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Free Software Foundation
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<p>The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a <a href="/facts/501(c)/Qx1XrC9t">501(c)(3)</a> <a href="/facts/Non-profit_organization/AmXu2c85">non-profit organization</a> founded by <a href="/facts/Richard_Stallman/hhoPN0Mw">Richard Stallman</a> on October 4, 1985. The organisation supports the <a href="/facts/Free_software_movement/aLlvF4D4">free software movement</a>, with the organization's preference for <a href="/facts/Software/RP79lVSW">software</a> being distributed under <a href="/facts/Copyleft/DHjTyl7C">copyleft</a> ("share alike") terms, such as with its own <a href="/facts/GNU_General_Public_License/S75KhLSX">GNU General Public License</a>. The FSF was incorporated in <a href="/facts/Boston/exjfn6xf">Boston</a> where it is also based. </p><p>From its founding until the mid-1990s, FSF's funds were mostly used to employ software developers to write <a href="/facts/Free_software/IaoVtJXn">free software</a> for the <a href="/facts/GNU_Project/mjc8AwM6">GNU Project</a> and its employees and volunteers have mostly worked on legal and structural issues for the free software movement and the free software community.[<i>which?</i>] Consistent with its goals, the FSF aims to use only free software on its own computers. </p><p>The FSF holds the copyrights on many pieces of the <a href="/facts/GNU/HlAKKBdt">GNU</a> system, such as <a href="/facts/GNU_Compiler_Collection/t07jh01k">GNU Compiler Collection</a>. As the holder of these copyrights, it has authority to enforce the <a href="/facts/Copyleft/DHjTyl7C">copyleft</a> requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL) when <a href="/facts/Copyright_infringement/33JDsS5S">copyright infringement</a> occurs. The FSF is also the steward of several free software licenses, meaning it publishes them and has the ability to make revisions as needed. </p>