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<title>Software
- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
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<h2>GNU Software</h2>
<div class="thin"></div>

<div class="summary">
<hr class="no-display" />
<ul>
  <li><a href="#allgnupkgs">GNU package list</a></li>
  <li><a href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU/">Basic info on GNU packages</a></li>
  <li><a href="/manual/blurbs.html">Brief overview of GNU packages</a></li>
  <li><a href="/manual/manual.html">GNU manuals</a></li>
  <li><a href="/distros/free-distros.html"><strong>Wholly free GNU/Linux distributions</strong></a></li>
  <li><a href="/distros/distros.html">GNU/Linux distributions</a></li>
  <li><a href="/software/devel.html">Development resources</a></li>
  <li><a href="/software/gethelp.html">Get help</a></li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="/gnu/about-gnu.html">GNU</a> is an operating system which is
100% free software.  It was launched in 1983 by Richard Stallman (rms)
and has been developed by many people working together for the sake of
freedom of all software users to control their computing.  Technically,
GNU is generally like Unix.  But unlike Unix, GNU gives its users
freedom.</p>

<p>The GNU system contains all of the <a
href="/philosophy/categories.html#GNUsoftware">official GNU software
packages</a> (which are listed below), and also includes non-GNU free
software, notably TeX and the X Window System.  Also, the GNU system is
not a single static set of programs; users and distributors may select
different packages according to their needs and desires.  The result is
still a variant of the GNU system.</p>

<p>If you're looking for a whole system to install, see our <a
href="/distros/free-distros.html">list of GNU/Linux distributions which
are entirely free software</a>.</p>

<p>To look for individual free software packages, both GNU and non-GNU,
please see the <a href="http://directory.fsf.org/">Free Software
Directory</a>: a categorized, searchable database of free software.  The
Directory is actively maintained by the <a
href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a> and includes
links to program home pages where available, as well as entries for <a
href="http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/GNU/">all GNU packages</a>.  Another
list of <a href="#allgnupkgs">all GNU packages</a> is below.  <a
href="/doc/doc.html">Free software documentation links</a> are listed
separately.</p>

<p>Finally, we have <a
href="https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Free_software_replacements">
a short list of free software replacements</a> for proprietary software
running on various proprietary systems.</p>

<p>We have also published a <a href="/software/free-software-for-education.html">
list of recommended educational software</a>.</p>

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<div id="HowToGetSoftware" style="clear:both"></div>
<h3 id="getgnu">How to get GNU software</h3>

<div id="dynamic-duo">
<p><strong>Download distributions</strong></p>
<p><a href="/distros/free-distros.html">
<img src="/graphics/gnu-and-penguin-color-300x276.jpg" alt="GNU and Linux" /></a></p>
<p><em>If you're looking for a whole system to
install, see our <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">list of
GNU/Linux distributions which are entirely free software</a>.</em></p>
</div>

<p>GNU software is available by several different methods:</p>

<ul>
<li>Download a <a href="/distros/free-distros.html">wholly free
GNU/Linux distribution</a>.</li>

<li>Get a copy from a friend.</li>

<li>Buy a computer with a wholly free GNU/Linux system preinstalled
from <a href="/links/companies.html">one of the companies</a> that
offers this.</li>

<li><a href="/order/ftp.html">Download individual packages from the web
or via FTP</a>: we provide source code for all GNU software as <a
href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free software</a>, and free of charge.
(Please also make a <a href="/help/donate.html">donation</a> to the FSF
if you can, to help support the development of more free software.)</li>

<li>Use the <a href="/software/guix/">GNU Guix</a> functional
package manager to install and manage GNU package releases.</li>

<li>Use the <a href="/software/gsrc/gsrc.html">GNU GSRC</a> collection to
easily install the latest GNU package releases on their own, without
conflicting with any system versions.</li>

<li>Use the
<a
href="https://launchpad.net/~dns/+archive/gnu?field.series_filter=">GNU
PPA</a> <!-- [Dead as of 2020-05-18 RT #1531917] or <a
href="https://launchpad.net/~dns/+archive/gnustep?field.series_filter=">GNUstep
PPA</a> --> (Personal Package Archive) on Trisquel, gNewSense, Trisquel or related
distros to get the latest releases suitably packaged.</li>

<li>Get the development sources for a package and build them.
Many GNU packages keep their development sources at the GNU hosting site
<a href="http://savannah.gnu.org/">savannah.gnu.org</a>.  Some packages
use other source repositories, or have none at all.  Each package's web
pages should give the specifics.</li>

</ul>


<h3 id="develop">Develop GNU software</h3>

<p>The FSF maintains a list of <a
href="http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html">high-priority free
software projects</a>; please help with these projects if you can.  For
other ways to contribute to GNU, including reviving unmaintained GNU
packages and helping with development, see the <a
href="/help/help.html">GNU help wanted</a> page.</p>

<p>If you're writing a new program and would like to make your
  software an official GNU package, see
  the <a href="/help/evaluation.html">evaluation information and
  submission form</a>. Refer to
  the <a href="/software/repo-criteria.html">ethical repository
  criteria</a> for guidance choosing a hosting service for your
  project.</p>

<p>If you're maintaining or developing a GNU package, whether newly
dubbed or of long standing, this short list of <a
href="/software/maintainer-tips.html">tips for GNU maintainers</a> may
be useful, along with this information about <a
href="/software/devel.html">GNU software developer resources</a>.</p>


<div style="clear:both"></div>
<h3><a
<h3 id="allgnupkgs">All GNU packages</a></h3> packages</h3>

<p>Links to the home pages of all current GNU packages are given
below, using their identifiers (rather than long names) for brevity.
They are sorted alphabetically from left to right.  If you have
corrections to this list or questions about it, please email <a
href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org"><maintainers@gnu.org></a>.</p>

<p>Also available are lists of:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="/manual/blurbs.html">short descriptions for all GNU
  packages</a>;</li>
<li><a href="/manual/manual.html">documentation for GNU packages</a>
  (arranged by category);</li>
<li><a href="/graphics/package-logos.html">GNU package logos</a>; and</li>
<li><a href="/software/recent-releases.html">recent GNU releases</a>.</li>
</ul>

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<h3>Decommissioned

<h3 id="decommissioned">Decommissioned GNU packages</h3>

<p>GNU packages are occasionally decommissioned, generally because
they've been superseded by, or integrated into, other packages.  If
you have time and interest in resurrecting any of these, please
contact <a
href="mailto:maintainers@gnu.org"><maintainers@gnu.org></a>.  Here
is the list; we leave the old project pages up (when they existed):</p>

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<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to
<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>.
There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
the FSF.  Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p>

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<p class="unprintable">Updated:
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