Article I - NAME, PURPOSE AND TERRITORY

1. NAME AND PURPOSE:

1.1 Free Software Foundation, subsequently referred to as the
Foundation, or FSF, is a non-profit corporation dedicated to
promoting the free exchange of information.

2. STRATEGY:

2.1 The Foundation shall achieve its goal through distribution of 
software and other kinds of information that the public is free to 
exchange.

2.2 The Foundation shall serve as a professional association of
individuals and organizations supporting its principles.

3. SOFTWARE:

3.1. The Foundation shall develop and maintain software for distribution.
The Foundation may also obtain the right to distribute any existing
software it deems appropriate, by any lawful means available to it.

3.2. The Foundation's primary software development and maintenance goal
shall be GNU, an advanced integrated modular portable and extensible 
collection of programs, including operating system, file system, 
periferal interfaces, communications, compilers and interpreters, 
source and machine language debuggers, databases and data
dictionaries, symbolic manipulation, edirtors and typesetters, user 
interface, graphics, games and applications software.

3.3. All software distributed by the Foundation shall be available to
the public in the form of source code, as well as any other form the
Foundation may choose to offer.  

3.4. Permission shall explicitly be granted for modification of any 
software distributed by the Foundation, unless the Foundation is
unable to secure the rights to permit this.

3.5. The Foundation may accept commisions for development of software 
that it deems worthy of inclusion in GNU.

4. OTHER INFORMATION:

4.1. The Foundation shall publish a newsletter, a journal containing
research contributions, software manuals and other materials pertinent
to its activities.

5. DISTRIBUTION:

5.1. After FSF has distributed a product, it must make the product
available to anyone.  This must continue for a reasonable length of
time after the first distribution of the product.

5.2. All information distributed by the Foundation shall carry explicit
permission for subsequent copying and redistribution by the public.

5.3. The only conditions for information's redistribution shall be
that, a/ FSF receive explicit credit as its source, and b/ that no
further restrictions, apart from FSF's own be attached.

6. FUNDING AND PRICING:

6.1. The Foundation shall solicit donations of funds, and of goods
and services useful to its operations, including donations of rights to
distribute software.

6.2. The price of any information distributed by the Foundation shall be
determined primarily by the cost of distribution media, duplication,
shipping and handling.

6.3. The Foundation's other activities, aside from distribution, shall
be funded primarily by membership dues, charitable contributions and
service fees.


7. COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS:

7.1. The Foundation shall maintain trademarks on names of its products.

7.2. The Foundation shall allow free copying of all of its copyrighted
materials.

8. LICENSES AND AGREEMENTS:

8.1. The Foundation shall not make or accept any nondisclosure, license
or proprietary agreements, explicit or implied, for any software or
other information that it distributes or receives.

8.2. The Foundation shall under no circumstance violate any existing
copyright or proprietary agreement.

8.3. The Foundation shall accept no secret or proprietary information.

9. SCOPE AND LOCATION:

9.1. The Foundation's scope is transnational, and its operations may be
conducted anywhere in the world.  

9.2.  Most of the software development activities of the Foundation
shall be conducted in the United States.

9.3. The Foundation's principal offices shall be in the State of
Massachusetts, and its operations shall be governed by the
not-for-profit corporation laws of that State.

