In the Free Software Movement, we believe computer users should
have the freedom to change and redistribute the software that
they use. The “free” in free software refers to freedom: it
means users have the freedom to run, modify and redistribute the
software. Free software contributes to human knowledge, while
non-free software does not. Universities should therefore
encourage free software for the sake of advancing human
knowledge, just as they should encourage scientists and scholars
to publish their work. Alas, many university administrators have
a grasping attitude towards software (and towards science); they
see programs as opportunities for income, not as opportunities
to contribute to human knowledge. Free software developers have
been coping with this tendency for almost 20 years. When I
started developing the GNU operating system in 1984, my first
step was to quit my job at MIT. I did this specifically so that
the MIT licensing office would be unable to interfere with
releasing GNU as free software.