## Free software organizations ¶

The GNU Compiler Collection is part of the GNU Project, launched in 1984 to develop a complete Unix-like operating system which is free software: the GNU system.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a tax-exempt charity that raises funds for continuing work on the GNU Project. It is dedicated to promoting the right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. One of the best ways to help the development of free software is to become an associate member of the Free Software Foundation, and pay regular dues to support their efforts.

Associate members of the Free Software Foundation receive many benefits, including regular newsletters, admission to the FSF annual meeting, and discounts on books and CDROMs published by GNU Press. Membership dues are also tax deductible in the USA. For more information on becoming a member, visit the FSF website at http://www.fsf.org/.

The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation. The FSFE is active in promoting free software at all levels in Europe. For an annual membership fee, individuals can join FSFE and support its work. Members receive a personalised GPG-compatible membership smartcard, allowing secure digital authentication of email and files, and gain access to the “FSFE Fellowship”, an electronic community for software freedom. For more information, visit the FSFE website at http://www.fsfe.org/.

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is another important organization in Europe. FFII is not specific to free software, but works to defend the rights of all programmers and computer users against monopolies in the field of computing, such as patents on software. For more information about FFII, or to support their work with a donation, visit their website at http://www.ffii.org/.