why the Linux os is free

What is the root cause of the Linux operating system to be free? The cause is in license. All free operating systems use GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) and FLOSS software. What am I saying?  What’s GNU & FLOSS. Let’s see…….

GNU

The name “GNU” is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix!”. "GNU" is pronounced "g'noo"

Logo of GNU

The GNU Project, started in 1983 by Richard Stallman, had the goal of creating a "complete Unix-compatible software system" composed entirely of free software. Work began in 1984. Later, in 1985, Stallman started the Free Software Foundation and wrote the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) in 1989. By the early 1990s, many of the programs required in an operating system (such as libraries,compilers, text editors, a Unix shell, and a windowing system) were completed, although low-level elements such as device drivers, daemons, and the kernel were stalled and incomplete.

FLOSS

The Free/Libre/Open Source Software community, which is also known as FLOSS. FLOSS software comes completely free of charge and everyone is entitled to look at the source code and modify it as he pleases.GNU General Public  license used in the FLOSS community, that’s why it is free. You heard that the source code of Floss softwares are free.

This means that skilled developers from around the world contribute their work either for free, or via sponsorships from companies like Canonical or IBM. But you can improve the software as well.Microsoft‟s Windows source code is not available to anyone but Microsoft employees, and it constitutes a felony to decompile or reverse engineer it. You can‟t build your own Windows kernel, fix bugs, or distribute an improved version of Windows that you created.

Richard Stllman 

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:

1.             The freedom to run the program, for any purpose

2.          The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs

3.          Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

4.         The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor

5.         The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits

 6.        Access to the source code is a precondition for this.                                 

“The word "free" in our name does not refer to price; it refers to freedom. First, the freedom to copy a program and redistribute it to your neighbors, so that they can use it as well as you. Second, the freedom to change a program, so that you can control it instead of it controlling you; for this, the source code must be made available to you.” –Free Software Definition by Richard Stallman