Free Learning Resources

Mirrors of Free Software and Free Books.
All mirrors are updated nightly.

"As our society grows more dependent on computers, the software we run is of critical importance to securing the future of a free society. Free software is about having control over the technology we use in our homes, schools and businesses, where computers work for our individual and communal benefit"   Free Software Foundation

Free software is software that grants everyone permission to use, study, copy, modify and/or distribute the software.

Free and open source software are provided at zero cost but the word "free" does not refer to the cost of the software. "Free" refers to the fact that everyone has freedom to use the software for their benefit. These freedoms (use, study, copy, modify, distribute) are granted to everyone and are protected through an enforceable legal license.

A Free Software license ensures that the public has commercial and creative rights to that software. The commercial and creative rights include the rights to reproduce, modify and sell the software. Typically, the only restrictions for free software licenses have the goal of ensuring that neither the software nor its derivatives become non-free. This means that non-free software cannot include free software and that no one has the right to restrict the freedoms granted by the free software licenses. There are many different free software licenses but all "free software licenses" provide and protect the same rights.

The Free Software Foundation is a non-profit organization that promotes the development of free software and documentation. Their mission is to defend the rights of all free software users. Their view is that software must be free to ensure society does not lose control over its computing.

The 4 basic freedoms are defined as follows: