Portal:Free and open-source software/Introduction

Free software (FSF definition) is software that is distributed in a manner that allows its users to run the software for any purpose, to redistribute copies of, and to examine, study, and modify, the source code. The term was coined in 1983, with "free" denoting the broad freedom given to users, rather than software that is free of charge (which is freeware). Open-source is not always free, though.

The free software movement was launched in 1983 with the primary goal of developing free software replacements for the proprietary software that was at that point heavily relied upon. Projects born from the movement include GNU, Linux-libre, LibreOffice, and, on network servers, Samba, and the Apache web server.