From: ejohnson@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Eric R. Johnson)
Subject: Re: First GNU CD-ROM
Organization: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 1993 20:33:27 GMT

In article <63123@mimsy.umd.edu> jerryw@cs.umd.edu (Jerry Wieber) writes:
>In article <1992Dec31.070340.5959@catfish.az05.bull.com> pls@cibecue.az05.bull.com (Paul Schauble) writes:
>>How do these prices fit with the charter of the _Free_ Software Foundation?
>>I just can't see how these prices bear any remote relationship to distribution
>>costs.
>
>They don't.  As I understand it, the FSF uses a high distribution charge
>as a way to support the FSF.  The (mildly underhanded) thought is that
>a donation is hidden in the materials charge, thus slipping unnoticed
>through the paws of the corporate bean counters.
>

Nothing underhanded about it: see below --

--- snip, snip ---

Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
From: rms@gnu.ai.mit.edu (Richard Stallman)
Subject: Fund raising at the FSF
Organization: GNUs Not Usenet
Distribution: gnu
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1992 20:16:10 GMT

There seem to be many people who use GNU software but have never read
what the purpose of it is.  Misunderstandings are widespread.

The word "free" in our name pertains to freedom, not price.  The
purpose of the GNU project is to give users two specific freedoms:
first, the freedom to copy the program and distribute it; and second,
the freedom to change the program as you wish, by having full access
to source code.

Low price distribution is not part of this purpose.  You may get a
copy of GNU software at a high price, or a low price (even
zero)--either way is ok.  The freedom to redistribute will tend to
discourage extremely high prices, which is nice, but secondary.

It's understandable that if people think the purpose of GNU is to have
a low price, they might be disturbed to learn that we don't have low
prices.  But that was never our aim.

The FSF distributes CD-ROMS, like tapes, primarily for the purpose of
raising funds to pay programmers and tech writers to develop more of
the GNU system.  Naturally we charge enough to bring in a considerable
amount of margin.  Our mission is to increase the amount of free
software available to a user, and we can do more if we take advantage
of the opportunity to raise money when we distribute.  Most of the
FSF's funds come from distribution; they always have.

However, it is inaccurate to describe this as "profit".  If you look
at just the FSF's distribution activity, it produces a surplus.  The
FSF spends this surplus paying people to write software for you to
use.  If you look at the FSF as a whole, it does not make a profit.

We may have contributed to the misunderstanding by using the phrase
"distribution fee" in the CD announcement, because that does imply
something about the size of the fee, and that is not what we meant to
say.  We should have said, "a fee for distribution."  What this means
is that people pay for the distribution--not, as usual, for the right
to use the program.  (In the case of GNU software, everyone has the
right to use it, and nobody ever has to pay for that.)

If you'd like us to develop more software, I hope you will order some
CDs or tapes and thus help us pay more programmers.  80 CDs, ordered
at the company price, will support one programmer for a year.


Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom