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  5. 		<title>Libre Software Manifesto — lanodan’s cyber-home</title>
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  10. 			<h1>Libre Software Manifesto</h1>
  11. 			<p class="timestamps">published on 2025-05-09T16:02:00Z, last updated on 2025-05-09T16:02:00Z</p>
  12. 			<p>
  13. 				Done mostly because I think both the <a href="https://opensource.org/osd">Open Source Definition</a> and
  14. 				the <a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">GNU Free Software Definition</a>
  15. 				ought to include more clauses about software beyond mere licensing such as allowing interoperability.
  16. 			</p>
  17. 			<p>
  18. 				Part of this Manifesto also include rights around usability including user interfaces and formats, this is notably inspired by <a href="https://edgard.fdn.fr/liberateur/">Logiciel Liberateur</a> (in French) of Benjamin Bayart.<br />
  19. 				After all Software Liberty shouldn't only be a matter of mere licensing but also a matter of the software itself.
  20. 			</p>
  21. 			<p>
  22. 				Also when it comes to hardware-related blobs I must note that I fundamentally disagree with how FSF's "Respect Your Freedom" forbids binary blobs to be loaded by otherwise Free Software while accepting it when present into a ROM.
  23. 				It is a compromise and I'd much rather have tools allowing the load/installation of any software (meaning no TiVo) regardless of it's licensing rather than forcing users to make hardware modifications for mere software modification.
  24. 			</p>
  25. 			<p>
  26. 				Should also be noted that Libre Software isn't a mark of quality nor a feature, but it should guarantee addressing those.
  27. 			</p>
  29. 			<h2>Definitions</h2>
  30. 			<h3 id="free-redist">Free Redistribution <a href="#free-redist">§</a></h3>
  31. 			<p>
  32. 				Redistribution of the software should not require royalties or fees, including for selling the software.
  33. 			</p>
  35. 			<h3 id="source">Source Code <a href="#source">§</a></h3>
  36. 			<p>
  37. 				Where Source Code:
  38. 				<ul>
  39. 					<li>is the most convenient form to study and modify;</li>
  40. 					<li>cannot be obfuscated as it would prevent convenient study;</li>
  41. 					<li>must be in a well-specified format to not prevent modifications and studying, or use by other implementations.</li>
  42. 				</ul>
  43. 			</p>
  44. 			<p>
  45. 				Software should be available to users at no additional cost entirely in Source Code form, and should it needs any must include recipes to make use of the Software provided it's dependencies are met.
  46. 				Intermediate forms such as autogenerated code can only be tolerated when simple enough to trivially review in their entirety and are reproducible from only Source Code.
  47. 			</p>
  49. 			<h3 id="dependencies">Dependencies <a href="#dependencies">§</a></h3>
  50. 			<p>
  51. 				Software must not require usage of any other software which doesn't also meets the requirements of this manifesto.
  52. 			</p>
  54. 			<h3 id="derived-works">Derived Works <a href="#derived-works">§</a></h3>
  55. 			<p>
  56. 				The license must allow modifications and derived works, and must allow them to be distributed under the same terms as the license of the original software.
  57. 			</p>
  58. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  60. 			<h3 id="trademarks">Trademarks <a href="#trademarks">§</a></h3>
  61. 			<p>
  62. 				Trademarks may not be used to restrict rights required in this document.
  63. 				Requirements to change or keep specific trademarks are acceptable as long as they would not break regular usage.
  64. 				For instance mere references in function names, file names including extensions and executable filenames, URL components including schemes, … may not be restricted.
  65. 			</p>
  67. 			<h3 id="patents">Patents <a href="#patents">§</a></h3>
  68. 			<p>
  69. 				Any applicable patents owned by the software authors must be granted with the software as to not prevent any of the rights present in this document.
  70. 			</p>
  72. 			<h3 id="assignment">Assignment <a href="#assignment">§</a></h3>
  73. 			<p>
  74. 				The Software project should not require Copyright Assignments nor require any additional license, including for sending modifications.<br />
  75. 				Sending back in the same license (copyleft in spirit if you will) is the intended workflow, with possible Copyright Assertion with aggreements like the <a href="https://developercertificate.org/">Developer Certificate of Origin</a>.
  76. 			</p>
  78. 			<h3 id="voluntary-communications">Communications must be voluntary <a href="#voluntary-communications">§</a></h3>
  79. 			<p>
  80. 				The license and the software may not require communications to any other person or group of persons than freely intended by the user.
  81. 			</p>
  83. 			<p>
  84. 				Specifically:
  85. 				<ul>
  86. 					<li>The software and it's license must not require access to any specific network</li>
  87. 					<li>The license may require providing Source Code access to users but it may not require it to be sent to a specific person or be rendered more public than existing communications done with said software.</li>
  88. 				</ul>
  89. 			</p>
  90. 			<p>
  91. 				See the <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DissidentTest">Dissident Test</a> and <a href="https://wiki.debian.org/DesertIslandTest">Desert Island Test</a> of debian-legal
  92. 			</p>
  94. 			<h3 id="interfaces">Program Interfaces Must be Documented <a href="#interfaces">§</a></h3>
  95. 			<p>
  96. 				Programming Interfaces notably including APIs, file formats, and network protocols must be well specified enough to allow for entirely new and independent software to interoperate without reverse-engineering.
  97. 			</p>
  98. 			<!-- I'd also add "License may not put licensing requirements on usage of it's interfaces" but sadly GPL quite breaks this… -->
  99. 			<p>
  100. 				Terminal User Interfaces (TUI), Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), and other User Interfaces are encouraged to be documented for accessibility and composability reasons, but not required to be.
  101. 			</p>
  103. 			<h3 id="persons-or-groups">No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups <a href="#persons-or-groups">§</a></h3>
  104. 			<p>The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons.</p>
  105. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  106. 			<p>
  107. 				The Software should also either not require any cryptographic signatures or should allow for signatures to be configured, including removal of default signatures.
  108. 			</p>
  110. 			<h3 id="fields-of-endeavor">No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor <a href="fields-of-endeavor">§</a></h3>
  111. 			<p>The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research.</p>
  112. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  114. 			<h3 id="license-distribution">Distribution of License <a href="#license-distribution">§</a></h3>
  115. 			<p>The rights attached to the program must apply to all to whom the program is redistributed without the need for execution of an additional license by those parties.</p>
  116. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  118. 			<h3 id="non-specific">License Must Not Be Specific to a Product <a href="#non-specific">§</a></h3>
  119. 			<p>The rights attached to the program must not depend on the program’s being part of a particular software distribution. If the program is extracted from that distribution and used or distributed within the terms of the program’s license, all parties to whom the program is redistributed should have the same rights as those that are granted in conjunction with the original software distribution.</p>
  120. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  122. 			<h3 id="non-endemic">License Must Not Restrict Other Software <a href="#non-endemic">§</a></h3>
  123. 			<p>The license must not place restrictions on other software that is distributed along with the licensed software. For example, the license must not insist that all other programs distributed on the same medium must be open source software.</p>
  124. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  126. 			<h3 id="tech-neutral">License Must Be Technology-Neutral <a href="#tech-neutral">§</a></h3>
  127. 			<p>No provision of the license may be predicated on any individual technology or style of interface.</p>
  128. 			<p>(taken as-is from the Open Source Definition)</p>
  130. 			<h2 id="future-considerations">Future Considerations <a href="#future-considerations">§</a></h2>
  131. 			<ul>
  132. 				<li>Open-access for specifications isn't required due to programming languages such as C</li>
  133. 			</ul>
  135. 			<h2 id="see-also">See Also <a href="#see-also">§</a></h2>
  136. 			<ul>
  137. 				<li><a href="https://f-droid.org/en/docs/Anti-Features/">Anti-Features | F-Droid documentation</a></li>
  138. 			</ul>
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