__NOTOC__ The ''GNU Manifesto'' is a call-to-action by

Richard Stallman Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...

encouraging participation and support of the

GNU Project The GNU Project () is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collabor ...

's goal in developing the

GNU GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...

free computer

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

. The GNU Manifesto was published in March 1985 in '' Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools''. It is held in high regard within the

free software movement The free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedoms to run the software, to study the software, to modify the software, and to share copies of the s ...

as a fundamental philosophical source. The full text is included with GNU software such as

Emacs Emacs , originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor MACroS"), is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, ...

, and is publicly available.

Background

Some parts of the ''GNU Manifesto'' began as an announcement of the GNU Project posted by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983, in form of an email on

Usenet newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distin ...

s. The project's aim was to give computer users freedom and control over their computers by collaboratively developing and providing software that is based on Stallman's idea of

software freedom The free software movement is a social movement with the goal of obtaining and guaranteeing certain freedoms for software users, namely the freedoms to run the software, to study the software, to modify the software, and to share copies of the s ...

(although the written definition had not existed until February 1986). The manifesto was written as a way to familiarize more people with these concepts, and to find more support in form of work, money, programs and hardware. The ''GNU Manifesto'' possessed its name and full written form in 1985 but was updated in minor ways in 1987.

Summary

The ''GNU Manifesto'' opens with an explanation of what the GNU Project is, and what is the current, at the time, progress in creation of the

GNU operating system GNU () is an extensive collection of free software (383 packages as of January 2022), which can be used as an operating system or can be used in parts with other operating systems. The use of the completed GNU tools led to the family of operat ...

. The system, although based on, and compatible with Unix, is meant by the author to have many improvements over it, which are listed in detail in the manifesto. One of the major driving points behind the GNU project, according to Stallman, was the rapid (at the time) trend toward Unix and its various components becoming proprietary (i.e. closed-source and non-libre) software. The manifesto lays a philosophical basis for launching the project, and importance of bringing it to fruition —

proprietary software Proprietary software is software that is deemed within the free and open-source software to be non-free because its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner exercises a legal monopoly afforded by modern copyright and i ...

is a way to divide users, who are no longer able to help each other. Stallman refuses to write proprietary software as a sign of solidarity with them. The author provides many reasons for why the project and software freedom is beneficial to users, although he agrees that its wide adoption will make a work of programmer less profitable. A large part of the ''GNU Manifesto'' is focused on rebutting possible objections to GNU Project's goals. They include the programmer's need to make a living, the issue of advertising and distributing free software, and the perceived need of a profit incentive.

References

External links

GNU Manifesto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gnu Manifesto GNU Project Free software culture and documents Free Software Foundation Copyleft media Internet culture Political manifestos 1985 documents Works about intellectual property law

Background

Summary

See also

References

External links