Z:gnu-www-ja-university--cb2005-When I started developing the/en

When I started developing the GNU operating system, in 1984, my first step was to quit my job at MIT. I did this specifically so that the MIT licensing office would be unable to interfere with releasing GNU as free software. I had planned an approach for licensing the programs in GNU that would ensure that all modified versions must be free software as well&mdash;an approach that developed into the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)&mdash;and I did not want to have to beg the MIT administration to let me use it.