Version 1 of the GNU GPL, released on 25 February 1989, prevented what were then the two main ways that software distributors restricted the freedoms that define free software.
A versión 1 da GNU GPL creouse e publicouse o 25 de febreiro de 1989 coa finalidade de evitar as dúas principais formas mas que os distribuidores de software limitaban a liberdade que define ao software libre.