| 1 | @c Copyright (C) 1985-1987, 1993, 1995, 2001-2014 Free Software |
| 2 | @c Foundation, Inc. |
| 3 | @c |
| 4 | @c Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies |
| 5 | @c of this document, in any medium, provided that the copyright notice and |
| 6 | @c permission notice are preserved, and that the distributor grants the |
| 7 | @c recipient permission for further redistribution as permitted by this |
| 8 | @c notice. |
| 9 | @c |
| 10 | @c Modified versions may not be made. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | @ifclear justgnu |
| 13 | @node Manifesto |
| 14 | @unnumbered The GNU Manifesto |
| 15 | @end ifclear |
| 16 | @ifset justgnu |
| 17 | @node Top |
| 18 | @top The GNU Manifesto |
| 19 | @end ifset |
| 20 | |
| 21 | @quotation |
| 22 | The GNU Manifesto which appears below was written by Richard Stallman at |
| 23 | the beginning of the GNU project, to ask for participation and support. |
| 24 | For the first few years, it was updated in minor ways to account for |
| 25 | developments, but now it seems best to leave it unchanged as most people |
| 26 | have seen it. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | Since that time, we have learned about certain common misunderstandings |
| 29 | that different wording could help avoid. Footnotes added in 1993 help |
| 30 | clarify these points. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | For up-to-date information about available GNU software, please see |
| 33 | our web site, @uref{http://www.gnu.org}. For software tasks and other |
| 34 | ways to contribute, see @uref{http://www.gnu.org/help}. |
| 35 | @end quotation |
| 36 | |
| 37 | @unnumberedsec What's GNU@? Gnu's Not Unix! |
| 38 | |
| 39 | GNU, which stands for Gnu's Not Unix, is the name for the complete |
| 40 | Unix-compatible software system which I am writing so that I can give it |
| 41 | away free to everyone who can use it.@footnote{The wording here was |
| 42 | careless. The intention was that nobody would have to pay for |
| 43 | @emph{permission} to use the GNU system. But the words don't make this |
| 44 | clear, and people often interpret them as saying that copies of GNU |
| 45 | should always be distributed at little or no charge. That was never the |
| 46 | intent; later on, the manifesto mentions the possibility of companies |
| 47 | providing the service of distribution for a profit. Subsequently I have |
| 48 | learned to distinguish carefully between ``free'' in the sense of |
| 49 | freedom and ``free'' in the sense of price. Free software is software |
| 50 | that users have the freedom to distribute and change. Some users may |
| 51 | obtain copies at no charge, while others pay to obtain copies---and if |
| 52 | the funds help support improving the software, so much the better. The |
| 53 | important thing is that everyone who has a copy has the freedom to |
| 54 | cooperate with others in using it.} Several other volunteers are helping |
| 55 | me. Contributions of time, money, programs and equipment are greatly |
| 56 | needed. |
| 57 | |
| 58 | So far we have an Emacs text editor with Lisp for writing editor commands, |
| 59 | a source level debugger, a yacc-compatible parser generator, a linker, and |
| 60 | around 35 utilities. A shell (command interpreter) is nearly completed. A |
| 61 | new portable optimizing C compiler has compiled itself and may be released |
| 62 | this year. An initial kernel exists but many more features are needed to |
| 63 | emulate Unix. When the kernel and compiler are finished, it will be |
| 64 | possible to distribute a GNU system suitable for program development. We |
| 65 | will use @TeX{} as our text formatter, but an nroff is being worked on. We |
| 66 | will use the free, portable X window system as well. After this we will |
| 67 | add a portable Common Lisp, an Empire game, a spreadsheet, and hundreds of |
| 68 | other things, plus on-line documentation. We hope to supply, eventually, |
| 69 | everything useful that normally comes with a Unix system, and more. |
| 70 | |
| 71 | GNU will be able to run Unix programs, but will not be identical to Unix. |
| 72 | We will make all improvements that are convenient, based on our experience |
| 73 | with other operating systems. In particular, we plan to have longer |
| 74 | file names, file version numbers, a crashproof file system, file name |
| 75 | completion perhaps, terminal-independent display support, and perhaps |
| 76 | eventually a Lisp-based window system through which several Lisp programs |
| 77 | and ordinary Unix programs can share a screen. Both C and Lisp will be |
| 78 | available as system programming languages. We will try to support UUCP, |
| 79 | MIT Chaosnet, and Internet protocols for communication. |
| 80 | |
| 81 | GNU is aimed initially at machines in the 68000/16000 class with virtual |
| 82 | memory, because they are the easiest machines to make it run on. The extra |
| 83 | effort to make it run on smaller machines will be left to someone who wants |
| 84 | to use it on them. |
| 85 | |
| 86 | To avoid horrible confusion, please pronounce the `G' in the word `GNU' |
| 87 | when it is the name of this project. |
| 88 | |
| 89 | @unnumberedsec Why I Must Write GNU |
| 90 | |
| 91 | I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must |
| 92 | share it with other people who like it. Software sellers want to divide |
| 93 | the users and conquer them, making each user agree not to share with |
| 94 | others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way. I |
| 95 | cannot in good conscience sign a nondisclosure agreement or a software |
| 96 | license agreement. For years I worked within the Artificial Intelligence |
| 97 | Lab to resist such tendencies and other inhospitalities, but eventually |
| 98 | they had gone too far: I could not remain in an institution where such |
| 99 | things are done for me against my will. |
| 100 | |
| 101 | So that I can continue to use computers without dishonor, I have decided to |
| 102 | put together a sufficient body of free software so that I will be able to |
| 103 | get along without any software that is not free. I have resigned from the |
| 104 | AI lab to deny MIT any legal excuse to prevent me from giving GNU away. |
| 105 | |
| 106 | @unnumberedsec Why GNU Will Be Compatible with Unix |
| 107 | |
| 108 | Unix is not my ideal system, but it is not too bad. The essential features |
| 109 | of Unix seem to be good ones, and I think I can fill in what Unix lacks |
| 110 | without spoiling them. And a system compatible with Unix would be |
| 111 | convenient for many other people to adopt. |
| 112 | |
| 113 | @unnumberedsec How GNU Will Be Available |
| 114 | |
| 115 | GNU is not in the public domain. Everyone will be permitted to modify and |
| 116 | redistribute GNU, but no distributor will be allowed to restrict its |
| 117 | further redistribution. That is to say, proprietary modifications will not |
| 118 | be allowed. I want to make sure that all versions of GNU remain free. |
| 119 | |
| 120 | @unnumberedsec Why Many Other Programmers Want to Help |
| 121 | |
| 122 | I have found many other programmers who are excited about GNU and want to |
| 123 | help. |
| 124 | |
| 125 | Many programmers are unhappy about the commercialization of system |
| 126 | software. It may enable them to make more money, but it requires them to |
| 127 | feel in conflict with other programmers in general rather than feel as |
| 128 | comrades. The fundamental act of friendship among programmers is the |
| 129 | sharing of programs; marketing arrangements now typically used essentially |
| 130 | forbid programmers to treat others as friends. The purchaser of software |
| 131 | must choose between friendship and obeying the law. Naturally, many decide |
| 132 | that friendship is more important. But those who believe in law often do |
| 133 | not feel at ease with either choice. They become cynical and think that |
| 134 | programming is just a way of making money. |
| 135 | |
| 136 | By working on and using GNU rather than proprietary programs, we can be |
| 137 | hospitable to everyone and obey the law. In addition, GNU serves as an |
| 138 | example to inspire and a banner to rally others to join us in sharing. |
| 139 | This can give us a feeling of harmony which is impossible if we use |
| 140 | software that is not free. For about half the programmers I talk to, this |
| 141 | is an important happiness that money cannot replace. |
| 142 | |
| 143 | @unnumberedsec How You Can Contribute |
| 144 | |
| 145 | I am asking computer manufacturers for donations of machines and money. |
| 146 | I'm asking individuals for donations of programs and work. |
| 147 | |
| 148 | One consequence you can expect if you donate machines is that GNU will run |
| 149 | on them at an early date. The machines should be complete, ready to use |
| 150 | systems, approved for use in a residential area, and not in need of |
| 151 | sophisticated cooling or power. |
| 152 | |
| 153 | I have found very many programmers eager to contribute part-time work for |
| 154 | GNU@. For most projects, such part-time distributed work would be very hard |
| 155 | to coordinate; the independently-written parts would not work together. |
| 156 | But for the particular task of replacing Unix, this problem is absent. A |
| 157 | complete Unix system contains hundreds of utility programs, each of which |
| 158 | is documented separately. Most interface specifications are fixed by Unix |
| 159 | compatibility. If each contributor can write a compatible replacement for |
| 160 | a single Unix utility, and make it work properly in place of the original |
| 161 | on a Unix system, then these utilities will work right when put together. |
| 162 | Even allowing for Murphy to create a few unexpected problems, assembling |
| 163 | these components will be a feasible task. (The kernel will require closer |
| 164 | communication and will be worked on by a small, tight group.) |
| 165 | |
| 166 | If I get donations of money, I may be able to hire a few people full or |
| 167 | part time. The salary won't be high by programmers' standards, but I'm |
| 168 | looking for people for whom building community spirit is as important as |
| 169 | making money. I view this as a way of enabling dedicated people to devote |
| 170 | their full energies to working on GNU by sparing them the need to make a |
| 171 | living in another way. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | @unnumberedsec Why All Computer Users Will Benefit |
| 174 | |
| 175 | Once GNU is written, everyone will be able to obtain good system |
| 176 | software free, just like air.@footnote{This is another place I failed to |
| 177 | distinguish carefully between the two different meanings of ``free.'' |
| 178 | The statement as it stands is not false---you can get copies of GNU |
| 179 | software at no charge, from your friends or over the net. But it does |
| 180 | suggest the wrong idea.} |
| 181 | |
| 182 | This means much more than just saving everyone the price of a Unix license. |
| 183 | It means that much wasteful duplication of system programming effort will |
| 184 | be avoided. This effort can go instead into advancing the state of the |
| 185 | art. |
| 186 | |
| 187 | Complete system sources will be available to everyone. As a result, a user |
| 188 | who needs changes in the system will always be free to make them himself, |
| 189 | or hire any available programmer or company to make them for him. Users |
| 190 | will no longer be at the mercy of one programmer or company which owns the |
| 191 | sources and is in sole position to make changes. |
| 192 | |
| 193 | Schools will be able to provide a much more educational environment by |
| 194 | encouraging all students to study and improve the system code. Harvard's |
| 195 | computer lab used to have the policy that no program could be installed on |
| 196 | the system if its sources were not on public display, and upheld it by |
| 197 | actually refusing to install certain programs. I was very much inspired by |
| 198 | this. |
| 199 | |
| 200 | Finally, the overhead of considering who owns the system software and what |
| 201 | one is or is not entitled to do with it will be lifted. |
| 202 | |
| 203 | Arrangements to make people pay for using a program, including licensing of |
| 204 | copies, always incur a tremendous cost to society through the cumbersome |
| 205 | mechanisms necessary to figure out how much (that is, which programs) a |
| 206 | person must pay for. And only a police state can force everyone to obey |
| 207 | them. Consider a space station where air must be manufactured at great |
| 208 | cost: charging each breather per liter of air may be fair, but wearing the |
| 209 | metered gas mask all day and all night is intolerable even if everyone can |
| 210 | afford to pay the air bill. And the TV cameras everywhere to see if you |
| 211 | ever take the mask off are outrageous. It's better to support the air |
| 212 | plant with a head tax and chuck the masks. |
| 213 | |
| 214 | Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as |
| 215 | breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free. |
| 216 | |
| 217 | @unnumberedsec Some Easily Rebutted Objections to GNU's Goals |
| 218 | |
| 219 | @quotation |
| 220 | ``Nobody will use it if it is free, because that means they can't rely |
| 221 | on any support.'' |
| 222 | |
| 223 | ``You have to charge for the program to pay for providing the |
| 224 | support.'' |
| 225 | @end quotation |
| 226 | |
| 227 | If people would rather pay for GNU plus service than get GNU free without |
| 228 | service, a company to provide just service to people who have obtained GNU |
| 229 | free ought to be profitable.@footnote{Several such companies now exist.} |
| 230 | |
| 231 | We must distinguish between support in the form of real programming work |
| 232 | and mere handholding. The former is something one cannot rely on from a |
| 233 | software vendor. If your problem is not shared by enough people, the |
| 234 | vendor will tell you to get lost. |
| 235 | |
| 236 | If your business needs to be able to rely on support, the only way is to |
| 237 | have all the necessary sources and tools. Then you can hire any available |
| 238 | person to fix your problem; you are not at the mercy of any individual. |
| 239 | With Unix, the price of sources puts this out of consideration for most |
| 240 | businesses. With GNU this will be easy. It is still possible for there to |
| 241 | be no available competent person, but this problem cannot be blamed on |
| 242 | distribution arrangements. GNU does not eliminate all the world's problems, |
| 243 | only some of them. |
| 244 | |
| 245 | Meanwhile, the users who know nothing about computers need handholding: |
| 246 | doing things for them which they could easily do themselves but don't know |
| 247 | how. |
| 248 | |
| 249 | Such services could be provided by companies that sell just hand-holding |
| 250 | and repair service. If it is true that users would rather spend money and |
| 251 | get a product with service, they will also be willing to buy the service |
| 252 | having got the product free. The service companies will compete in quality |
| 253 | and price; users will not be tied to any particular one. Meanwhile, those |
| 254 | of us who don't need the service should be able to use the program without |
| 255 | paying for the service. |
| 256 | |
| 257 | @quotation |
| 258 | ``You cannot reach many people without advertising, |
| 259 | and you must charge for the program to support that.'' |
| 260 | |
| 261 | ``It's no use advertising a program people can get free.'' |
| 262 | @end quotation |
| 263 | |
| 264 | There are various forms of free or very cheap publicity that can be used to |
| 265 | inform numbers of computer users about something like GNU@. But it may be |
| 266 | true that one can reach more microcomputer users with advertising. If this |
| 267 | is really so, a business which advertises the service of copying and |
| 268 | mailing GNU for a fee ought to be successful enough to pay for its |
| 269 | advertising and more. This way, only the users who benefit from the |
| 270 | advertising pay for it. |
| 271 | |
| 272 | On the other hand, if many people get GNU from their friends, and such |
| 273 | companies don't succeed, this will show that advertising was not really |
| 274 | necessary to spread GNU@. Why is it that free market advocates don't |
| 275 | want to let the free market decide this?@footnote{The Free Software |
| 276 | Foundation raises most of its funds from a distribution service, |
| 277 | although it is a charity rather than a company. If @emph{no one} |
| 278 | chooses to obtain copies by ordering from the FSF, it will be unable |
| 279 | to do its work. But this does not mean that proprietary restrictions |
| 280 | are justified to force every user to pay. If a small fraction of all |
| 281 | the users order copies from the FSF, that is sufficient to keep the FSF |
| 282 | afloat. So we ask users to choose to support us in this way. Have you |
| 283 | done your part?} |
| 284 | |
| 285 | @quotation |
| 286 | ``My company needs a proprietary operating system |
| 287 | to get a competitive edge.'' |
| 288 | @end quotation |
| 289 | |
| 290 | GNU will remove operating system software from the realm of competition. |
| 291 | You will not be able to get an edge in this area, but neither will your |
| 292 | competitors be able to get an edge over you. You and they will compete in |
| 293 | other areas, while benefiting mutually in this one. If your business is |
| 294 | selling an operating system, you will not like GNU, but that's tough on |
| 295 | you. If your business is something else, GNU can save you from being |
| 296 | pushed into the expensive business of selling operating systems. |
| 297 | |
| 298 | I would like to see GNU development supported by gifts from many |
| 299 | manufacturers and users, reducing the cost to each.@footnote{A group of |
| 300 | computer companies recently pooled funds to support maintenance of the |
| 301 | GNU C Compiler.} |
| 302 | |
| 303 | @quotation |
| 304 | ``Don't programmers deserve a reward for their creativity?'' |
| 305 | @end quotation |
| 306 | |
| 307 | If anything deserves a reward, it is social contribution. Creativity can |
| 308 | be a social contribution, but only in so far as society is free to use the |
| 309 | results. If programmers deserve to be rewarded for creating innovative |
| 310 | programs, by the same token they deserve to be punished if they restrict |
| 311 | the use of these programs. |
| 312 | |
| 313 | @quotation |
| 314 | ``Shouldn't a programmer be able to ask for a reward for his creativity?'' |
| 315 | @end quotation |
| 316 | |
| 317 | There is nothing wrong with wanting pay for work, or seeking to maximize |
| 318 | one's income, as long as one does not use means that are destructive. But |
| 319 | the means customary in the field of software today are based on |
| 320 | destruction. |
| 321 | |
| 322 | Extracting money from users of a program by restricting their use of it is |
| 323 | destructive because the restrictions reduce the amount and the ways that |
| 324 | the program can be used. This reduces the amount of wealth that humanity |
| 325 | derives from the program. When there is a deliberate choice to restrict, |
| 326 | the harmful consequences are deliberate destruction. |
| 327 | |
| 328 | The reason a good citizen does not use such destructive means to become |
| 329 | wealthier is that, if everyone did so, we would all become poorer from the |
| 330 | mutual destructiveness. This is Kantian ethics; or, the Golden Rule. |
| 331 | Since I do not like the consequences that result if everyone hoards |
| 332 | information, I am required to consider it wrong for one to do so. |
| 333 | Specifically, the desire to be rewarded for one's creativity does not |
| 334 | justify depriving the world in general of all or part of that creativity. |
| 335 | |
| 336 | @quotation |
| 337 | ``Won't programmers starve?'' |
| 338 | @end quotation |
| 339 | |
| 340 | I could answer that nobody is forced to be a programmer. Most of us cannot |
| 341 | manage to get any money for standing on the street and making faces. But |
| 342 | we are not, as a result, condemned to spend our lives standing on the |
| 343 | street making faces, and starving. We do something else. |
| 344 | |
| 345 | But that is the wrong answer because it accepts the questioner's implicit |
| 346 | assumption: that without ownership of software, programmers cannot possibly |
| 347 | be paid a cent. Supposedly it is all or nothing. |
| 348 | |
| 349 | The real reason programmers will not starve is that it will still be |
| 350 | possible for them to get paid for programming; just not paid as much as |
| 351 | now. |
| 352 | |
| 353 | Restricting copying is not the only basis for business in software. It is |
| 354 | the most common basis because it brings in the most money. If it were |
| 355 | prohibited, or rejected by the customer, software business would move to |
| 356 | other bases of organization which are now used less often. There are |
| 357 | always numerous ways to organize any kind of business. |
| 358 | |
| 359 | Probably programming will not be as lucrative on the new basis as it is |
| 360 | now. But that is not an argument against the change. It is not considered |
| 361 | an injustice that sales clerks make the salaries that they now do. If |
| 362 | programmers made the same, that would not be an injustice either. (In |
| 363 | practice they would still make considerably more than that.) |
| 364 | |
| 365 | @quotation |
| 366 | ``Don't people have a right to control how their creativity is used?'' |
| 367 | @end quotation |
| 368 | |
| 369 | ``Control over the use of one's ideas'' really constitutes control over |
| 370 | other people's lives; and it is usually used to make their lives more |
| 371 | difficult. |
| 372 | |
| 373 | People who have studied the issue of intellectual property |
| 374 | rights@footnote{In the 80s I had not yet realized how confusing it was |
| 375 | to speak of ``the issue'' of ``intellectual property.'' That term is |
| 376 | obviously biased; more subtle is the fact that it lumps together |
| 377 | various disparate laws which raise very different issues. Nowadays I |
| 378 | urge people to reject the term ``intellectual property'' entirely, |
| 379 | lest it lead others to suppose that those laws form one coherent |
| 380 | issue. The way to be clear is to discuss patents, copyrights, and |
| 381 | trademarks separately. See |
| 382 | @uref{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.xhtml} for more |
| 383 | explanation of how this term spreads confusion and bias.} carefully |
| 384 | (such as lawyers) say that there is no intrinsic right to intellectual |
| 385 | property. The kinds of supposed intellectual property rights that the |
| 386 | government recognizes were created by specific acts of legislation for |
| 387 | specific purposes. |
| 388 | |
| 389 | For example, the patent system was established to encourage inventors to |
| 390 | disclose the details of their inventions. Its purpose was to help society |
| 391 | rather than to help inventors. At the time, the life span of 17 years for |
| 392 | a patent was short compared with the rate of advance of the state of the |
| 393 | art. Since patents are an issue only among manufacturers, for whom the |
| 394 | cost and effort of a license agreement are small compared with setting up |
| 395 | production, the patents often do not do much harm. They do not obstruct |
| 396 | most individuals who use patented products. |
| 397 | |
| 398 | The idea of copyright did not exist in ancient times, when authors |
| 399 | frequently copied other authors at length in works of non-fiction. This |
| 400 | practice was useful, and is the only way many authors' works have survived |
| 401 | even in part. The copyright system was created expressly for the purpose |
| 402 | of encouraging authorship. In the domain for which it was |
| 403 | invented---books, which could be copied economically only on a printing |
| 404 | press---it did little harm, and did not obstruct most of the individuals |
| 405 | who read the books. |
| 406 | |
| 407 | All intellectual property rights are just licenses granted by society |
| 408 | because it was thought, rightly or wrongly, that society as a whole would |
| 409 | benefit by granting them. But in any particular situation, we have to ask: |
| 410 | are we really better off granting such license? What kind of act are we |
| 411 | licensing a person to do? |
| 412 | |
| 413 | The case of programs today is very different from that of books a hundred |
| 414 | years ago. The fact that the easiest way to copy a program is from one |
| 415 | neighbor to another, the fact that a program has both source code and |
| 416 | object code which are distinct, and the fact that a program is used rather |
| 417 | than read and enjoyed, combine to create a situation in which a person who |
| 418 | enforces a copyright is harming society as a whole both materially and |
| 419 | spiritually; in which a person should not do so regardless of whether the |
| 420 | law enables him to. |
| 421 | |
| 422 | @quotation |
| 423 | ``Competition makes things get done better.'' |
| 424 | @end quotation |
| 425 | |
| 426 | The paradigm of competition is a race: by rewarding the winner, we |
| 427 | encourage everyone to run faster. When capitalism really works this way, |
| 428 | it does a good job; but its defenders are wrong in assuming it always works |
| 429 | this way. If the runners forget why the reward is offered and become |
| 430 | intent on winning, no matter how, they may find other strategies---such as, |
| 431 | attacking other runners. If the runners get into a fist fight, they will |
| 432 | all finish late. |
| 433 | |
| 434 | Proprietary and secret software is the moral equivalent of runners in a |
| 435 | fist fight. Sad to say, the only referee we've got does not seem to |
| 436 | object to fights; he just regulates them (``For every ten yards you run, |
| 437 | you can fire one shot''). He really ought to break them up, and penalize |
| 438 | runners for even trying to fight. |
| 439 | |
| 440 | @quotation |
| 441 | ``Won't everyone stop programming without a monetary incentive?'' |
| 442 | @end quotation |
| 443 | |
| 444 | Actually, many people will program with absolutely no monetary incentive. |
| 445 | Programming has an irresistible fascination for some people, usually the |
| 446 | people who are best at it. There is no shortage of professional musicians |
| 447 | who keep at it even though they have no hope of making a living that way. |
| 448 | |
| 449 | But really this question, though commonly asked, is not appropriate to the |
| 450 | situation. Pay for programmers will not disappear, only become less. So |
| 451 | the right question is, will anyone program with a reduced monetary |
| 452 | incentive? My experience shows that they will. |
| 453 | |
| 454 | For more than ten years, many of the world's best programmers worked at the |
| 455 | Artificial Intelligence Lab for far less money than they could have had |
| 456 | anywhere else. They got many kinds of non-monetary rewards: fame and |
| 457 | appreciation, for example. And creativity is also fun, a reward in itself. |
| 458 | |
| 459 | Then most of them left when offered a chance to do the same interesting |
| 460 | work for a lot of money. |
| 461 | |
| 462 | What the facts show is that people will program for reasons other than |
| 463 | riches; but if given a chance to make a lot of money as well, they will |
| 464 | come to expect and demand it. Low-paying organizations do poorly in |
| 465 | competition with high-paying ones, but they do not have to do badly if the |
| 466 | high-paying ones are banned. |
| 467 | |
| 468 | @quotation |
| 469 | ``We need the programmers desperately. If they demand that we |
| 470 | stop helping our neighbors, we have to obey.'' |
| 471 | @end quotation |
| 472 | |
| 473 | You're never so desperate that you have to obey this sort of demand. |
| 474 | Remember: millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute! |
| 475 | |
| 476 | @quotation |
| 477 | ``Programmers need to make a living somehow.'' |
| 478 | @end quotation |
| 479 | |
| 480 | In the short run, this is true. However, there are plenty of ways that |
| 481 | programmers could make a living without selling the right to use a program. |
| 482 | This way is customary now because it brings programmers and businessmen the |
| 483 | most money, not because it is the only way to make a living. It is easy to |
| 484 | find other ways if you want to find them. Here are a number of examples. |
| 485 | |
| 486 | A manufacturer introducing a new computer will pay for the porting of |
| 487 | operating systems onto the new hardware. |
| 488 | |
| 489 | The sale of teaching, hand-holding and maintenance services could also |
| 490 | employ programmers. |
| 491 | |
| 492 | People with new ideas could distribute programs as |
| 493 | freeware@footnote{Subsequently we have discovered the need to |
| 494 | distinguish between ``free software'' and ``freeware''. The term |
| 495 | ``freeware'' means software you are free to redistribute, but usually |
| 496 | you are not free to study and change the source code, so most of it is |
| 497 | not free software. See |
| 498 | @uref{http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html} for more |
| 499 | explanation.}, asking for donations from satisfied users, or selling |
| 500 | hand-holding services. I have met people who are already working this |
| 501 | way successfully. |
| 502 | |
| 503 | Users with related needs can form users' groups, and pay dues. A group |
| 504 | would contract with programming companies to write programs that the |
| 505 | group's members would like to use. |
| 506 | |
| 507 | All sorts of development can be funded with a Software Tax: |
| 508 | |
| 509 | @quotation |
| 510 | Suppose everyone who buys a computer has to pay x percent of |
| 511 | the price as a software tax. The government gives this to |
| 512 | an agency like the NSF to spend on software development. |
| 513 | |
| 514 | But if the computer buyer makes a donation to software development |
| 515 | himself, he can take a credit against the tax. He can donate to |
| 516 | the project of his own choosing---often, chosen because he hopes to |
| 517 | use the results when it is done. He can take a credit for any amount |
| 518 | of donation up to the total tax he had to pay. |
| 519 | |
| 520 | The total tax rate could be decided by a vote of the payers of |
| 521 | the tax, weighted according to the amount they will be taxed on. |
| 522 | |
| 523 | The consequences: |
| 524 | |
| 525 | @itemize @bullet |
| 526 | @item |
| 527 | The computer-using community supports software development. |
| 528 | @item |
| 529 | This community decides what level of support is needed. |
| 530 | @item |
| 531 | Users who care which projects their share is spent on |
| 532 | can choose this for themselves. |
| 533 | @end itemize |
| 534 | @end quotation |
| 535 | |
| 536 | In the long run, making programs free is a step toward the post-scarcity |
| 537 | world, where nobody will have to work very hard just to make a living. |
| 538 | People will be free to devote themselves to activities that are fun, such |
| 539 | as programming, after spending the necessary ten hours a week on required |
| 540 | tasks such as legislation, family counseling, robot repair and asteroid |
| 541 | prospecting. There will be no need to be able to make a living from |
| 542 | programming. |
| 543 | |
| 544 | We have already greatly reduced the amount of work that the whole society |
| 545 | must do for its actual productivity, but only a little of this has |
| 546 | translated itself into leisure for workers because much nonproductive |
| 547 | activity is required to accompany productive activity. The main causes of |
| 548 | this are bureaucracy and isometric struggles against competition. Free |
| 549 | software will greatly reduce these drains in the area of software |
| 550 | production. We must do this, in order for technical gains in productivity |
| 551 | to translate into less work for us. |