GNU's Not Unix!

Welcome to the GNU Project web server, www.gnu.org. The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system. (GNU is a recursive acronym for ``GNU's Not Unix''; it is pronounced "guh-NEW".) Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as ``Linux'', they are more accurately called GNU/Linux systems.

This is also the web site of the Free Software Foundation (FSF). The FSF is the principal organizational sponsor of the GNU Project. FSF receives very little funding from corporations or grant-making foundations. We rely on support from individuals like you who support FSF's mission to preserve, protect and promote the freedom to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer software, and to defend the rights of Free Software users. Last year, over 67% of our operating funds came from individual donors. That ongoing support is the primary way we can continue our work. Please consider making a donation today, or becoming an Associate Member of the FSF. If you join by Wednesday 19 February 2003, you can attend our 2003 meeting.

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GNUs Flashes

A new page on getting GNU Press books into your local bookstores has been added.

The W3C "Royalty-Free" patent policy proposal does not protect the rights of the Free Software community to full participation in the implementation and extension of web standards. Please read more on this issue and send a comment to the W3C.

Announcing the latest book by Richard Stallman - Free Software, Free Society: The Selected Essays of Richard M. Stallman, with an Introduction by Lawrence Lessig. This essay collection covers a broad variety of topics, ranging from the history of the GNU Project, to community-building, to the dangers of the DMCA.

Here is a list of the GNU Project's latest software releases, which we update nightly.

For other news, as well as for items that used to be in this GNUs Flashes section, see What's New in and about the GNU Project.

Take Action

Urgent: Please visit http://www.digitalspeech.org and help resist the media companies' campaign to impose restrictions on what your computer can do.

European Citizens: European Commission is pushing to make all ideas patentable, proposal written by BSA. This page explains everything and tells you how you can help prevent this disaster.

US Citizens: Please sign both the Petition Against Software Patents and the Anti-DMCA Petition.

More Information

The Free Software Foundation is a tax-exempt charity that raises funds for work on the GNU Project.

The philosophy and history of the GNU project is featured in Richard M. Stallman's article The GNU Project and in several other texts in our philosophy section.

The FSF supports the freedoms of speech, press, and association on the Internet, the right to use encryption software for private communication, and the right to write software unimpeded by private monopolies.

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Updated: $Date: 2003/02/12 12:23:10 $ $Author: loic $