GNU Manifesto

The GNU Manifesto, written in 1985, was a statement by Richard Stallman advocating for free software—software that users can freely use, study, modify, and share. It challenged the traditional proprietary model that kept software closed and controlled by companies. Stallman believed that software should be a collaborative resource accessible to everyone, promoting sharing and collective improvement. The manifesto laid the foundation for the free software movement, emphasizing ethical principles and user rights, and ultimately led to the development of the GNU Project, which created widely used free software like the Linux operating system.