_______ _ _ _______ __ __ _______ _______ __ _ |______ | | |______ \_/ |_____| |_____| | \ | ______| |_____| | | | | | | | \_|
sf.me > Definitions > Non-Free Software
Categories: Software
Proprietary software is often deemed to be non-free because the owner exercises a legal monopoly by modern copyright law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing the software or modifying it. It is shunned in the free software world as it strips users of their rights.
Non-free pieces of software often claim to be open-source but open-source is not the same as free software. Software can be open-source and still prevent user freedom through licenses.
No one should use non-free software as there may be privacy breaches, malware, backdoors or even deals with the government to collect data just like NSA's PRISM.