May 19, 2008
Semi-free software is not free although it comes with permission for individuals to use, copy, distribute and modify for purely non-profit purposes. Ethically, it can be considered better than proprietary software although it still cannot be used in a free operating system. Semi-free programs have additional restrictions which run contrary to the principles of free software like Linux.
The addition of one semi-free program to one system makes it semi-free as a whole. Commercial distribution of free operating systems is very critical. Users have signified their appreciation for the convenience of commercial CD-ROM distributions and inclusion of a single semi-free program would cut off such distribution.
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