There are four essential freedoms that the user of software should always have.

Freedom zero is the freedom to run the program however you wish.

Freedom one is the freedom to study the source code of the program

and change it to make the program do what you wish.

Freedom two is the freedom to distribute copies of the program

to others when you wish.

Now, this includes republication of the program.

And freedom three is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified version

to others when you wish.

And this also includes publication, if you... if that's how far you wish to go.

If you have all four of these essential freedoms then the program is free software,

which means that the social system of the distribution of this program is an ethical system

that respects the freedom in community of the users.

If one of these freedoms is missing, then the program is proprietary software,

meaning that it keeps the users divided and helpless

and gives the developer power over the users.

This is an injustice. Proprietary software should not exist and should not be used.

If you want to have freedom, the only way you can have it while using computers is

by rejecting proprietary software.

And that's the aim of the free software movement.

We want to replace proprietary software with its unjust social system,

with free software and its ethical social system.

And so we develop free replacements for proprietary software

and other free programs whenever we get an idea, so that the world can live in freedom.

The part that uses computers at least in that one area of life.

Because winning and maintaining freedom in general is a much bigger, much broader,

and harder activity, but this is one part of it.