FOREWARD
Richard M. Stallman

Free software means software that respects the user’s freedom. It means that users are free to run the
programs as they wish, free to study and change the software (or hire others to do it for them), free to
redistribute copies to others, and free to publish modified versions. As a consequence, users are free to
share, and form communities to exercise effective control over the software they use. Free software may
also be gratis, zero price, but this is not always the case.

自由软件是指尊重用户自由的软件。这意味着用户有自由来按照他们的意志运行程序，有自由来研究和修改软件（或雇用他人代工），有自由把拷贝分发给他人，以及有自由来发布修改了的版本。这一来，用户有自由来共享软件，来形成社区对他们使用的软件行使有效的控制。自由软件可以是赠品、完全免费的，但不一定总是如此。

Some users refer to this as open source. That term focuses on the technical benefits that result when
software can be reviewed by large numbers of developers and users, the business advantages of using
it, and the business models that support its development and use. The term free software refers to the
social and ethical importance of freedom, as well as to the practical benefits it brings.
The social and practical imperatives for sharing and changing useful works such as software create a
revolution in what it means to publish. The technology of the printing press taught readers to think of
written works as fixed – written once, for readers to use passively thereafter. This technology did not
make it easy for readers, who generally did not have presses of their own, to adapt, improve, and share
copies of books, and they became accustomed to these limitations. So when citizens in large numbers
began to use personal computers, many did not question the legal and business systems that placed
similar limitations on using software. But this time, the limitation was not a natural consequence of the
technology. It was imposed by software developers, who found it profitable to keep users under their
control. The developers forbid users to share the software, and by denying users the source code, prevent
them from changing it.

一些用户把这称为开源软件。开源一词注重在大量开发者和用户可以检验软件时产生的技术优势、使用这类软件的商业优势和支持它的开发和使用的商业模式。自由软件一词注重自由的社会和道德重要性，以及它带来的实际好处。
共享和修改像软件这样的有用的作品的社会和实践动力，创造了一场出版意义上的革命。平面印刷技术让读者以为写好的作品是固定不变的——一旦写好了，读者
就束手拜读好了。这个技术对读者并不容易，他们一般没有自己的印刷机来修改、改进和共享书本，于是他们就习惯了这些局限。所以当大量的人们开始使用个人电脑的时候，许多人没有质疑给软件使用加上了类似制约的法律和商业体系。但是这一回，这些制约不是技术的自然结果。它来自于软件开发方，他们发现控制用户有利可图。开发方禁止用户分享软件，不给用户源代码而阻止他们来修改。

Today, however, there is an alternative: free software, the product of a community built by a million
willing developers – some volunteers, some paid to contribute. Free software allows users to take full
advantage of what their computers can do. It is our door to escape from the limitations of the printing
press, into a world where useful works, such as software, are developed among the users, by the users,
for the users.
Where software is not made artificially scarce by misguided incentive systems that encourage
development of software by locking up its users.
Where the users can collaborate as they see fit in making the software do what they want it to do. Where
the users of software are free to run it, share it, and adapt it together or individually. This is the world of
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
Non-free software keeps users divided and helpless. When a nation increases the use of non-free software,
it is not development, it is permanent dependency. Only the use of FOSS permits sustainable development
– it is technology that local people are free to learn about, maintain, adapt, and reapply.
How can governments move their countries towards FOSS? In two ways. First, switching to Free Software
in schools will teach children the spirit of community cooperation, while producing graduates that are
skilled in using and maintaining Free Software. Second, mandating migration to Free Software in
government agencies will create demand for these graduates’ skills, and build a local economy of Free
Software support.
The International Open Source Network (IOSN) is an initiative of UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Development
Information Programme, and operates under the principle of “Software Freedom for All” (SFA). Its work
includes provision of support and assistance, a centre of excellence, and an information clearing-house
for Free and Open Source Software in the Asia-Pacific region.
Through the IOSN/SFA initiative, UNDP provides policy support and advisory services to government
bodies, non-profit organizations, donor agencies and others. It publishes practical tools and materials,

including simple “how to” primers and guidebooks, training materials, and live CDs of the GNU/Linux
operating system for FOSS practitioners and end-users. It also supports FOSS R&D activities in localization
and in other areas, and organizes conferences and training programmes to network stakeholders and
strengthen local capacities. It welcomes both those interested in benefiting from these services and
those who would like to collaborate in extending them.
I’m pleased to cooperate with the work of IOSN/SFA, APDIP and UNDP in taking the message of software
freedom to the public and the development sector. Together we can help overcome the digital divide,
and replace dependency with development.