Editing GNU Project (section)

== GNU Manifesto ==

{{Main|GNU Manifesto}}

The GNU Manifesto was written by Richard Stallman to gain support and participation in the GNU Project. In the GNU Manifesto, Stallman listed four freedoms essential to software users: freedom to run a program for any purpose, freedom to study the mechanics of the program and modify it, freedom to redistribute copies, and freedom to improve and change modified versions for public use.<ref name="GNU Manifesto">{{cite web
 | url = https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html
 | title = The GNU Manifesto – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation (FSF)
 | first = Richard
 | last = Stallman
 | author-link = Richard Stallman
 | work = gnu.org
 | publisher = GNU Project
 | date = March 1985
 | access-date = 2011-10-18
 | archive-date = 2018-07-14
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180714090017/https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html
 | url-status = live
 }}</ref><ref name="weber">Weber, S. (2004). ''The Success of Open Source''. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.</ref> To implement these freedoms, users needed full access to the [[source code]]. To ensure code remained free and provide it to the public, Stallman created the [[GNU General Public License]] (GPL), which allowed software and the future generations of code derived from it to remain free for public use.