I only install free GPL software on my computer - you should, too!

Free software licenced under GNU General Public Licence (GPL) is truly free. Not only you don't have to pay for it, but you can also freely redistribute the binary version and read and modify the source code. Imagine the possibilities. If the program doesn't work the way you want it, you can fix it yourself. You can also just take someone else's code and use it in your own projects. Free stuff rocks!

However, if you use someone else's code in your program, you must allow other people to use your code for free, too. It's a two-way street. The licence guarantees that NO-ONE can take someone else's GPL code and turn it into nasty, closed and proprietary software. Computer programs are ideas and no-one should own an idea! Ideas should be free and shared without restrictions.

Note that there are other so called "free" licences. They are not truly free like GPL is. They allow, under certain conditions, people to take the code and use it in their own programs without giving access to their own source code. This is selfish. They use another person's work to build a program that they then refuse to share in return. A great example of this evil licencing is BSD licence. It looks like a free licence, but it only encourages people to take and not to share. It's free as free beer, but not truly free (in spirit).

Now, some of you might ask: how do I make a living out of coding, then? Although people are free to download and copy your code, nothing stops you from asking donations! Write good software and you will surely be rewarded with money and the feeling you get from doing the right thing. Don't be selfish and write closed software that people aren't allowed to tinker with or re-distribute for free.