The term 'free software' has an ambiguity problem: an unintended meaning, 'Software you can get for zero price,' fits the term just as well as the intended meaning, 'software which gives the user certain freedoms.' We address this problem by publishing a more precise definition of free software, but this is not a perfect solution; it cannot completely eliminate the problem. An unambiguously correct term would be better, if it didn't have other problems.

We are not against the Open Source movement, but we don't want to be lumped in with them. We acknowledge that they have contributed to our community, but we cr…

The official definition of 'open source software,' as published by the Open Source Initiative, is very close to our definition of free software; however, it is…

Radical groups in the 1960s developed a reputation for factionalism: organizations split because of disagreements on details of strategy, and then treated each…