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