Mediaboss Marketing

by Richard Stallman

When we call software free, we mean that it respects the users' essential freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study and change it, and to redistribute copies with or without changes. This is a matter of freedom, not price, so think of free speech, not free beer.

These freedoms are vitally important. They are essential, not just for the individual users' sake, but for society as a whole because they promote social solidaritythat is, sharing and cooperation. They become even more important as our culture and life activities are increasingly digitized. In a world of digital sounds, images, and words, free software becomes increasingly essential for freedom in general.

Tens of millions of people around the world now use free software; the public schools of some regions of India and Spain now teach all students to use the free GNU/Linux operating system. Most of these users, however, have never heard of the ethical reasons for which we developed this system and built the free software community, because nowadays this system and community are more often spoken of as open source, attributing them to a different philosophy in which these freedoms are hardly mentioned.

The free software movement has campaigned for computer users' freedom since 1983. In 1984 we launched the development of the free operating system GNU, so that we could avoid the nonfree operating systems that deny freedom to their users. During the 1980s, we developed most of the essential components of the system and designed the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) to release them undera license designed specifically to protect freedom for all users of a program.

Not all of the users and developers of free software agreed with the goals of the free software movement. In 1998, a part of the free software community splintered off and began campaigning in the name of open source. The term was originally proposed to avoid a possible misunderstanding of the term free software, but it soon became associated with philosophical views quite different from those of the free software movement.

Some of the supporters of open source considered the term a marketing campaign for free software, which would appeal to business executives by highlighting the software's practical benefits, while not raising issues of right and wrong that they might not like to hear. Other supporters flatly rejected the free software movement's ethical and social values. Whichever their views, when campaigning for open source, they neither cited nor advocated those values. The term open source quickly became associated with ideas and arguments based only on practical values, such as making or having powerful, reliable software. Most of the supporters of open source have come to it since then, and they make the same association.

The two terms describe almost the same category of software, but they stand for views based on fundamentally different values. Open source is a development methodology; free software is a social movement. For the free software movement, free software is an ethical imperative, essential respect for the users' freedom. By contrast, the philosophy of open source considers issues in terms of how to make software betterin a practical sense only. It says that nonfree software is an inferior solution to the practical problem at hand. Most discussion of open source pays no attention to right and wrong, only to popularity and success; here's a typical example.

For the free software movement, however, nonfree software is a social problem, and the solution is to stop using it and move to free software.

Free software. Open source. If it's the same software (or nearly so), does it matter which name you use? Yes, because different words convey different ideas. While a free program by any other name would give you the same freedom today, establishing freedom in a lasting way depends above all on teaching people to value freedom. If you want to help do this, it is essential to speak of free software.

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Why Open Source Misses the Point of Free Software - GNU ...

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- W2 and 1099 software developer Halfpricesoft.com (http://www.halfpricesoft.com) recently announced plans to continue offering free technical support to customers of the firms' ezW2 software. EzW2 is the easy-to-use tax software designed for employers, HR managers and accountants to prepare, print and efile W2 and 1099- tax forms. The new edition for the coming tax season is available for free trial at halfpricesoft.com.

"Most of our w2 and 1099 software customers are small business owners and managers with limited budgets, limited accounting experience, and limited computer knowledge. Halfpricesoft.com designed ezW2 precisely for these customers. We want them to continue to enjoy it.," Dr. Ge said.

ezW2 can fill out, print and efile forms W2, W3, 1099-misc and 1096. ezW2 software is approved by SSA to print tax forms on white paper which eliminates the needs of the expensive red-ink W2 forms. The new quick efile feature is for customers who want to save time and the environment.

New customers can sample ezW2 for free by downloading the trial version of the software from http://www.halfpricesoft.com/w2-software-free-download.asp with no cost and no obligation. The trial version contains all the same features and functions as the full version software but prints a watermark across the front of forms.

Key features of ezW2 software:

- EzW2 software can print all W-2 and W-3 forms on white paper to cut cost on pre-printed forms. And the black and white substitute form of W-2 Copy A and W-3 are SSA-approved.

- EzW2 software can print the recipient copies in 4-up format to help customers cut cost on white paper.

- EzW2 can print 1099-MISC recipient copies on white paper.

- EzW2 Software can fill in 2 different red forms on the same sheet for businesses who still prefer the traditional red forms and cut cost on red forms.

- EzW2 can support unlimited companies, recipients and forms with no extra charge.

Read more:
Free Support to Continue for W2 And 1099 Software, Company Announces

Top 4 Free Software Like Adobe (Open Source/Free)
All of these software #39;s are free, all for Windows and Mac. Inkscape http://inkscape.org/en/download/ Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ KompoZer http://www.kompozer.net/...

By: TheYouTubePeople

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Top 4 Free Software Like Adobe (Open Source/Free) - Video

Using CW Player Free Software to Train Your Morse Code Reception
You don #39;t need partner to send You Morse Code tone in training. CW Player download link: http://www.f1orl.org/cwpeng.htm . Thank You very much for watching. ...

By: arrieweb

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Using CW Player Free Software to Train Your Morse Code Reception - Video

The Free Software Definition

The free software definition presents the criteria for whether a particular software program qualifies as free software. From time to time we revise this definition, to clarify it or to resolve questions about subtle issues. See the History section below for a list of changes that affect the definition of free software.

Free software means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.

Thus, free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of free as in free speech, not as in free beer.

With these freedoms, the users (both individually and collectively) control the program and what it does for them. When users don't control the program, the program controls the users. The developer controls the program, and through it exercises power over the users. Therefore, a nonfree or proprietary program is an instrument of unjust power.

A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

A program is free software if it gives users adequately all of these freedoms. Otherwise, it is nonfree. While we can distinguish various nonfree distribution schemes in terms of how far they fall short of being free, we consider them all equally unethical.

The rest of this page clarifies certain points about what makes specific freedoms adequate or not.

Freedom to distribute (freedoms 2 and 3) means you are free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission to do so.

You should also have the freedom to make modifications and use them privately in your own work or play, without even mentioning that they exist. If you do publish your changes, you should not be required to notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way.

Read more:
What is free software? - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation