Free Software Briefing

If a computer program comes with the right to share and modify it, is is said to be free software -- free because if gives its users freedom. Free software is valuable from an ethics perspective because it does not interfere with the ability of people to help each other via sharing and it does not deny people control over techonology.

There are significant practical advantages as well. Free software can be obtained and maintained at lower costs, is more secure, reliable, and felxible. With free software, organizations do not need to worry about legal difficulties associated with unauthorized copying or installation.