Why they love Free Software

"I love free software because it has so much in common with the cooperative movement. Both - the Raiffeisen movement that started more than 150 years ago - and the Free Software Community emphasize democracy, transparency, pluralism, consistency, reliability and focus. Both enable people to solve important problems together. I also love Free Software because I am a long-term GNU/Linux user and an active contributor to the PmWiki project."

Stefanie Schulte

"A few decades ago the word "Freedom" had a very different meaning than today. We live in a digital society in which many aspects of our lives, and of our Freedom, go through a digital medium. Having full control of the software we use is therefore the only way to achieve full control of our Freedom. I love Free Software because I take care of my Freedom."

Massimo Barbieri

"I love free software because it empowers people, free software puts you in condition to do things you could not do before, because it increases your knowledge and renders you more aware of your possibilities. I discovered free software at university, and since then a whole world has unfolded for me; and it is there, waiting to be used and waiting for another contributor. With free software I have done something that, before, I did much less: learning! I have learned not only more about computer science but also valuable skills for my studies and my job. So I have to say a big "Thank you" to all the people who are spending their time and providing us with great software."

Christian Consonni

"As a web designer I spend most of the time working on computers. Usability is a big issue for me. And a very important part of usability is the compliance with well defined open standards because every program can be built to support these norms. It's insane not comply with them if you want to provide a diverse audience with a certain design and a clear and reliable interaction. Free software is built around open standards. Unfortunately big proprietary software vendors ignore those standards building solutions which work for their own products only. I don't want to support this greed and take a stand for reasoning and cooperation by using free software and supplying media in formats which can be accessed freely without the need to accept unfavourable limitations."

Franz Gratzer

"The reason why "I love Free Software" it's in the phrase itself. Be free is important, be free to manage my computer as I want is important, be free to learn always something from other fellows is important, be free to teach always something to other fellows is important. All of this is possible only with Free Software, and since I joined the cause, I couldn't live without anymore. Linux, Ubuntu, Gnome, LibreOffice, Gimp, Blender, Chromium, just to name few, and many more free software that I use every day, allows me do what I want, in the way I want. No matter if I have to write a document, do some calculations, write software code, create some graphics, or simply enjoy a game or watch a film. Free Software it's always there with a simple and effective solution for me in any field."

Nicola Jelmorini

"I like, support and need "Free Software". It is a fundamental part of the internet as we know it, a basic precondition of a free Internet and even supports in some way the democracy around the world. Free Software isn't only a cheap way to get a MS Word clone. It is a political statement and even a religion for some developers."

Kai Kretschmann

"On Valentines Day, the Society for Free Culture and Software, extends their love to projects such as Audacity, GIMP, Inkscape and other audiovisual tools. These tools form the backbone of the infrastructure needed to support free culture and while Free Culture could technically exist independently of Free Software, the two movements share a common philosophy of freedom which make the two inseparable. Without Free Software, our activities would be so much more difficult to carry out, and no Free Culture project would be able to enjoy the full freedoms without the infrastructure created by Free Software projects such as those outlined before. To everyone engaged in supporting this infrastructure: thank you! We love you!"

Jonas Oberg

"Why I love Free Software? Because it let's me do cool things whithout having to work in some big USA-based software company."

Valentin Rusu

"Free Software is central to everything KDE does and without Free Software KDE software could not exist.

KDE relies overwhelmingly on volunteer contributions from people all around the world who, initially, do not know one another. Free Software provides the social contract that makes such contributions possible, as our volunteers know they are helping to create a common good that can be shared by all.

Free Software and the shared purpose it creates also gives KDE its distinctive non-hierarchical meritocratic structure. Without the principles of Free Software, KDE would need centralised control of the software copyrights and, in turn, a set of leaders determining the direction of the software we produce. Our contributors would have less ability to try out new ideas, to work on the things that really matter to them and, above all, to be Free.

Without Free Software, there would be no KDE. Free Software gives KDE life. KDE loves Free Software."

Cornelius Schumacher

"I love Free Software because it presents an alternative when it feels like there can never be an alternative."

Chris Woolfrey

"I love Free Software because we depend more and more upon software, in every moment of our lives. It is software that handles our email and social network activities when we communicate; it is software that controls our ovens and fridges when to prepare our meals; it is software that drives cars and airplanes when we travel around the world; it is software that keeps many of us alive when we need hospital equipment or bio-medical devices like pacemakers. A world without Free Software means being held hostage by proprietary software authors that run our lives. I love Free Software because it can set us free."

Dr. Stefano Zacchiroli

"I love free software because it's like a car that comes with complete service manual and every tool you might ever need -- I can repair it and even add new features myself! If I do, other users may benefit from my changes, and if I can't, there's always a community that is more than willing to help."

Martin Zuther