
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@quotation
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``Won't programmers starve?''
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@end quotation
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I could answer that nobody is forced to be a programmer. Most of us cannot
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manage to get any money for standing on the street and making faces. But
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we are not, as a result, condemned to spend our lives standing on the
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street making faces, and starving. We do something else.
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But that is the wrong answer because it accepts the questioner's implicit
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assumption: that without ownership of software, programmers cannot possibly
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be paid a cent. Supposedly it is all or nothing.
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The real reason programmers will not starve is that it will still be
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possible for them to get paid for programming; just not paid as much as
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now.
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Restricting copying is not the only basis for business in software. It is
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the most common basis because it brings in the most money. If it were
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prohibited, or rejected by the customer, software business would move to
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other bases of organization which are now used less often. There are
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always numerous ways to organize any kind of business.
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Probably programming will not be as lucrative on the new basis as it is
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now. But that is not an argument against the change. It is not considered
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an injustice that sales clerks make the salaries that they now do. If
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programmers made the same, that would not be an injustice either. (In
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practice they would still make considerably more than that.)
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@quotation
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``Don't people have a right to control how their creativity is used?''
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@end quotation
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``Control over the use of one's ideas'' really constitutes control over
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other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more
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difficult.
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|
2005-07-07 22:54:34 +00:00
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People who have studied the issue of intellectual property
|
2005-07-12 06:18:38 +00:00
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rights@footnote{In the 80s I had not yet realized how confusing it was
|
2005-07-07 22:54:34 +00:00
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to speak of ``the issue'' of ``intellectual property.'' That term is
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obviously biased; more subtle is the fact that it lumps together
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various disparate laws which raise very different issues. Nowadays I
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urge people to reject the term ``intellectual property'' entirely,
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lest it lead others to suppose that those laws form one coherent
|
2005-07-12 06:18:38 +00:00
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issue. The way to be clear is to discuss patents, copyrights, and
|
2005-07-07 22:54:34 +00:00
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trademarks separately. See
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@uref{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.xhtml} for more
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explanation of how this term spreads confusion and bias.} carefully
|
1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
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(such as lawyers) say that there is no intrinsic right to intellectual
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property. The kinds of supposed intellectual property rights that the
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government recognizes were created by specific acts of legislation for
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specific purposes.
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For example, the patent system was established to encourage inventors to
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disclose the details of their inventions. Its purpose was to help society
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rather than to help inventors. At the time, the life span of 17 years for
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|
a patent was short compared with the rate of advance of the state of the
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|
art. Since patents are an issue only among manufacturers, for whom the
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|
cost and effort of a license agreement are small compared with setting up
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production, the patents often do not do much harm. They do not obstruct
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most individuals who use patented products.
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The idea of copyright did not exist in ancient times, when authors
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frequently copied other authors at length in works of non-fiction. This
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practice was useful, and is the only way many authors' works have survived
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even in part. The copyright system was created expressly for the purpose
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of encouraging authorship. In the domain for which it was
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invented---books, which could be copied economically only on a printing
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press---it did little harm, and did not obstruct most of the individuals
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who read the books.
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All intellectual property rights are just licenses granted by society
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because it was thought, rightly or wrongly, that society as a whole would
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|
benefit by granting them. But in any particular situation, we have to ask:
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|
are we really better off granting such license? What kind of act are we
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|
licensing a person to do?
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|
The case of programs today is very different from that of books a hundred
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|
years ago. The fact that the easiest way to copy a program is from one
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|
neighbor to another, the fact that a program has both source code and
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|
|
object code which are distinct, and the fact that a program is used rather
|
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|
than read and enjoyed, combine to create a situation in which a person who
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|
enforces a copyright is harming society as a whole both materially and
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|
spiritually; in which a person should not do so regardless of whether the
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|
law enables him to.
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|
@quotation
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|
``Competition makes things get done better.''
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|
@end quotation
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|
The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we
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|
|
encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this way,
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|
it does a good job; but its defenders are wrong in assuming it always works
|
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|
|
this way. If the runners forget why the reward is offered and become
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|
|
intent on winning, no matter how, they may find other strategies---such as,
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|
attacking other runners. If the runners get into a fist fight, they will
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|
all finish late.
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|
Proprietary and secret software is the moral equivalent of runners in a
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|
|
fist fight. Sad to say, the only referee we've got does not seem to
|
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|
|
object to fights; he just regulates them (``For every ten yards you run,
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|
|
you can fire one shot''). He really ought to break them up, and penalize
|
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|
|
runners for even trying to fight.
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|
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|
|
@quotation
|
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|
|
``Won't everyone stop programming without a monetary incentive?''
|
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|
|
@end quotation
|
|
|
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|
|
Actually, many people will program with absolutely no monetary incentive.
|
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|
|
Programming has an irresistible fascination for some people, usually the
|
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|
|
people who are best at it. There is no shortage of professional musicians
|
|
|
|
who keep at it even though they have no hope of making a living that way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But really this question, though commonly asked, is not appropriate to the
|
|
|
|
situation. Pay for programmers will not disappear, only become less. So
|
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|
|
the right question is, will anyone program with a reduced monetary
|
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|
|
incentive? My experience shows that they will.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more than ten years, many of the world's best programmers worked at the
|
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|
|
Artificial Intelligence Lab for far less money than they could have had
|
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|
|
anywhere else. They got many kinds of non-monetary rewards: fame and
|
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|
|
appreciation, for example. And creativity is also fun, a reward in itself.
|
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|
|
|
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|
|
Then most of them left when offered a chance to do the same interesting
|
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|
|
work for a lot of money.
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
What the facts show is that people will program for reasons other than
|
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|
|
riches; but if given a chance to make a lot of money as well, they 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@quotation
|
|
|
|
``We need the programmers desperately. If they demand that we
|
|
|
|
stop helping our neighbors, we have to obey.''
|
|
|
|
@end quotation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You're never so desperate that you have to obey this sort of demand.
|
|
|
|
Remember: millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@quotation
|
|
|
|
``Programmers need to make a living somehow.''
|
|
|
|
@end quotation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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 program.
|
|
|
|
This way is customary now because it brings programmers and businessmen the
|
|
|
|
most money, not because it is the only way to make a living. It is easy to
|
|
|
|
find other ways if you want to find them. Here are a number of examples.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A manufacturer introducing a new computer will pay for the porting of
|
|
|
|
operating systems onto the new hardware.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The sale of teaching, hand-holding and maintenance services could also
|
|
|
|
employ programmers.
|
|
|
|
|
2005-07-07 22:54:34 +00:00
|
|
|
People with new ideas could distribute programs as
|
|
|
|
freeware@footnote{Subsequently we have learned to distinguish 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
|
|
|
|
@uref{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html} for more
|
|
|
|
explanation.}, asking for donations from satisfied users, or selling
|
|
|
|
hand-holding services. I have met people who are already working this
|
|
|
|
way successfully.
|
1999-09-29 15:17:24 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Users with related needs can form users' groups, and pay dues. A group
|
|
|
|
would contract with programming companies to write programs that the
|
|
|
|
group's members would like to use.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
All sorts of development can be funded with a Software Tax:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@quotation
|
|
|
|
Suppose everyone who buys a computer has to pay x percent of
|
|
|
|
the price as a software tax. The government gives this to
|
|
|
|
an agency like the NSF to spend on software development.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
But if the computer buyer makes a donation to software development
|
|
|
|
himself, he can take a credit against the tax. He can donate to
|
|
|
|
the project of his own choosing---often, chosen because he hopes to
|
|
|
|
use the results when it is done. He can take a credit for any amount
|
|
|
|
of donation up to the total tax he had to pay.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The total tax rate could be decided by a vote of the payers of
|
|
|
|
the tax, weighted according to the amount they will be taxed on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The consequences:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@itemize @bullet
|
|
|
|
@item
|
|
|
|
The computer-using community supports software development.
|
|
|
|
@item
|
|
|
|
This community decides what level of support is needed.
|
|
|
|
@item
|
|
|
|
Users who care which projects their share is spent on
|
|
|
|
can choose this for themselves.
|
|
|
|
@end itemize
|
|
|
|
@end quotation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the long run, making programs free is a step toward the post-scarcity
|
|
|
|
world, where nobody will have to work very hard just to make a living.
|
|
|
|
People will be free to devote themselves to activities that are fun, such
|
|
|
|
as programming, after spending the necessary ten hours a week on required
|
|
|
|
tasks such as legislation, family counseling, robot repair and asteroid
|
|
|
|
prospecting. There will be no need to be able to make a living from
|
|
|
|
programming.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We have already greatly reduced the amount of work that the whole society
|
|
|
|
must do for its actual productivity, but only a little of this has
|
|
|
|
translated itself into leisure for workers because much nonproductive
|
|
|
|
activity is required to accompany productive activity. The main causes of
|
|
|
|
this are bureaucracy and isometric struggles against 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.
|
2003-09-01 15:45:59 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
@ignore
|
|
|
|
arch-tag: 21eb38f8-6fa0-480a-91cd-f3dab7148542
|
|
|
|
@end ignore
|