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<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="author" href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org" /> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="/graphics/gnu-head-mini.png" /> <meta name="ICBM" content="42.355469,-71.058627" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/layout.min.css" media="screen" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/print.min.css" media="print" />   <title>The GNU Operating System and the Free Software Movement</title> <meta name="keywords" content="GNU, FSF, Free Software Foundation, Linux, Emacs, GCC, Unix, Free Software, Libre Software, Operating System, GNU Kernel, GNU Hurd" /> <meta name="description" content="Since 1983, developing the free Unix style operating system GNU, so that computer users can have the freedom to share and improve the software they use." /> <link rel="alternate" title="Planet GNU" href="https://planet.gnu.org/rss20.xml" type="application/rss+xml" /> <style type="text/css" media="print,screen">  </style>  <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="/home.html" hreflang="x-default" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="en" hreflang="en" href="/home.en.html" title="English" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="de" hreflang="de" href="/home.de.html" title="Deutsch" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="es" hreflang="es" href="/home.es.html" title="español" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" href="/home.fa.html" title="فارسی" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" href="/home.fr.html" title="français" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="it" hreflang="it" href="/home.it.html" title="italiano" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" href="/home.ja.html" title="日本語" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" href="/home.nl.html" title="Nederlands" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="pt-br" hreflang="pt-br" href="/home.pt-br.html" title="português" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" href="/home.ru.html" title="русский" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" href="/home.sq.html" title="Shqip" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" href="/home.tr.html" title="Türkçe" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="zh-cn" hreflang="zh-cn" href="/home.zh-cn.html" title="简体中文" /> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" lang="zh-tw" hreflang="zh-tw" href="/home.zh-tw.html" title="繁體中文" />    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/server/banners/fundraiser.css" media="screen" /> <style type="text/css" media="screen"></style> <style type="text/css" media="screen">  #fundraiser { direction: ltr; } </style>  </head> <body> <div class="inner">  <div id="top"> <p><a class="skip" href="#content"><b>Skip to main text</b></a></p> </div> <div id='fundraiser'> <div class="message"> <p class="headline"><b>Come build a better world with us!</b></p> <p><a href="https://my.fsf.org/donate?mtm_campaign=fall24&mtm_source=banner">Please don't scroll past this. We've been building a better world with free software since 1985. Today, we ask for your support. Only with your help can the FSF continue to be the cornerstone of a more just digital society! Donate to help us reach the goal of USD $400,000 by Dec 31.<span class="gnun-split"></span></a></p> <p class="button"><a href="https://my.fsf.org/donate?mtm_campaign=fall24&mtm_source=banner">Donate<span class="gnun-split"></span></a> </p> <div style="clear: both"></div> </div> <div class="progress"> <div class="progress-bar"><span class="percentage">$60,390</span></div> <span class="goal">$400,000<span class="gnun-split"></span> </span> </div> </div> <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="header" role="banner"> <p id="gnu-banner"> <a href="/"> <img src="/graphics/heckert_gnu.transp.small.png" height="48" width="49" alt=" [A GNU head] " /><strong>GNU</strong> <span class="hide">Operating System</span></a><br /> <small id="fsf-support">Supported by the <a href="#mission-statement">Free Software Foundation</a></small> </p> <div id="switches"> <div id="search-button" class="switch"> <a href="//www.gnu.org/cgi-bin/estseek.cgi"> <img id="search-icon" height="30" width="30" src="/graphics/icons/search.png" alt=" [Search www.gnu.org] " /></a> </div> <div id="language-button" class="switch"> <a href="#language-container"> <img id="language-icon" height="30" width="37" src="/graphics/icons/translations.png" alt=" [Other languages] " /></a> </div> </div> </div>   <div style="clear: both"></div> <div id="navigation" role="navigation"> <a id="more-links" href="#navigation" title="More..."> <span>Site navigation</span></a> <a id="less-links" href="#content"><b>Skip</b></a> <ul> <li id="tabAboutGNU"><a href="/gnu/gnu.html">ABOUT GNU</a></li> <li id="tabPhilosophy"><a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">PHILOSOPHY</a></li> <li id="tabLicenses"><a href="/licenses/licenses.html">LICENSES</a></li> <li id="tabEducation"><a href="/education/education.html">EDUCATION</a></li> <li id="tabSoftware"><a href="/software/software.html">SOFTWARE</a></li> <li id="tabDistros"><a href="/distros/distros.html">DISTROS</a></li> <li id="tabDoc"><a href="/doc/doc.html">DOCS</a></li> <li id="tabMalware"><a href="/proprietary/proprietary.html">MALWARE</a></li> <li id="tabHelp"><a href="/help/help.html">HELP GNU</a></li> <li id="tabAV"><a href="/audio-video/audio-video.html">AUDIO & VIDEO</a></li> <li id="tabArt"><a href="/graphics/graphics.html">GNU ART</a></li> <li id="tabFun"><a href="/fun/humor.html">FUN</a></li> <li id="tabPeople"><a href="/people/people.html">GNU'S WHO?</a></li> <li><a href="//directory.fsf.org">SOFTWARE DIRECTORY</a></li> <li><a href="https://h-node.org/">HARDWARE</a></li> <li><a href="/server/sitemap.html">SITEMAP</a></li> </ul> <div style="clear: both"></div> </div>  <div id="content" role="main">  <p class="no-display">GNU is the only operating system developed specifically to give its users freedom. What is GNU, and what freedom is at stake?</p>  <div id="home"> <div class="first-column" role="article"> <div style="margin: 2.3em auto 0" class="c">  <video width="512" height="288" controls="controls" crossorigin="anonymous" poster="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/thumbnails/festival.jpeg"> <source src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.webm" type="video/webm" /> <source src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.ogv" type="video/ogg" /> <source src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/videos/escape-to-freedom-720p.mp4" type="video/mp4" /> <track kind="subtitles" label="English" srclang="en" src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_en.vtt" default="default" /> <track kind="subtitles" label="Czech" srclang="cs" src="/server/banners/escape-to-freedom_cs.vtt" /> <track kind="subtitles" label="Spanish" srclang="es" src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_es.vtt" /> <track kind="subtitles" label="French" srclang="fr" src="/server/banners/escape-to-freedom_fr.vtt" /> <track kind="subtitles" label="Chinese" srclang="zh" src="https://static.gnu.org/nosvn/videos/escape-to-freedom/captions/escape-to-freedom_zh.vtt" /> </video> </div> <p class="c"> <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/help-others-find-free-software-watch-and-share-escape-to-freedom"> Escape to Freedom: A video from the FSF</a></p> <h2 class="first">What is GNU?</h2> <p>GNU is an operating system that is <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>—that is, it respects users' freedom. The GNU operating system consists of GNU packages (programs specifically released by the GNU Project) as well as free software released by third parties. The development of GNU made it possible to use a computer without software that would trample your freedom.</p> <p>We recommend <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">installable versions of GNU</a> (more precisely, GNU/Linux distributions) which are entirely free software. <a href="#More-GNU">More about GNU below</a>.</p> <div class="btn-left"> <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">Try GNU/Linux</a></div> <div style="clear:both"></div> <div id="gnu-linux" role="figure"> <div class="screenshot"> <a href="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde.jpg"><img width="512" height="288" src="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde-medium.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Dragora 3.0-beta2 with TDE desktop] " /></a> <p><small><a href="https://dragora.org/index.html"> Dragora 3.0-beta2</a> with <a href="https://www.trinitydesktop.org/">TDE</a> desktop</small></p> </div> <div class="thumbs"> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=dragora#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/dragora-tde-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Dragora 3.0-beta2 with TDE desktop] " /></a> <p><small>Dragora / TDE</small></p> </div> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=guix#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/guixSD-gnome3-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Guix 0.15 with GNOME 3 desktop] " /></a> <p><small>Guix / GNOME3</small></p> </div> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=hyperbola#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/hyperbola-i3-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Hyperbola 0.3 with i3 window manager] " /></a> <p><small>Hyperbola / i3</small></p> </div> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=parabola#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/parabola2020-lxde-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Parabola 2020 with LXDE desktop] " /></a> <p><small>Parabola / LXDE</small></p> </div> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=pureos#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/gnome3-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of PureOS 8 with GNOME 3 desktop] " /></a> <p><small>PureOS / GNOME3</small></p> </div> <div> <a href="/home.html?distro=trisquel#gnu-linux"><img width="128" height="72" src="/distros/screenshots/trisquel10-mate-thumb.jpg" alt=" [Screenshot of Trisquel 10 with MATE desktop] " /></a> <p><small>Trisquel / MATE</small></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="btn-right">... or <a href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Free_software_replacements"> Try parts of GNU</a></div> <div style="clear:both"></div> <h2>What is the Free Software Movement?</h2> <p>The free software movement campaigns to win for the users of computing the freedom that comes from free software. Free software puts its users in control of their own computing. Nonfree software puts its users under the power of the software's developer. See <a href="/audio-video/philosophy-recordings.html#rms-201404070"> the video explanation</a>.</p> <h2>What is Free Software?</h2> <p><strong>Free software means the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.</strong></p> <p>Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.”</p> <p>More precisely, free software means users of a program have the <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">four essential freedoms</a>:</p> <ul> <li>The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).</li> <li>The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.</li> <li>The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).</li> <li>The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.</li> </ul> <p>Developments in technology and network use have made these freedoms <a href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">even more important now</a> than they were in 1983.</p> <p>Nowadays the free software movement goes far beyond developing the GNU system. See <a href="https://www.fsf.org">the Free Software Foundation's web site</a> for more about what we do, and a list of <a href="/help">ways you can help</a>.</p> <h2>More about GNU</h2> <p><a id="More-GNU">GNU</a> is a Unix-like operating system. That means it is a collection of many programs: applications, libraries, developer tools, even games. The development of GNU, started in January 1984, is known as the GNU Project. Many of the programs in GNU are released under the auspices of the GNU Project; those we call <a href="/software/">GNU packages</a>.</p> <p>The name “GNU” is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix.” <a href="/pronunciation/pronunciation.html">“GNU” is pronounced <em>g'noo</em></a>, as one syllable, like saying “grew” but replacing the <em>r</em> with <em>n</em>.</p> <p>The program in a Unix-like system that allocates machine resources and talks to the hardware is called the “kernel.” GNU is typically used with a kernel called Linux. This combination is the <a href="/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html"><strong>GNU/Linux operating system</strong></a>. GNU/Linux is used by millions, though many <a href="/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html">call it “Linux” by mistake</a>.</p> <p>GNU's own kernel, the <a href="/software/hurd/hurd.html">GNU Hurd</a>, was started in 1990 (before Linux was started). Volunteers continue developing the Hurd because it is an interesting technical project.</p> <p class="button right-align"><a href="/gnu/gnu.html">More information</a></p> </div> <div class="second-column" role="complementary"> <p class="c" style="margin-top: 2.3em"><a href="https://snowflake.torproject.org/"> <img style="width:12em; height:auto" src="/graphics/snowflake-purple.png" alt="Help people bypass censorship. Run Snowflake!" /></a></p> <div id="giving-guide" class="emph-box color1"> <p>This year, <a href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2024-ethical-tech-giving-guide"> choose Freedom as a gift</a>. <strong><a href="https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v14/"> Ethical Tech Giving Guide</a></strong></p> </div> <div id="kind-comm" class="emph-box color2"> <p>The GNU Project strongly urges the community to communicate in ways that are friendly, welcoming and kind. See the <a href="/philosophy/kind-communication.html"> GNU Kind Communications Guidelines</a>.</p> </div> <div id="Flashes" class="emph-box color1"> <h3><a href="https://planet.gnu.org/">Planet GNU</a> <a href="https://planet.gnu.org/rss20.xml"><img src="/feed-icon-10x10.png" alt="RSS Feed" /></a></h3> <div class="ltr">  <p><a href='http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/your-government-should-use-free-software'> <span class="gnun-split"></span>Free software is vital for the public and state-run infrastructure of a free society<span class="gnun-split"></span></a><span class="gnun-split"></span>: An Austrian petitioner succeeded in realizing what the US government failed to see: that free software is... </p> <p><a href='http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/2024-ethical-tech-giving-guide'> <span class="gnun-split"></span>FSF Ethical Tech Giving Guide: Remember to give freedom<span class="gnun-split"></span></a><span class="gnun-split"></span></p> <p><a href='http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/cfv-help-us-with-the-gnu-press-shop'> <span class="gnun-split"></span>Call for volunteers: Help us with the GNU Press shop<span class="gnun-split"></span></a><span class="gnun-split"></span></p> </div> </div> <div id="Action" class="emph-box color2"> <h3>Take Action</h3> <ul> <li><strong><a href="https://www.fsf.org/campaigns">Support current FSF campaigns</a></strong>.</li> <li id="petition"><a href="https://my.fsf.org/give-students-userfreedom">Sign the petition for freedom in the classroom</a>.</li> <li id="copilot"><a href="https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Copilot_Watch_Group">Join the Copilot Watch Group</a>.</li> </ul> <p class="back"><a href="/server/takeaction.html">More action items</a></p> </div> <div id="priority" class="emph-box color1"> <p><strong>Can you help GNU with any of these projects?</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="/help/priority-projects.html">GNU high priority enhancement projects</a></li> <li><a href="/help/music-subtraction.html">Free program to subtract background music</a></li>  </ul> </div> <div class="emph-box color2"> <p id="long-term"><strong>Can you contribute to any of the <a href="//www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects/">long-term high priority projects</a>?</strong></p> </div> <div id="unmaint" class="emph-box color1"> <p><strong>Can you help <a href="/server/takeaction.html#unmaint">maintain a GNU package</a>? These packages are looking for maintainers:</strong></p> <ul> <li><span class="gnun-split"></span> <a href="/software/cfengine/">cfengine</a>, <a href="/software/halifax/">halifax</a>, <a href="/software/quickthreads/">quickthreads</a>, <a href="/software/guile-sdl/">guile-sdl</a>, <a href="/software/superopt/">superopt</a><span class="gnun-split"></span></li> </ul> <p>Also, these packages are looking for co-maintainers:</p> <ul> <li><span class="gnun-split"></span> <a href="/software/aspell/">aspell</a>, <a href="/software/bison/">bison</a>, <a href="/software/gnuae/">gnuae</a>, <a href="/software/gnubik/">gnubik</a>, <a href="/software/metaexchange/">metaexchange</a>, <a href="/software/powerguru/">powerguru</a>, <a href="/software/xboard/">xboard</a><span class="gnun-split"></span>.</li> </ul> <p>See the package web pages for more information.</p> </div> <div id="blurb" class="emph-box color2"> <p><strong><a href="/software/recent-releases.html">Recent GNU releases</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="/manual/blurbs.html">Short descriptions for all GNU packages</a></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 2em">Today's random package…</p>     <div class="ltr">  <h4 id="taler"> <img src="/graphics/pkg-logos-250x100/taler.250x100.png" style="height:1.3em" alt="logo for taler" /> <a href="/software/taler/">Taler</a></h4><p> Taler provides a payment system that makes privacy-friendly online transactions fast and easy. <small>(<a href="/manual/manual.html#taler">doc</a>)</small></p>  </div> </div> </div> </div> <div style="clear:both"></div> </div>  <div style="clear:both"></div> <div id="language-container"> <div class="backtotop"> <hr class="no-display" /> <a href="#top"><b>▲</b></a> </div> <div id="languages" class="rounded-corners"> <div class="button"> <a href="#top" class="close"><span>BACK TO TOP</span></a> </div> <div id="set-language" class="button"> <span class="gnun-split"></span> <a href="/server/select-language.html?callback=/home.html" rel="nofollow"> Set language <span class="gnun-split"></span> </a> </div> <p>Available for this page:</p> <div id="translations"> <p> <span dir="ltr" class="original">[en] <a lang="en" hreflang="en" href="/home.en.html">English</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[de] <a lang="de" hreflang="de" href="/home.de.html">Deutsch</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[es] <a lang="es" hreflang="es" href="/home.es.html">español</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[fa] <a lang="fa" hreflang="fa" href="/home.fa.html">فارسی</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[fr] <a lang="fr" hreflang="fr" href="/home.fr.html">français</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[it] <a lang="it" hreflang="it" href="/home.it.html">italiano</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ja] <a lang="ja" hreflang="ja" href="/home.ja.html">日本語</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[nl] <a lang="nl" hreflang="nl" href="/home.nl.html">Nederlands</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[pt-br] <a lang="pt-br" hreflang="pt-br" href="/home.pt-br.html">português</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[ru] <a lang="ru" hreflang="ru" href="/home.ru.html">русский</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[sq] <a lang="sq" hreflang="sq" href="/home.sq.html">Shqip</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[tr] <a lang="tr" hreflang="tr" href="/home.tr.html">Türkçe</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[zh-cn] <a lang="zh-cn" hreflang="zh-cn" href="/home.zh-cn.html">简体中文</a>  </span> <span dir="ltr">[zh-tw] <a lang="zh-tw" hreflang="zh-tw" href="/home.zh-tw.html">繁體中文</a>  </span> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="mission-statement" role="complementary"> <div class="backtotop"> <hr class="no-display" /> <a href="#header"><span>BACK TO TOP </span>▲</a> </div> <div style="clear: both"></div> <blockquote> <p style="direction:ltr; text-align:left"><a href="//www.fsf.org"><img id="fsfbanner" src="/graphics/fsf-logo-notext-small.png" alt=" [FSF logo] " width="75" height="25" /></a><strong> “The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a nonprofit with a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom. 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