Stallman's use of "free" and "freedom" are best thought of as referring to the software, not the user. I feel like a lot of commenters below are missing this di

Stallman's use of "free" and "freedom" are best thought of as referring to the software, not the user. I feel like a lot of commenters below are missing this distinction. The GPL puts (somewhat onerous, some would argue) limitations on the user in order for the software to remain free. Think of it as liberating the software by giving it rights.