Why Free Software?

Our computers matter 

Computers are important. We trust them with our deepest secrets and most private thoughts. They connect us to the people and things we love. Like an extension of our minds, they're almost a part of us. 

Our whole society depends on computers. They're used to run our governments, produce the things we need to live and save the lives of sick people. A world without computers would be unrecognizable How we use our computers can't be separated from who we are; whoever controls our computers controls us. 

Computers come in many forms. Your laptop, smartwatch, phone and TV are all computers. Computer programs run lots of things you wouldn't expect. Some of us even have computers in our bodies, like the ones in pacemakers or cochlear implants. 

My computer, my enemy

It often feels like our computers are going behind our backs for someone else's benefit. Maybe you can’t play your favourite game any more because of some business stuff you had nothing to do with#note-1 Maybe you feel like social media's nudging you to spend more time online than you want to#note-2 Maybe you’ve heard jokes about your phone spying on you that felt just a little too real#note-3.

There's a reason for this: when you use many programs, you make an agreement with the company that owns the software that means they are the only ones who can do certain things. You're not allowed to share or change most programs. No one's allowed to figure out how they work. If the owners have put restrictions in their programs, it's often illegal to try to get around them.

This gives software owners an almost unlimited amount of power over their programs. They don't use it for good; their programs often go against our interests. If software owners put features in that hurt you, what can anyone do about it? Our computers are our enemies. They spy on us, exploit us and stop us from helping others. Can we do better? 

Four important freedoms 

Things can be different. For many decades, people have been working to create software that is kind to us and the people we care about. This is called free software. Free software doesn't mean the software costs nothing; it means that its users have special freedom to do things with it. A program counts as free when it gives you four freedoms in particular: 

0. The freedom to use the software for whatever you want. 

1. The freedom to learn how the program works and change it. 

2. The freedom to share the software with others. 

3. The freedom to share improved copies of the program.

Free software comes with legal permission from its authors that guarantees you can do these things. 

The four freedoms mean that no one company or person controls the software. Everyone can make sure the software respects our rights. The result is something magical. 

Computing, together! 

With the four freedoms, we can build caring communities around our software without anyone else getting in the way.

When you use a non-free program, you agree not to help others by sharing with them. But free software tells us that sharing is the right thing to do. Everyone’s allowed to copy free software and give it to others. We’re free to help each other by sharing programs we love. Free software is also much less likely to violate your privacy or contain harmful features. If someone puts in a feature people don't like, others can fix the program. You don't have to be a programmer to benefit: a few people can help everyone else! 

If we love a free program, no one can take it away from us. Free programs are often adopted and made new again by people that care about them. When we've helped make a free program successful by teaching others, telling people about it, or making things that work with it, a single person’s decision can’t make our work useless. Free software belongs to all of us, forever. 

Computers are at their best when we can help each other. Free software lets us do just that. 

None of this means you should illegally download non-free software. Using illegally copied software makes it harder for free software to succeed. 

Companies that sell non-free software know that illegal downloading stops people from choosing free alternatives. In 1998, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said this about illegal copying of Windows in China: "[...A]s long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade". Non-free software companies want you to use their software, even if you have an illegal copy. 

You can't support free software by using non-free programs.

First steps to freedom 

The way we use computers should reflect our values. When we choose free software, we show our care and respect for others. Non-free software is wrong because it harms us and tells us not to help others. We should do our best to reject it and help our friends and family do the same. Adopting free software instead is standing up for our right to share and help each other. 

Mission:Libre is here to help you learn more about free software. We'll hope you'll join us. Are you ready to take your first steps to freedom?

Notes

^ The Delisted Games Extinct List contains hundreds of games, many of which are no longer playable at all.

^ In 2021, it was revealed that Instagram knew from its own research that their app was making teenage girls feel "addicted", even as it made them feel worse about themselves.

^ Your phone probably isn't eavesdropping on your conversations as you go about your life, but it might be listening in other ways.