A free operating system is one that is available to the general public. It is software that can be used, copied, studied, modified, and redistributed with little or no restriction. Therefore, software is free if its source code (the human readable form of the software) is available with a software license that grants recipients these permissions or if the source code is in the public domain.
The concept of free software came about as a reaction by several people who felt that big companies like Microsoft were limiting the software market by making their programs available only for a fee. They felt that computer usage should be free for everyone. That includes the software that comes with the computers.
For several years, free operating systems existed and have attracted many people. They are usually acquired in big packages of system software such as GNU and Linux systems.
Free software developers have also created free versions of almost all commonly used desktop applications such as web browsers, office productivity suites, and multimedia players. It is important to note, however, that in many categories, free software for individual workstation or home users has only a fraction of the market share of their proprietary competitors. Most free software is distributed online without charge, or off-line at the marginal cost of distribution, but this is not required, and people may sell copies for any price.
Since free operating systems can offer so many advantages, other reputable corporations like Red Hat, Sun Micro Systems and IBM started to endorse them. In fact, they even indicated that Linux is a good replacement to Windows and Mac OS X.
Every person who uses a free operating system can easily realize the benefits that this software can endow. Due to this flow, software that should be paid in order to be acquired has been lowered by their creators to match with those that are fee. Furthermore, they would also find a way to produce better and updated products where these features are not available on free operating systems.
There is some controversy over the free software movement as well as the distribution of free operating systems such as Linux or GNU. Opponents say the free operating systems can’t offer the same security or capabilities that Windows, for example, can. However, there’s no doubt about it that free software and free operating systems open up the computer world to new and radical ideas that can change the way we operate our computers.
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