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Free software is one which can be copied, used, studied, redistributed and modified without restriction. Freedom from restrictions is necessary to the concept of free software. Free software are also sometimes referred to as libre software. In order for the software to be distributed free, it should be accompanied by a free software license and the source code of the software must be made available.
The term free software implies that computer users must have the freedom to cooperate with whom they choose and control the software they use. Most of the free software are distributed gratis online, or off line or for the marginal cost of distribution. Generally all open Source programs are free software but there are many exceptions.
The notable examples of free software are:
- Typesetting and document preparation systems TeX and LaTeX.
- Operating systems: GNU/Linux, BSD, and Darwin.
- MediaWiki, the software which runs Wikipedia.
- Programming languages: Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby and Tcl.
- GCC compilers, GDB debugger and C libraries.
- OpenOffice.org office suite, Mozilla and Firefox web browsers and the GIMP graphics editor.
- Relational database systems: MySQL and PostgreSQL.
- GUI related: X Window System, GNOME and KDE desktop environments.
- Servers: BIND name server, Sendmail mail transport, Apache web server, and Samba file server.
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