Z:gnu-www-ja-kragen-software--956f6f-What does it mean to have free/en

What does it mean to have free software burned into a ROM? Is the software still free if I have to desolder the ROM to read the source code and burn a new ROM to run a modified version? What does it mean to have free software running a remotely-accessible application on a Web server? Even with the best of intentions, these technologies seem make it difficult to give people the same kind of freedom they enjoy with PCs.