{
  "id": "freedom-four-essential-freedoms",
  "title": "The Four Essential Software Freedoms",
  "category": "Philosophy",
  "author": "The GratisAPI Team",
  "date": "2023-05-11",
  "tags": [
    "four-freedoms",
    "definition",
    "libre"
  ],
  "summary": "The free software definition rests on four freedoms, numbered zero through three, that together determine whether a program respects its users.",
  "body": "The Free Software Foundation defines software as free when it grants its users four essential freedoms. A program that provides all four is free, or libre; a program that withholds any of them is proprietary in at least that respect. The freedoms are conventionally numbered starting from zero, a small nod to programmers who count that way.\n\nFreedom zero is the freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose. There are no restrictions on who may use the software or what they may use it for. A license that forbids commercial use, or use by particular groups, violates this freedom.\n\nFreedom one is the freedom to study how the program works and to change it so it does your computing as you wish. This freedom requires access to the source code, since studying and modifying a program without its source is impractical. Without freedom one, users are dependent on the original developer for every change.\n\nFreedom two is the freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others. You may share the program with your neighbor, your community, or the world, at no charge or for a price, without asking permission.\n\nFreedom three is the freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. By doing this you give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Like freedom one, it requires access to source code.\n\nTogether these freedoms describe genuine control over one's computing. Freedoms zero and two concern using and sharing the program as it is; freedoms one and three concern understanding and improving it. Notably, none of them mentions price, which is why free software can be sold.\n\nGratisAPI is built to honor all four. The data and code are open, inspectable, modifiable, and freely redistributable, so the freedoms are not slogans but properties you can exercise today.",
  "word_count": 307,
  "reading_time_min": 2,
  "try_api": "cocktails",
  "url": "https://gratisapi.com/api/articles/freedom-four-essential-freedoms"
}