Freedom

Never forget.

This is what we all strive for. We want to be big strong independent basement dwellers who still live in their parents' home. Achieving total freedom in his use of technology is the greatest accomplishment a gentoomen can attain. There are rumors that when this happens, golden light starts to emanate from your computer screen and Richard Stallman materializes in your room. He has written the GPL to help you reach this state of nirvana.

In order to have true freedom, you must have:

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.