Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1993 18:02:49 GMT
From: g...@prep.ai.mit.edu
Message-ID: <9302181750.AA22078@mole.gnu.ai.mit.edu>
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Subject: Funding the FSF
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[ Please repost this wherever you think is appropriate. ]
Funding the FSF
There is a great deal of confusion about how the FSF gets its funds
and what it does with them. This article may help to clear it up.
Some people think that the FSF is possible because it gets funds from
the US government. Actually, it does not. One computer on permanent
loan to us from the CMU Mach project was ultimately funded by the
government, but the FSF has never been paid by the government. (New
York University has a government contract to develop GNU Ada, but the
FSF is not directly involved.)
Until recently, the FSF did not ask for government funds. Now we
would accept them, but none have been offered so far. If we do get
government funds, we would be like numerous universities and
companies. In doing without them so far, we have been unusual.
Some people think that the FSF operates with funds from the MacArthur
Foundation. We would be grateful if they were to support us, but they
do not. Richard Stallman received a MacArthur Foundation fellowship
in 1990. It lasts for five years and the pay, while comfortable, is
small by good programmers' pay scales. It is too little to fund the
FSF.
Some people even think that Richard Stallman makes a profit from the
FSF. This is false for two reasons. First of all, there are no
profits from the FSF, because it is a non-profit organization; all
funds we raise go toward our charitable purpose: making more free
software. Secondly, Stallman isn't paid by the FSF. He is an unpaid
volunteer, not an employee, and always has been.
Some people think that the FSF is possible because of a subsidy from
someone wealthy. The FSF has received a few large gifts of funds. We
thank, for example, Hewlett Packard and the OSF. But large gifts have
never provided the bulk of our funds. Ever since the FSF was started
in 1985, most of its funds have come from distribution--from orders
for tapes and, now, CD-ROMs and MS-DOS floppies.
For many years, distribution brought the FSF sufficient income that we
did not need to urge people to support us. However, in the past year
or two, orders have declined, which means that the FSF cannot do as
much work as we used to. Orders for manuals remain high, but the $20
typical price of a manual provides little funds to support development.
So from now on we will need to ask you to support the FSF. Having
your office order tapes or CD-ROMs from the FSF is the easiest way to
support us.
In particular, if you buy distribution copies of GNU software, please
choose the FSF as your source, because that way you will give
significant support to development of more GNU software. If you buy
copies from most other distributors, little or none of your money goes
to free software development.
The FSF also gratefully accepts donations of any size; as we are tax
exempt, your donations are tax-deductible.
Like listener-supported radio, we depend on you to continue our work.
In the long run, the amount of free software that we can provide to
you is a function of how much you contribute.
Free Software Foundation Order Form
***********************************
Price and contents may change without notice after June 30, 1993. All items
are distributed with permission to copy and to redistribute. Texinfo source
for each manual is on the appropriate tape, diskette, or CD-ROM; the prices
for these magnetic media do not include printed manuals. All items are
provided on an "as is" basis, with no warranty of any kind.
This order form expires June 30, 1993.
The following tapes in the formats indicated (see "GNU Software Available
Now" for contents):
Please circle the dollar amount for each tape you order.
Reel to Sun(1) HP IBM Exabyte
reel RS/6000
Unix tar Unix tar Unix tar Unix tar Unix tar
9-track QIC-24 16-track QIC-150
1600 bpi DC300XLP DC600HC DC600A
1/2" reel 1/4" c.t. 1/4" c.t. 1/4" c.t. 8mm c.t.
Emacs $200 $210 $230 $215 (2) $205
Languages $200 $210 $230 n/a $205
Experimental $200 $210 $230 $215 $205
Utilities $200 $210 $230 $215 $205
BSD Net2 $200 $210 $230 $215 $205
X11r5-Required $200 $210 $230 $215 $205
X11r5-Optional $200 $210 $230 $215 $205
(c.t. = cartridge tape)
(n/a = not available)
(1) Sun tapes can be read on some other Unix systems.
(2) The IBM Emacs tape also has binaries for GNU Emacs.
Subscriptions, 4 updates for one year (see "Tape Subscription Service"):
Languages $600 $630 $690 n/a $615
Experimental $600 $630 $690 $645 $615
Utilities $600 $630 $690 $645 $615
X11r5-Required $600 $630 $690 $645 $615
Subtotal $ ______ Please put total of the above circled amounts here.
The following 1/2" reel tapes, in VMS BACKUP format, at 1600 bpi:
____ @ $195 = $ ______ VMS Emacs, GNU Emacs source & executables only.
____ @ $195 = $ ______ VMS Languages, GCC, GAS, and Bison source and
executables only.
FSF Deluxe Distribution (see "Deluxe Distribution" and end of order form):
____ @ $5000 = $ ______ Deluxe Distribution, with manuals and executables.
The following source and executables for MS-DOS, on 3.5" 1.44MB diskettes
____ @ $ 90 = $ ______ Demacs diskettes, GNU Emacs, for 80386 and up.
____ @ $ 80 = $ ______ DJGPP diskettes, GCC version 2, for 80386 and up.
____ @ $ 85 = $ ______ Selected Utilities diskettes, utilities for 8086 and
up.
____ @ $ 40 = $ ______ Windows diskette, GNU Chess and gnuplot for
Microsoft Windows.
CD-ROM, in ISO 9660 format (see "GNU Source Code CD-ROM"):
____ @ $400 = $ ______ GNU Source Code CD-ROM for corporations and
other organizations.
____ @ $100 = $ ______ GNU Source Code CD-ROM for individuals.
The following manuals, 6 by 9.25 inches, soft cover with an illustration,
offset printed, "lay-flat" binding (see "GNU Documentation"):
____ @ $ 20 = $ ______ GNU Emacs manual, unit price for 1 to 5 copies,
352 pages, with a reference card.
____ @ $ 13 = $ ______ GNU Emacs manuals, unit price for 6 or more.
____ @ $ 50 = $ ______ GNU Emacs Lisp Reference manual, 614 pages in
2 volumes.
____ @ $200 = $ ______ A box of 5 GNU Emacs Lisp Reference manuals.
____ @ $ 20 = $ ______ Texinfo manual, 248 pages.
____ @ $ 20 = $ ______ Gawk manual, 191 pages.
____ @ $ 20 = $ ______ Make manual, 164 pages.
____ @ $ 15 = $ ______ Debugging with GDB, 182 pages, with a reference
card.
____ @ $ 15 = $ ______ Bison manual, 98 pages, with a reference card.
____ @ $ 15 = $ ______ Flex manual, 120 pages, with a reference card.
The following manuals, 6 by 9.25 inches, soft cover, photocopied, GBC binding:
____ @ $ 50 = $ ______ Using and Porting GNU CC version 2.3, 388
pages.
____ @ $ 20 = $ ______ Using and Porting GNU CC version 1.42, 206
pages.
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ Termcap manual, 68 pages.
The following manual, 8.5 by 11 inches, soft cover, photocopied, GBC binding:
____ @ $ 50 = $ ______ GNU Emacs Calc manual, 596 pages, with a
reference card.
The following reference cards, unit price, without the manuals:
____ @ $ 2 = $ ______ GNU Emacs reference card.
____ @ $ 2 = $ ______ GNU Emacs Calc reference card.
____ @ $ 2 = $ ______ GDB reference card.
____ @ $ 2 = $ ______ Bison reference card.
____ @ $ 2 = $ ______ Flex reference card.
The following reference cards, in packets of ten:
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ GNU Emacs reference cards.
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ GNU Emacs Calc reference cards.
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ GDB reference cards.
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ Bison reference cards.
____ @ $ 10 = $ ______ Flex reference cards.
GNU/FSF T-shirts, 100% cotton (see "Announcing FSF T-shirts"):
____ @ $ 12 = $ ______ Size M, ____ natural, ____ black.
____ @ $ 12 = $ ______ Size L, ____ natural, ____ black.
____ @ $ 12 = $ ______ Size XL, ____ natural, ____ black.
____ @ $ 13 = $ ______ Size XXL, ____ natural, ____ black.
Subtotal $ ______
+ $ ______ In Massachusetts: add 5% sales tax, or give tax
exempt number.
+ $ ______ In Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico for shipping:
for GNU Emacs Lisp Reference and GNU Emacs Calc
manuals, add $5 each, or $20 per box. For all other
items, add $5 base charge, then $1 per item except
reference cards.
+ $ ______ Outside of U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico for
shipping: for each box of GNU Emacs Lisp Reference
manuals, add $70. For all other items, add $20 base
charge, and then add $15 more for each item (except
reference cards) in the order; i.e., total = $20 + $15n.
+ $ ______ Optional (tax-deductible in the U.S.) donation.
TOTAL $ ______ We pay for shipping via UPS ground transportation in
the contiguous 48 states and Canada.
Orders filled only upon receipt of check or money order in U.S. dollars.
Please make checks payable to the Free Software Foundation.
Name: ________________________________________________________________________
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problem with your order, or for overseas customs agents): ____________________
For orders from outside the U.S.: Orders must be paid in U.S. dollars. You
are responsible for paying all duties, tariffs, and taxes. If you refuse
to pay the charges, the shipper will return or abandon the order.
For Deluxe Distributions:
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Please mail orders to: Free Software Foundation
675 Massachusetts Avenue
This order form expires Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
June 30, 1993. +1 617 876 3296
----------------------------------------------------------------------