Topic Guide
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Since the essays and speeches in this book were addressed to different audiences at different times, there is a considerable amount of overlap, with some issues being discussed in more than one place. Because of this, and because we did not have the opportunity to make an index for this book, it could be hard to go back to something you read about unless its location is obvious from a chapter title.

We hope that this short guide, though sketchy and incomplete (it does not cover all topics or all discussions of a given topic), will help you find some of the ideas and explanations you are interested in.

                                                                      --Julie Sussman, P.P.A.

Overview

Chapter 1 gives an overview of just about all the software-related topics in this book.  Chapter 20 is also an overview.

For the non-software topics, see Privacy and Personal Freedom, Intellectual Property, and Copyright, below.

GNU Project

For the history of the GNU project, see Chapters 1 and 20

For a delightful explanation of the origin and pronunciation of the recursive acronym GNU (GNU's Not Unix, pronounced guh-NEW), see Chapter 20.

The ``manifesto'' that launched the GNU Project is included here as Chapter 2.

See also the Linux, GNU/Linux topic below.

Free Software Foundation

You can read about the history and function of the Free Software Foundation in Chapters 1 and 20, and under ``Funding Free Software'' in Chapter 18.

Free software

We will not attempt to direct you to all discussions of free software in this book, since every chapter except 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, and 19 deals with free software.

For a history of free software---from free software to proprietary software and back again---see Chapter 1.

Free Software is defined, and the definition discussed, in Chapter 3.  The definition is repeated in several other chapters.

For a discussion of the ambiguity of the word ``free'' and why we still use it to mean ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer,'' see ``Free as in Freedom'' in Chapter 1 and ``Ambiguity'' in chapter 6.

See also Source Code, Open Source, and Copyleft, below.

Free software is translated into 21 languages in Chapter 21.

Source Code, Source

Source code is mentioned throughout the discussions of free software.  If you're not sure what that is, read ``A Note on Software.''

Linux, GNU/Linux

For the origin of Linux, and the distinction between Linux (the operating-system kernel) and GNU/Linux (a full operating system), see the short mention under ``Linux and GNU/Linux'' in Chapter 1 and the full story in Chapter 20.

For reasons to say GNU/Linux when referring to that operating system rather than abbreviating it to Linux see Chapters 5 and 20.

Privacy and Personal Freedom

For some warnings about the loss of personal freedom, privacy, and access to written material that we have long taken for granted, see Chapters 11, 13, and 17.  All of these are geared to a general audience.

Open Source

For the difference between the Open Source movement and the Free Software movement, see Chapter 6.  This is also discussed in Chapter 1 (under ``Open Source'') and Chapter 20.

Intellectual Property

For an explanation of why the term ``intellectual property'' is both misleading and a barrier to addressing so-called ``intellectual property'' issues, see Chapter 21 and the beginning of Chapter 16.

For particular types of ``intellectual property'' see the Copyright and Patents topics, below.

Copyright

Note: Most of these copyright references are not about software.

For the history, purpose, implementation, and effects of copyright, as well as recommendations for copyright policy, see Chapters 12 and 19. Topics critical in our digital age, such as e-books and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), are addressed here.

For the difference between patents and copyrights, see Chapter 16.

For the use of copyright in promoting free software and free documentation, see Copyleft, just below.

Copyleft

For an explanation of copyleft and how it uses the copyright system to promote free software, see Chapter 1 (under ``Copyleft and the GNU GPL''), Chapter 14, and Chapter 20.  See also Licenses, below.

For an argument that copyleft is practical and effective as well as idealistic, see Chapter 15.

Chapter 9 argues for free manuals to accompany free software.

Licenses

The GNU licenses, which can be used to copyleft software or manuals, are introduced in Chapter 14 and given in full in Section Four.

Patents

See Chapter 16 for the difference between patents and copyrights and for arguments against patenting software and why it is different from other patentable things. Software-patent policy in other countries is also discussed.

Hacker versus Cracker

For the proper use of these terms see the beginning of Chapter 1.

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