Founded in 1985, the Free Software Foundation defends and promotes computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software.

The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Through an array of campaigns, the FSF targets and promotes opportunities for free software expansion and raises awareness about software freedom in the community as a whole. To read more, please visit the Campaigns page.

To learn more about our the FSF, including information about its staff and board, please visit the Staff and Board Members page.

Philosophy

On GNU's philosophy page and its essays page , there are a number of texts that describe the political, ethical and practical viewpoints of the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project. We suggest, in particular, the following articles:

• The Free Software Definition
• A History of the GNU Project
• Why we must insist on free software
• Why GNU/Linux
• Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software

Financial Information

The Free Software Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. For information pertaining to the organization's financial status and investments, please visit the Financial Information page.

Contact Us

The Free Software Foundation's hours are 10:00 AM until 6:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. For press inquiries, please contact:

News and Press Releases

For recent news, please visit the News page or read our recent blog posts . Also, subscribe to the news feed via RSS .

If you are interested in press-related information about the FSF and the GNU project, you can subscribe to our press mailing list.

Also check out the Free Software Supporter , a monthly newsletter covering stories of interest to the free software community, or follow the FSF on social media.

Mastodon

Read why GNU social and Mastodon are better than Twitter.

Free Software Tools for Journalists

There exists an array of free software available for journalists, including tools for text editing, audio recording, calendaring, organizing, emailing, and web-authoring. Free software tools help protect the anonymity, security, and freedom of journalists across the world. Examples of free tools include:

• Email Self-Defense Guide , a manual for setting up encrypted email and protecting oneself against bulk surveillance.
• MediaGoblin , a media publishing replacement for Flickr, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc.
• Tor , an encrypted, anonymous Internet network.
• LibreOffice , an office suite for creating and editing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.