--- title: "What are the four freedoms of open source, and where does WordPress use them?" date: 2026-11-03 author: "Courtney Robertson" featured_image: "https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Four-freedoms-in-a-WordPress-collage.png" categories: - name: "WordPress" url: "/category/wptips.md" - name: "Open Source" url: "/category/open-source.md" tags: - name: "wordpress" url: "/tag/wordpress.md" - name: "open source" url: "/tag/open-source.md" - name: "open source governance" url: "/tag/open-source-governance.md" - name: "Merge Conflicts" url: "/tag/merge-conflicts.md" - name: "four freedoms" url: "/tag/four-freedoms.md" - name: "free software" url: "/tag/free-software.md" - name: "GPL" url: "/tag/gpl.md" --- # What are the four freedoms of open source, and where does WordPress use them? The four freedoms of open source are permissions you hold over a program. You may run it for any purpose, study and change it, share copies, and share your changed copies. WordPress ships under a license that grants all four, so you already hold them. Here they are, where they show up in your work, and what they leave open. ## 🧯 What happens when your website provider closes? Picture a hypothetical food pantry with a website on a hosted service, such as a site builder. Then the provider announces it’s closing. So the pantry has questions: - **Can we run this somewhere else?** - **If not, can someone else fix it?** - **Do the content and the software leave with us when we go?** - **Will this week’s pickup times survive the move?** ![The pantry's provider announces it's closing. The team checks a permissions folder and a resources folder. If ready, they plan the move; otherwise they list the missing pieces.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Pantry-team-maps-options-after-closure-819x1024.png)Moving elsewhere depends on software permissions and practical resources. Text description of this illustration### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A portrait comic in which the fictional pantry’s website provider announces it’s closing, so the team has to decide what comes next. - **Sections:** At the top, the coordinator reads the notice at her laptop while the site still shows pickup times. In the middle, she and her technical collaborator, who uses a wheelchair, then ask “Can we run this elsewhere?” They also hold two folders, “Permissions” and “Resources.” The resources folder carries icons, namely code, a database, a plugin piece, a document and a helping hand. Finally, two outcomes sit at the bottom. “Ready: plan the move” is drawn as the site moving between systems. “Missing pieces: find what’s needed” is drawn instead as the collaborator working through a checklist with one item unknown. - **Relationships:** Both folders feed one assessment, which then branches to the two outcomes. Neither branch, though, is drawn as a failure. - **Reading order:** Top to bottom, then the footer, which reads “Freedoms 0 + 1: run, study, change.” Each of those questions is, in fact, one of the four freedoms of open source asked in plain words. The move also needs five things, and permissions are only one of them: - **Source code,** with permission to run and change it. - **Your data:** a usable export of content, uploads and settings. - **Dependencies:** the plugins, libraries and outside services the site relies on. - **Instructions** someone can follow, so a working copy runs elsewhere. - **Maintenance help** afterward, which you can hire. Check the permissions and the resources together. A license you may use and a database you can’t export leave you stuck either way. The rest of this post then gives you the names of the freedoms and where WordPress already answers them. ## 🧭 What are the four freedoms of open source? To begin with, the Free Software Foundation defines free software by four freedoms, in this order.[1](#16720e6e-7b30-4371-aac0-7ae9ae4ab5b8) They’re numbered from zero because the list started with three, around 1990, and freedom 0 was added at the front later.[2](#033d5d94-7ce9-4cdb-8f07-74bac4c79085) WordPress ships under the GPLv2 or later, a license the FSF wrote.[3](#4d0128fe-1947-4862-848a-a6335654d437) Each of the four freedoms of open source then gets the same four part treatment below: - **What it says,** in the FSF’s words. - **Where it matters** in WordPress work. - **Why you care, even if you never code.** - **What the license still doesn’t promise.** ![Four comic panels follow a food pantry using the four freedoms of open source. It runs its website, adds pickup times with help, shares the original copy, and shares its changed version with source code.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Four-freedoms-at-the-community-pantry-936x1024.png)One pantry, one website, four freedoms. Each freedom is a choice, and technical help can make those choices practical.Text description of this illustration### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A four panel comic titled “Four freedoms: one ordinary website,” about a fictional community food pantry and its website. - **Sections:** Panel 1, Freedom 0, “Run for any purpose”: the coordinator runs the site on a laptop and says the pantry needs a website. A folder labeled “Original” sits beside it. Panel 2, Freedom 1, “Study and change”: she and a technical collaborator who uses a wheelchair open the source code. Then they add a pickup times page. Panel 3, Freedom 2, “Share copies”: she hands a neighboring pantry’s coordinator a copy labeled “Original,” so both laptops show the same basic site. Panel 4, Freedom 3, “Share your version”: she hands over a package labeled “Modified + source,” and the neighbor’s site then shows pickup times. - **Relationships:** Each panel’s caption restates its freedom in plain words, while the arrow in panel 2 turns the original folder into a changed one. - **Reading order:** Title, then the panels left to right and top to bottom, then the footer: “An illustrative story. Each freedom is a choice.” *The illustrations in this post are AI generated images I directed in ChatGPT, drawn in a sketchbook style. The pantry and its people are fictional, though the freedoms they use are real.* ### Freedom 0: run it for any purpose - **What it says:** “The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).”[4](#b87e7493-3377-4d7a-91a5-d105175394be) In other words, nobody approves your use. - **Where it matters:** a food pantry, a newsroom and a dental practice download the same WordPress. Nobody asks what the site is for or charges more because a client is a business. - **Why you care, even if you never code:** the permission travels with the copy. When a proprietary vendor raises its price or retires a feature, you have three choices: pay, accept the change, or leave. Freedom 0 then adds a fourth. You keep running the version you have, as long as you like. - **The fine print:** the FSF’s own gloss says distribution “does not restrict how you use it.” It also adds that this “doesn’t make you exempt from laws.”[5](#ca1703d1-7d63-4f60-b834-0e748c38aa69) - **What the license still doesn’t promise:** that the program fits your purpose, or that anyone will keep it running for you. ### Freedom 1: study it and change it - **What it says:** “The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.”[6](#ab24acf9-1ff5-4ec2-854f-45d1c69aceac) In other words, you can open the files and change them. - **Where it matters:** every line of WordPress core is readable in the copy you download, and the work on it happens in public.[7](#672c3fc2-95a7-4110-acdd-5c383da13ddf) **This part is my account.** In 2006 I taught high school business and computer classes. At the same time, I built a freelance customer’s WordPress site. Most of the software I had used until then “never let me peek at their code to study how they worked.”[8](#28c31cfb-aacf-491f-8341-36d871058f5c) This one did. The theme was a folder of PHP files, so I could open, read and change them. Pages had shipped in WordPress 1.5 the year before.[9](#4589a777-a4f1-4aaa-a777-46143ba045cf) Widgets were still a plugin, so the sidebar I was reading was plain theme code.[10](#194b6c17-ae4f-4739-93c5-0a5d6f826f17) Within a year or two I was registering sidebars in a commercial theme.[11](#bc4ed777-6c23-4e9e-ac8b-b33d3705b7ba) - **Why you care, even if you never code:** the freedom belongs to whoever holds the copy, so a developer you hire can exercise it for you. For example, child themes make that routine. The [Theme Handbook](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/) says, “Child themes are extensions of a parent theme.”[12](#8cba387b-05bd-4e3e-901f-f4d330fd28ac) With one, you “can still receive updates to the parent theme without losing those modifications.”[13](#e74f35f5-30fe-407b-9cf6-cd7f67e9c5bd) - **What the license still doesn’t promise:** documentation, or that the change is easy. ### Freedom 2: share copies - **What it says:** “The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).”[14](#5a09d875-1b80-478e-94d0-a0787376a15c) In other words, you may give copies away or sell them. - **Where it matters:** an agency installs WordPress on its fortieth client site with no fee per site. Likewise, a teacher hands thirty students the same copy on the first day. - **Why you care, even if you never code:** your site isn’t tied to a seat count, so a copy of the software can travel with your content to another host. - **Free also means free to sell.** The FSF says it plainly: free software “does not mean ‘noncommercial.'”[15](#84ce0112-c888-46a8-b2d9-361cc5a50e5a) A free program “must be available for commercial use, commercial development, and commercial distribution.”[16](#1a08cbc3-3323-4e5c-b40e-57a2afb3873b) So you can charge for building, hosting and support. - **What the license still doesn’t promise:** that your host will hand over a working copy of your site. That’s a service question, and the next section comes back to it. ### Freedom 3: share your changed copies - **What it says:** “The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes.”[17](#01cbf886-7fbc-4c22-99a9-5dd4d06704c9) In other words, your fix doesn’t have to stay on your laptop. Freedom 2 shares the program as you got it, whereas freedom 3 shares the version you changed. - **Where it matters:** WordPress exists because of this one. The weblog tool it grew from, b2, was “released under the GPL,” its own readme said, in a version dated November 2002.[18](#13df7720-e53a-4299-8314-6ac94d01eeca) WordPress began in 2003 as “the official successor of b2/cafelog.”[19](#393ff63f-657a-41bd-a5c6-4283caa01165) The code and the license then carried forward. The name didn’t, but nobody needed b2’s permission for either. [Verified](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) > “The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3).” And the next line: “Access to the source code is a precondition for this.” > > Free Software Definition, Free Software Foundation, page dated 2026-06-09. Claim C-XF-029. What cuts against it: the definition covers software, not names, domains or services.[20](#6432a603-71a2-4dd6-a577-151d6d286c8e) - **Why you care, even if you never code:** a plugin someone else fixed and republished is freedom 3 at work. - **What the license still doesn’t promise:** that the project will merge your change, or that a fork keeps the name. The limits section comes back to that later. ## 📜 Where did the four freedoms of open source come from? The GNU announcement went out on September 27, 1983, under Richard Stallman’s name.[21](#4296e791-b927-44ea-882b-a03c9fcc66de) It proposed a system, made a promise and gave a reason: - **Its plan:** “a complete Unix-compatible software system called GNU.”[22](#4c17a518-df8d-4c52-b304-80af1586f219) - **Its promise:** to “give it away free to everyone who can use it.”[23](#95b4383c-9268-4d79-8ba4-143969ef9846) - **The stated reason:** “I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like it.”[24](#79e3cbfb-0c98-4f10-a1f7-cacb99f93677) That’s freedom 2 before it had a number. ### Ideas, licenses and projects: the dates behind the freedoms The institutions and licenses behind the four freedoms of open source followed soon after, and then the projects that became WordPress: - **October 4, 1985:** the Free Software Foundation incorporated.[25](#6c11b06f-0034-4233-9a31-466a8d2bd741) - **1986:** its first bulletin carried an early definition of free software, by the FSF’s own history page.[26](#36d858f9-0832-420e-a44b-565a3375d12d) - **February 1989:** the GNU General Public License, version 1.[27](#456ff10a-836b-4b01-9807-ec870bca9816) - **June 1991:** version 2.[28](#cac726ee-7513-4cba-a5ed-9a2c944c2305) WordPress still ships under version 2 or later.[29](#88521c56-62b9-402e-9926-a2da620ed57c) - **June 2001:** b2 began. That August its author wrote that “b2 isn’t released under the GPL yet.”[30](#60ba0f24-badb-410a-b89c-072be583e830) - **November 2002:** a b2 readme dated that month says it was.[31](#04ed5b9c-9f04-4001-a3cd-949375189017) - **May 27, 2003:** WordPress’s first release.[32](#c1ede492-f1b7-4784-a889-53c49495ee84) The numbers came later. Around 1990 the FSF listed three freedoms, 1 to 3, so freedom 0 didn’t exist yet. Then it added the freedom to run the program at the front, as freedom 0, instead of renumbering the rest.[33](#227ca83b-ce5b-4689-b5a4-d8402d2a48ff) “Open source” is younger still: - It dates to a strategy session on February 3, 1998 in Palo Alto, “shortly after the announcement of the release of the Netscape source code.”[34](#f2f02a59-9417-433a-adbe-e546861c92c0) - The [Open Source Initiative](https://opensource.org/history) formed that month.[35](#6ae0b394-4f5e-4afb-980f-60cd8b46d7ee) - The OSI’s definition likewise lists ten criteria and opens with a warning: “Open source doesn’t just mean access to the source code.”[36](#706cf820-5250-4f5a-b922-7f795a549695) Post 1.2 covers how the two terms differ. ![Notebook page with three bands, ideas, licenses and projects. They date GNU, the FSF, an early definition, GPL versions 1 and 2, b2 and WordPress. A footer says today's freedoms are numbered 0 to 3.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Tracing-the-Four-Software-Freedoms-2-819x1024.png)Selected milestones connect the development of software freedom ideas, licenses, and the projects that became WordPress.Text description of this illustration#### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A notebook page titled “Where the four freedoms came from: selected milestones.” - **Sections:** “Ideas” comes first: 1983, GNU announced; 1985, FSF founded; 1986, early definition published. “Licenses” follows: 1989, GPL version 1; 1991, GPL version 2. “Projects” then lists 2001, b2 begins; 2002, GPL documented; 2003, WordPress forks b2, while a tag under 2003 reads “May 27, first release.” Below the bands, the pantry team reads at a laptop. Their open notebook lists today’s freedoms: 0 run, 1 study and change, 2 share copies, 3 share modified versions. - **Relationships:** The three bands keep ideas, licenses and code ancestry apart, so the only arrow runs from b2 to WordPress. “GPL documented” marks the dated readme, not an adoption date. - **Reading order:** The three bands top to bottom, left to right within each. Then the notebook, then the footer: “The definition evolved; today’s freedoms are numbered 0 to 3.” ## ⚖️ Do SaaS, proprietary software and AI built tools give you the four freedoms? Four different questions hide behind one sign up screen, but the four freedoms of open source answer only one of them. QuestionWhat to askWho answers itHow was it made?Written by hand, with AI help, or both? How was it reviewed?The maker’s process. The four freedoms don’t askHow is it delivered?A copy I run, or access to someone else’s service?The delivery modelWhat permissions do I hold?May I run, study, change and redistribute it? Where does it say so?The license. This is the four freedoms’ questionWho controls the project around it?Who changes the rules, runs the update server, hears complaints?Governance, which the rest of this series coversFour questions to ask about one product, and which one the four freedoms answer![A sketchbook page where the pantry team asks four questions about one product. How was it made, how is it delivered, what does its license allow, and who makes the decisions?](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/One-product-four-questions-in-a-sketchbook-819x1024.png)AI assistance, SaaS, licensing and governance describe different aspects of the same product.Text description of this illustration### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A sketchbook page titled “One product, four different questions,” about the same pantry website. - **Sections:** “How was it made?” asks whether people wrote the code, used AI assistance, or both, while a laptop shows code beside a label reading “AI?”. “How is it delivered?” then asks hosted service (SaaS), self hosted, or both. It’s drawn as a cloud server on one side and a local box of code on the other. “What does the license allow?” asks about running, studying and changing, sharing copies and sharing changed versions, so the pair read a license document. “Who makes the decisions?” finally asks who governs the project and its services, and who hears concerns, beside two folders labeled “Project” and “Service.” - **Relationships:** The four questions are drawn as separate bands, so no arrow connects one answer to another. - **Reading order:** Top to bottom, then the footer, which reads “Each question needs its own answer.” [Analysis](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) In fact, the FSF draws the delivery line itself: “Programs and services are different kinds of entities. A program is a work that you can execute; a service is an activity that you might interact with.”[37](#c2e8420c-6b40-4cb9-80bc-a1c6e786ce2b) Two things follow: - A service doesn’t come as a copy, so the four freedoms don’t apply to it. - Similarly, the OSI’s ten criteria judge distribution terms; none of them asks how the code was written.[38](#ccb5cbc5-3d53-40f4-8f73-abf7c2bb0ea6) So WordPress core comes under the GPLv2 or later,[39](#f8daad68-478c-4d66-bf43-79746b05a609) and the hosting around it is a service with its own terms. A polished interface, in other words, tells you nothing about which freedoms you hold. **Ask for the license, then ask what stays with the provider.** ## 🤖 How do the four freedoms differ from Asimov’s laws? Asimov’s robots follow three laws plus a later Zeroth Law. The First Law: “A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”[40](#b1535683-e16c-4961-bff3-3584170d3eee) Put the two lists side by side: - **Asimov’s laws** govern a fictional machine’s behavior, and they rank, so the First Law outranks the Second, and the Second outranks the Third. - **The four freedoms of open source** govern what people may do with software, and they don’t rank. “A program is free software if it gives users adequately all of these freedoms. Otherwise, it is nonfree.”[41](#95a88fc3-2056-4373-a534-70b7f6eaf9e1) [Analysis](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/#h-which-six-evidence-labels-do-the-merge-conflicts-methods-use) Both lists got their zero the same way, namely a more basic rule added after the first three.[42](#6411640b-57e8-40de-8223-ae1fda73c2be)[43](#1da2a3c2-fbc7-4e89-82e5-c18417e09271) That’s a coincidence, not an influence, since no source read for this post connects them. The real contrast is about purpose: - **Freedom 0** allows any purpose, and the FSF calls usage restrictions “a disastrous path.”[44](#90a869e5-0d32-45b7-a729-05c8e2ef81eb) - **Asimov’s laws,** on the other hand, exist to prevent harm. So who decides what technology may do for people, and who can challenge that? ![The pantry team compares Asimov's ranked robot laws with four equal software freedoms. A small Robots and Empire paperback with tabs marked 0 and 63 rests beside the notebook.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Robot-Laws-and-Software-Freedoms-3-1024x683.png)Asimov’s stories ask how robots must behave. Software freedoms ask what people may do with software.Text description of this illustration### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A two page sketchbook spread, wider than tall, titled “Robot laws & software freedoms,” with the pantry team at the top asking “Who gets to decide?” - **Sections:** Left page, “Asimov’s fiction: three laws + later Zeroth Law, brief paraphrases.” The list reads 0 protect humanity, 1 protect individual humans, 2 follow human orders, 3 preserve itself. A sketched robot stands beside it, while the note under the list reads “Lower numbered laws take priority.” Right page, “Four software freedoms,” as four equal tiles: 0 run for any purpose, 1 study and change, 2 share copies, 3 share modified versions. The line under the tiles then reads “Free software grants all four.” At the lower left, a small paperback is drawn as *Robots and Empire* by Isaac Asimov. It has a bookmark marked 0 and a page tab marked 63. The cover is original artwork, though, not a reproduction of a jacket. - **Relationships:** The two lists sit side by side and nothing connects them, since the robot list is ranked and the freedom tiles aren’t. - **Reading order:** The title and the question, then the left page, then the right page, then the footer: “Different frameworks. Both raise questions about power.” ## 📜 What do the four freedoms of open source not grant? A license grants the four freedoms over the code. It grants none of these: - **A vote** on the project. - **Seats** where decisions get made. - **Any say** over the project’s name, domain or update channel. Other documents decide those instead, often held by different people. *I work at Pantheon, a WordPress and Drupal host, so note that Drupal appears in the table below. Every relationship that bears on this series is one click away.* Every relationship that bears on this series- **Pantheon**, my current employer, is a WordPress and Drupal host. - **GoDaddy**, where I managed its Five for the Future contributors until July 2026. - **FAIR**, where I sit on the FAIR Package Manager Technical Steering Committee. - **The WPOCC**, where I’m a co-founding board member. - **The WordPress Training Team**, where I’m a faculty member and a former team rep. - **Questions I asked on stage** at WordCamp US 2024, the WordCamp Europe 2025 fireside and WordCamp Canada 2025. - **My own words appear in court exhibits** in *WPEngine v. Automattic* (Dkt. 18-28, 107-4, 18-5 and 69-16). The series reports that litigation in pairs. ### Check it yourself: who holds the WordPress copyright? Open `license.txt` in any WordPress download. The copyright line reads “Copyright 2011-2026 by the contributors.”[45](#64a6bb73-f90f-4237-a229-0d48d50f35f3) In other words, copyright sits with everyone who contributed. The name, the domain and the update server sit elsewhere, so Season 2 asks where. ### How four forks used freedom 3 Parent projectForkWhat the fork keptWhat stayed behindLabel and claimb2/cafelogWordPress, 2003The code, as “the official successor of b2/cafelog”The b2 nameverified; WordPress.org version history[46](#c3753546-330d-4c47-95a4-929cc417641c)DrupalBackdrop, 2013About 19,285 commits of Drupal’s historyA new name and domainverified for the count, analysis for “kept the history”; C-BG-003, C-BG-001[47](#15b43c3d-680b-4bc9-a5db-5b9aae65e157)MySQLMariaDBThe GPLv2 code and the peopleThe MySQL name; the MariaDB name sits with a company, and the Foundation uses it under licenseanalysis; C-MDB-201[48](#ce76c28b-2138-4b46-b16f-b4eacf910289)RubyGemsgem.coop, 2025A gem server and mirror run by former maintainersThe rubygems.org registry and its namespacesource-derived; C-SUP-080[49](#469a4deb-69b3-4b8c-bf18-18c6907e809a)What four forks kept under freedom 3, and what stayed behind, with the evidence label for each rowEvery fork in that table kept the code, but none kept the name. The freedoms also say nothing about: - who keeps the code working; - whose eyes land on your data; - which people can use the interface; - where a complaint goes. Seasons 2 and 3 take those up later. ![The pantry team copies permitted code and adds a delivery feature to its pickup calendar site. Then they list separate questions: name and brand, hosting and updates, who chooses to join.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Forking-the-pantry-code-4-819x1024.png)A fork lets people build on permitted code. Names, services and participation need their own decisions.Text description of this illustration#### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A three panel sketchbook page titled “A fork starts with code.” - **Sections:** Panel 1: the coordinator asks “Can we build on this?” Beside her, a laptop shows the pickup times site, a folder labeled “Original version” and a license document. Panel 2, “Copy permitted code”: an arrow runs from the original folder to a folder labeled “Our version.” That site now carries a delivery truck beside the calendar. The caption reads “Follow the license terms.” Panel 3, “Separate questions”: a notepad lists “Name + brand?”, “Hosting + updates?” and “Who chooses to join?” A price tag, a server and two people are drawn beside them. - **Relationships:** The arrow carries only the code, so the three questions sit outside it. The original version stays in the drawing, though, which promises nothing about an original service staying available. - **Reading order:** Top to bottom, then the footer, which reads “Freedoms 1 + 3: change it, then share your version.” ### Three mistakes the four freedoms don’t make for you - **Treating free as noncommercial.** Freedom 2 already covered that one, so you can charge for building, hosting and support. - **Treating a license as a governance model.** The four freedoms of open source tell you what you may do with the code. They don’t tell you, though, who decides what goes into it, who hears a complaint, or who holds the name. - **Assuming someone else maintains it.** In fact, Tidelift’s 2024 survey found 60% of maintainers call themselves unpaid hobbyists, and only 3% report income from open source foundations.[50](#0b508982-9d81-459d-ab22-6a350b6c5602) So check before you depend on a project. Each plugin page in the WordPress directory shows when it was last updated. Look before you install it on forty sites. ## ❓ Which four freedoms questions can you ask about any tool? Pick one tool you depend on this week, then put the four freedoms of open source to it. Three rules: - **Mark each answer** documented, unclear, or a tradeoff I accept. - **No score at the end,** because a single number hides which answers you couldn’t find. - **Point the questions at the software itself.** A hosted service or an account needs its own check instead. 1. **Freedom 0.** Can I run it for my purpose without anyone’s approval, and keep running this version if the maker changes course? 2. **Freedom 1.** Can I, or someone I hire, read the code and change it, and if so, where is the source? 3. **Freedom 2.** Can I install a copy somewhere else, with my content, without a per seat fee? 4. **Freedom 3.** Can I pass my changes on, or move to a fork, if the project won’t take them? 5. **Beyond the license.** Who keeps it maintained, and if I pay, how does my money reach them? 6. **Beyond the license.** Who decides what goes in, and who hears a complaint about that decision? Season 2 then asks this of twelve projects. ![A clipboard checklist with four empty boxes: run for any purpose, study and change the code, share unchanged copies, share modified versions. A note adds: who decides, who maintains it.](https://courtneyr.dev/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Pantry-team-checks-four-software-freedoms-1-819x1024.png)Use the four freedoms as questions you can check against the software’s license and source access.Text description of this illustration### What this illustration shows - **Subject:** A clipboard titled “Our four freedoms check: for the software we’re evaluating.” - **Sections:** Four unchecked boxes are numbered 0 to 3, each with a small icon. Box 0 asks “Can we run it for any purpose?” and box 1 “Can we study and change the code?” Box 2 asks “Can we share unchanged copies?” and box 3 “Can we share our modified versions?” Under them: “Check the license. Check source access.” At the bottom, the coordinator holds a license document while her collaborator reads source code on a laptop. A pinned note also says “Also ask: who decides? Who maintains it?” - **Relationships:** The four questions map to the four freedoms by number, whereas the pinned note separates governance and maintenance from the license check. - **Reading order:** Title, then the four boxes top to bottom, then the line under them, then the note. Then notice which marks say unclear. That’s where the four freedoms of open source stop and governance starts, and the next 98 posts live there. A later post in this series puts four cards beside these questions: stated reasons, published commitments, documented decisions, and responses. ### Where this post sits in the series This post follows 1.0, which asks what happens when open source governance procedures aren’t written down. It uses the labels on [the Merge Conflicts methods page](https://courtneyr.dev/merge-conflicts-methods/). Next up is 1.2, “Free as in freedom: the philosophy behind the licenses.” Follow along on [the Merge Conflicts series page](https://courtneyr.dev/series/merge-conflicts/). Footnotes (50)1. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#16720e6e-7b30-4371-aac0-7ae9ae4ab5b8-link) 2. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#033d5d94-7ce9-4cdb-8f07-74bac4c79085-link) 3. WordPress.org. “License.” WordPress.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#4d0128fe-1947-4862-848a-a6335654d437-link) 4. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#b87e7493-3377-4d7a-91a5-d105175394be-link) 5. Richard Stallman. “Why programs must not limit the freedom to run them.” GNU Project. Page updated 2022-09-06. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#ca1703d1-7d63-4f60-b834-0e748c38aa69-link) 6. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#ab24acf9-1ff5-4ec2-854f-45d1c69aceac-link) 7. WordPress.org. “Make WordPress Core.” make.wordpress.org. The “dev chat” tag count as shown 2026-11-01. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#672c3fc2-95a7-4110-acdd-5c383da13ddf-link) 8. Courtney Robertson. “A WordPress Origin Story: Courtney Robertson.” courtneyr.dev. 2023-05-09. . Accessed 2026-11-01. Label: CR (my own earlier account). [↩︎](#28c31cfb-aacf-491f-8341-36d871058f5c-link) 9. WordPress.org. “Announcing WordPress 1.5.” WordPress News. 2005-02-17. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#4589a777-a4f1-4aaa-a777-46143ba045cf-link) 10. WordPress.org. “Widgets Plugin.” WordPress News. 2006-03-29. . Accessed 2026-11-01. Widgets joined core in WordPress 2.2: “WordPress 2.2.” WordPress News. 2007-05-16. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#194b6c17-ae4f-4739-93c5-0a5d6f826f17-link) 11. My account, dated by the record: the commercial theme was Revolution, whose site the Internet Archive first captured on 2007-08-21, already selling it at an introductory rate. . Accessed 2026-11-03. My 2023 origin story names the theme without a year. [↩︎](#bc4ed777-6c23-4e9e-ac8b-b33d3705b7ba-link) 12. WordPress.org. “Child Themes.” Theme Handbook, Developer.WordPress.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#8cba387b-05bd-4e3e-901f-f4d330fd28ac-link) 13. WordPress.org. “Child Themes.” Theme Handbook, Developer.WordPress.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#e74f35f5-30fe-407b-9cf6-cd7f67e9c5bd-link) 14. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#5a09d875-1b80-478e-94d0-a0787376a15c-link) 15. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#84ce0112-c888-46a8-b2d9-361cc5a50e5a-link) 16. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#1a08cbc3-3323-4e5c-b40e-57a2afb3873b-link) 17. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#01cbf886-7fbc-4c22-99a9-5dd4d06704c9-link) 18. b2/cafelog. “b2 > ReadMe.” cafelog.com. Readme for b2 0.6.1, dated 20021102 in its first line; copyright notes read “b2 is ©2001, 2002” and “b2 is released under the GPL (see license.txt).” . Accessed 2026-11-03. The same text is in the Internet Archive capture of 2003-02-16, . [↩︎](#13df7720-e53a-4299-8314-6ac94d01eeca-link) 19. WordPress.org. “Learn about WordPress origins and version history.” WordPress Documentation. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The page also says WordPress was “licensed under the GPL” from the start and lists b2 cafelog’s 2001 launch. [↩︎](#393ff63f-657a-41bd-a5c6-4283caa01165-link) 20. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#6432a603-71a2-4dd6-a577-151d6d286c8e-link) 21. Richard Stallman. “Initial Announcement.” GNU Project. 1983-09-27. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#4296e791-b927-44ea-882b-a03c9fcc66de-link) 22. Richard Stallman. “Initial Announcement.” GNU Project. 1983-09-27. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#4c17a518-df8d-4c52-b304-80af1586f219-link) 23. Richard Stallman. “Initial Announcement.” GNU Project. 1983-09-27. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#95b4383c-9268-4d79-8ba4-143969ef9846-link) 24. Richard Stallman. “Initial Announcement.” GNU Project. 1983-09-27. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#79e3cbfb-0c98-4f10-a1f7-cacb99f93677-link) 25. Free Software Foundation. “FSF celebrates thirty-fifth anniversary with week of surprises and online event.” fsf.org. 2020-10-06. . Accessed 2026-11-03: “On October 4, 1985, Harold Abelson, Robert J. Chassell, Richard M. Stallman, Gerald Jay Sussman, and Leonard H. Tower, Jr. incorporated the Free Software Foundation, Inc.” For the 1986 definition: Free Software Foundation. “FSF History.” . Accessed 2026-11-03: under a heading dated OCT 1985, “an initial definition of free software was published in the first Bulletin in 1986.” That timeline also heads the incorporation entry “MAR 1985”; the dated anniversary statement is used here. [↩︎](#6c11b06f-0034-4233-9a31-466a8d2bd741-link) 26. Free Software Foundation. “FSF celebrates thirty-fifth anniversary with week of surprises and online event.” fsf.org. 2020-10-06. . Accessed 2026-11-03: “On October 4, 1985, Harold Abelson, Robert J. Chassell, Richard M. Stallman, Gerald Jay Sussman, and Leonard H. Tower, Jr. incorporated the Free Software Foundation, Inc.” For the 1986 definition: Free Software Foundation. “FSF History.” . Accessed 2026-11-03: under a heading dated OCT 1985, “an initial definition of free software was published in the first Bulletin in 1986.” That timeline also heads the incorporation entry “MAR 1985”; the dated anniversary statement is used here. [↩︎](#36d858f9-0832-420e-a44b-565a3375d12d-link) 27. Free Software Foundation. “GNU General Public License, version 1.” gnu.org. February 1989. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#456ff10a-836b-4b01-9807-ec870bca9816-link) 28. Free Software Foundation. “GNU General Public License, version 2.” gnu.org. June 1991. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#cac726ee-7513-4cba-a5ed-9a2c944c2305-link) 29. WordPress.org. “License.” WordPress.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#88521c56-62b9-402e-9926-a2da620ed57c-link) 30. WordPress.org. “The Only Blogger in Corsica.” WordPress Book (Milestones). 2015-11. . Accessed 2026-11-03. “In June 2001, Michel started developing b2”; and, for August 2001, that he stated “b2 isn’t released under the GPL yet.” The author’s name appears in this footnote only (GP1). [↩︎](#60ba0f24-badb-410a-b89c-072be583e830-link) 31. b2/cafelog. “b2 > ReadMe.” cafelog.com. Readme for b2 0.6.1, dated 20021102 in its first line; copyright notes read “b2 is ©2001, 2002” and “b2 is released under the GPL (see license.txt).” . Accessed 2026-11-03. The same text is in the Internet Archive capture of 2003-02-16, . [↩︎](#04ed5b9c-9f04-4001-a3cd-949375189017-link) 32. WordPress.org. “WordPress Now Available.” WordPress News. 2003-05-27. . Accessed 2026-11-03. “the first release of WordPress is now available for download.” [↩︎](#c1ede492-f1b7-4784-a889-53c49495ee84-link) 33. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#227ca83b-ce5b-4689-b5a4-d8402d2a48ff-link) 34. Open Source Initiative. “History of the Open Source Initiative.” opensource.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#f2f02a59-9417-433a-adbe-e546861c92c0-link) 35. Open Source Initiative. “History of the Open Source Initiative.” opensource.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#6ae0b394-4f5e-4afb-980f-60cd8b46d7ee-link) 36. Open Source Initiative. “The Open Source Definition.” opensource.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#706cf820-5250-4f5a-b922-7f795a549695-link) 37. Richard Stallman. “Network Services Aren’t Free or Nonfree; They Raise Other Issues.” GNU Project. Page updated 2024-01-01. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#c2e8420c-6b40-4cb9-80bc-a1c6e786ce2b-link) 38. Open Source Initiative. “The Open Source Definition.” opensource.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#ccb5cbc5-3d53-40f4-8f73-abf7c2bb0ea6-link) 39. WordPress.org. “License.” WordPress.org. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#f8daad68-478c-4d66-bf43-79746b05a609-link) 40. Edward Seiler and John H. Jenkins. “Isaac Asimov FAQ.” asimovonline.com. Page dated 2014-07-11. [https://asimovonline.com/asimov\_FAQ.html](https://asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html). Accessed 2026-11-03. The Three Laws and the Zeroth Law as quoted there; the FAQ places the Zeroth Law in *Robots and Empire*. Byline confirmed from the page 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#b1535683-e16c-4961-bff3-3584170d3eee-link) 41. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#95a88fc3-2056-4373-a534-70b7f6eaf9e1-link) 42. Free Software Foundation. “What is Free Software?” GNU Project. Page updated 2026-06-09. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The numbering footnote reads: “Around 1990 there were three freedoms, numbered 1, 2 and 3. Then we realized that the freedom to run the program needed to be mentioned explicitly.” Claim C-XF-029 reads the same page (S-XF-012, 2026-10-28). [↩︎](#6411640b-57e8-40de-8223-ae1fda73c2be-link) 43. Edward Seiler and John H. Jenkins. “Isaac Asimov FAQ.” asimovonline.com. Page dated 2014-07-11. [https://asimovonline.com/asimov\_FAQ.html](https://asimovonline.com/asimov_FAQ.html). Accessed 2026-11-03. The Three Laws and the Zeroth Law as quoted there; the FAQ places the Zeroth Law in *Robots and Empire*. Byline confirmed from the page 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#1da2a3c2-fbc7-4e89-82e5-c18417e09271-link) 44. Richard Stallman. “Why programs must not limit the freedom to run them.” GNU Project. Page updated 2022-09-06. . Accessed 2026-11-03. [↩︎](#90a869e5-0d32-45b7-a729-05c8e2ef81eb-link) 45. WordPress. `license.txt`, copyright line, as verified in the governance comparison’s executive summary. Internal. 2026-10-26. Re-read the file in a current WordPress download on publish day. [↩︎](#64a6bb73-f90f-4237-a229-0d48d50f35f3-link) 46. WordPress.org. “Learn about WordPress origins and version history.” WordPress Documentation. . Accessed 2026-11-03. The page also says WordPress was “licensed under the GPL” from the start and lists b2 cafelog’s 2001 launch. [↩︎](#c3753546-330d-4c47-95a4-929cc417641c-link) 47. GitHub REST API. `/repos/backdrop/backdrop` (created 2013-08-22) and the commits endpoint with `until=2013-09-15`. . Accessed 2026-11-01 for the repository record; the 19,285 commit count is from the dossier’s 2026-10-26 query (S-BG-021) and needs a re-run on publish day. [↩︎](#15b43c3d-680b-4bc9-a5db-5b9aae65e157-link) 48. MariaDB Foundation. “MariaDB Trademark.” mariadb.org. Agreement effective 2012-04-30, signed 2014-10-06. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#ce76c28b-2138-4b46-b16f-b4eacf910289-link) 49. Gem Cooperative. “gem.coop.” . Linked post dated 2025-11-21. Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#469a4deb-69b3-4b8c-bf18-18c6907e809a-link) 50. Tidelift. “Tidelift Study Reveals Paid Open Source Maintainers Do Significantly More Critical Security and Maintenance Work Than Unpaid Maintainers.” Business Wire. 2024-09-17. . Accessed 2026-11-01. [↩︎](#0b508982-9d81-459d-ab22-6a350b6c5602-link) Also on:- [ website](https://fed.brid.gy) [](https://courtneyr.dev/2026/11/03/four-freedoms-of-open-source/)Courtney RobertsonWhat are the four freedoms of open source, and where does WordPress use them?