Z:gnu-www-ja-essays-and-articles--ae6175-Free software is a matter of f/en

Free software is a matter of freedom: people should be free to use software in all the ways that are socially useful. Software differs from material objects&mdash;such as chairs, sandwiches, and gasoline&mdash;in that it can be copied and changed much more easily. These possibilities make software as useful as it is; we believe software users should be able to make use of them.