Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement, a copyleft-based movement which aims to promote the universal freedom to create, distribute and modify computer software.
From its founding in October 4th, 1985, until the mid 90s, FSF's funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write free software for the GNU Project. Since that time, the FSF's employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community.
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GNU Licenses
The GNU General Public License (GPL) is a series of free software licenses and is one of the main works attributed to the Free Software Foundation, that being various licenses that enforce free software ideals into the software that make use of this license. GPL licenses give the end users various freedom in relation to the software, such as the liberty to study, modify and distribute the software freely.
Those licenses could be considered the main stone that built up the community around free software, now being widely used in many open-source and (or) free software projects. Despite not being responsible in the creation of the many other software licenses, the FSF does recognize those as free as long as they follow their criterea, also having a list of those licenses it considers free software licenses (and compatible with GPL) or not.
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Censorship against Stallman
In 2019, Richard Stallman resigned from the board due to comments that, while logically factual, wouldn't be seen sensible, most of the problematic comments being about a considered victim of Jeffrey Epstein. A petition was made for the removal of Stallman from FSF, in which many free software projects signed for. A part of the free software community advocated for the removel of Stallman, while another part refused to use software produced by anti-Stallman groups and individuals, seen that his removal would be an action against free speech and, as such, could be considered against part of the free software ideals.
Stallman rejoined the board 18 months later, but, as a result of that, members not as concerned with free speech left and corporations and groups stopped funding FSF.
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