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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Software Foundation | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T10:31:51.176766+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Financial === Most of the FSF funding comes from patrons and members. Revenue streams also come from free-software-related compliance labs, job postings, published works, and a web store. FSF offers speakers and seminars for pay, and all FSF projects accept donations. Revenues fund free-software programs and campaigns, while cash is invested conservatively in socially responsible investing. The financial strategy is designed to maintain the Foundation's long-term future through economic stability. The FSF is a tax-exempt organization and posts annual IRS Form 990 filings online.
=== Postal address and headquarters === Through the years the FSF has had its postal address, and until August 31, 2024, when going all remote its physical headquarters, at different locations in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, as indicated in the table below. As the GNU GPL v2 included the FSF's postal address in one of the first lines of the introduction and the source code license notice template every change of address also caused updates to the license itself.
== Criticism ==
=== Position on DRM === Linus Torvalds has criticized FSF for using GPLv3 as a weapon in the fight against DRM. Torvalds argues that the issue of DRM and that of a software license should be treated as two separate issues.
=== Defective by Design campaign === On June 16, 2010, Joe Brockmeier, a journalist at Linux Magazine, criticized the Defective by Design campaign by the FSF as "negative" and "juvenile" and failing to provide users with "credible alternatives" to proprietary software. FSF responded to this criticism by saying "that there is a fundamental difference between speaking out against policies or actions and smear campaigns", and "that if one is taking an ethical position, it is justified, and often necessary, to not only speak about the benefits of freedom but against acts of dispossession and disenfranchisement."
=== GNU LibreDWG license controversy === In 2009, a license update of LibDWG/LibreDWG to version 3 of the GNU GPL made it impossible for the free software projects LibreCAD and FreeCAD to use LibreDWG legally. Many projects voiced their unhappiness about the GPLv3 license selection for LibreDWG, such as FreeCAD, LibreCAD, Assimp, and Blender. Some suggested the selection of a license with a broader license compatibility, for instance the MIT, BSD, or LGPL 2.1. A request went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2, which was rejected in 2012. LibDWG has stalled since 2011 for various reasons, including license issues.
=== Accusations against Richard Stallman === Stallman resigned from the board in 2019 after making controversial comments about one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, but rejoined the board 18 months later. Several prominent organizations and individuals who develop free software objected to the decision to let him rejoin the board, citing past writings on Stallman's blog which they considered antithetical to promoting a diverse community. As a result of Stallman's reinstatement, prominent members of the Free Software Foundation quit in protest and Red Hat announced that it would stop funding and supporting the Free Software Foundation.
== Recognition ==
Key players and industries that have made honorific mention and awards include:
2001: GNU Project received the USENIX Lifetime Achievement Award for "the ubiquity, breadth, and quality of its freely available redistributable and modifiable software, which has enabled a generation of research and commercial development". 2005: Prix Ars Electronica Award of Distinction in the category of "Digital Communities"
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Free Software Foundation - donations LibrePlanet