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Questions tagged [free-software]

Free software, software libre, or libre software is computer software that gives users the freedom to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, modify, and distribute the original software and the adapted versions.

From Wikipedia & GNU:

A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

  • Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program for any purpose.
  • Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish.
  • Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
  • Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
17 questions
65
votes
5 answers

Is there a difference between free software and open source software?

I am a bit confused about these two terms. Are there differences between them?
Mysterio
  • 12,288
30
votes
3 answers

What is the "Free software only" option when installing Ubuntu?

When installing Ubuntu, you get a Free software only option. Does that Free software only option mean Free as in beer or Free as in freedom? When I say free as in freedom, I mean FSF type of freedom. Image source: How do I make Ubuntu use only…
oshirowanen
  • 4,047
4
votes
1 answer

Free codecs: How to use FFmpeg to convert my mp4s to ogv under Xenial?

I am very attracted to the idea of using completely free codecs. How do I convert my .mp4 files to .ogv using FFmpeg under Xenial Xerus using these free codecs? I am interested in: Converting a single mp4 file Converting a folder with many mp4…
andrew.46
  • 39,359
3
votes
2 answers

Any SAP (structural analysis program) software in linux?

I'm looking for any software like ETABS, SAP2000, Autodesk RSA (ROBOT), Graitec Advance Design, SCIA, STRAP, STAAD. I don't need simple 2D frame solver. I'm looking for fully fledged 3D, nonlinear, dynamic and seismic analysis capable software.…
ipse lute
  • 2,614
2
votes
1 answer

What is the objective of Ubuntu?

When I visited this post I am surprised about the objective of Ubuntu! As it says: I'm not Shuttleworth, but the Ubuntu objective is not to ship a Pure Free Distro, but to solve Bug number 1. But the Phiosophy page says: Ubuntu software is free.…
APLUS
  • 931
1
vote
0 answers

Great quality video and audio with ffmpeg2theora?

Xenial Xerus has a decent version of ffmpeg2theora: andrew@athens:~$ ffmpeg2theora | head -n 6 ffmpeg2theora 0.29 Xiph.Org libtheora 1.1 20090822 (Thusnelda) Xiph.Org libVorbis 1.3.5 FFmpeg libavcodec 56.60.100 FFmpeg …
andrew.46
  • 39,359
1
vote
1 answer

WinFF: How to produce 'free' ogv files under Xenial?

FFmpeg produces great ogv files under Xenial: Free codecs: How to use FFmpeg to convert my mp4s to ogv under Xenial? But I would like to use the gui WinFF to produce these files, and WinFF has no presets for this purpose. How can I do this?
andrew.46
  • 39,359
1
vote
1 answer

Is there a way to list all non-free software and firmware that is used/installed on my computer?

As I understand it, Ubuntu uses lots of free (FOSS/FLOSS) software but often also some closed-source proprietary software, which is why Ubuntu is not included in the FSF list of Free GNU/Linux distributions. While I'm not a fanatic about this, I do…
Elias
  • 2,159
1
vote
1 answer

Why is the Linux kernel in main?

According to GNU, there are nonfree binary blobs in the Ubuntu kernel, presumably these are in linux-firmware (in main) or linux-image-generic (also in main)? If these blobs are non-free, whey are they included in main which only free software is…
Ads20000
  • 1,983
0
votes
0 answers

How to install new version of freefilesync

I installed Freefilesync a long time ago to be launched via the standard launcher. I now proposes me to install a new version for Debian 9.2 64 bits or Ubuntu 16.04 64 bits. I have tried both but it downloads a tar.gz file. I tried to décompress…
Laurent06000
  • 736
0
votes
1 answer

Recover Folder from External Hard Drive

I have permanently deleted a folder by manually pressing the delete key on my external hard drive and realised not much later that I still need the data in that folder. I immediately turned off my HardDrive and thought about the options I have for…
Narusan
  • 103
0
votes
0 answers

Is it possible to make an existing Ubuntu installation completely free?

I was unaware in the beginning that Ubuntu is not completely free software, as it uses non-free components. Is it possible to overcome the system's dependence on these (such as replacing Linux kernel by linux-libre) and make my current installation…
axolotl
  • 1,232
0
votes
2 answers

What blobs are in the Ubuntu kernel, release 15.10?

It was indicated that my question was a lot like the question following this, the edit suggested explaining why it is different. This is about the kernel, not about repositories. Refer to the following question and see the difference: Which…
DeeDeeK
  • 109
0
votes
0 answers

Nonfree firmware and codecs packages

I went ahead and installed Ubuntu 24.10 the standard way, one partition. I've been using my computer for a while, so it would be very inconvenient to reinstall. Besides ubuntu-restricted-extras, are there other packages that get installed when…
Ioan-Alexandru Catană
  • 1
0
votes
1 answer

No desktop recording application works for me on Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS

I tried with Simple Screen Recorder, kazam, and others, but it doesn't work. In the recording, the background is completely dark and the only thing you can see is the mouse cursor.
Samuel David Gómez Ramos
  • 101
1
2