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# Free/Freedom-Friendly Hardware
Free (as in freedom) hardware is a form of ethical [hardware](hardware.md) aligned with the philosophy of [free (as in freedom) software](free_software.md), i.e. having a free [licensed](license.md) designed that allows anyone to study, use, modify and share such designs for any purpose and so prevent abuse of users by technology. Let us note the word *free* refers to user freedom, not price! Sometimes the term may be more broadly and not completely correctly used even for hardware that's just highly compatible with purely free software systems -- let us rather call these a **freedom friendly hardware** -- and sometimes people misunderstand the term *free* as meaning "gratis hardware"; to avoid misunderstandings [GNU](gnu.md) recommends using the term **free design hardware** or **libre hardware** for free hardware in the strict sense, i.e. hardware with free licensed design. Sometimes -- nowadays maybe even more often -- the term *"[open source](open_source.md)" hardware* or *open hardware* with very similar meaning is encountered, but that is of course a [harmful](harmful.md) terminology as open source is an inherently harmful [capitalist](capitalism.md) movement ignoring the ethical question of freedom -- hence it is recommended to prefer using the term free hardware. Sometimes the acronym FOSH (free and open source hardware) is used neutrally, similarly to [FOSS](foss.md).
Free (as in freedom) hardware is a form of ethical [hardware](hardware.md) aligned with the philosophy of [free (as in freedom) software](free_software.md), i.e. having a free [licensed](license.md) designed that allows anyone to study, use, modify and share such designs for any purpose and so prevent abuse of users by technology. Let us note the word *free* refers to user freedom, not price! Sometimes the term may be more broadly and not completely correctly used even for hardware that's just highly compatible with purely free software systems -- let us rather call these a **freedom friendly hardware** -- and sometimes people misunderstand the term *free* as meaning "gratis hardware"; to avoid misunderstandings [GNU](gnu.md) recommends using the term **free design hardware** or **libre hardware** for free hardware in the strict sense, i.e. hardware with free licensed design. Sometimes -- nowadays maybe even more often -- the term *"[open source](open_source.md)" hardware* or *open hardware* with very similar meaning is encountered, but that is of course a [harmful](harmful.md) terminology as open source is an inherently harmful [capitalist](capitalism.md) movement ignoring the ethical question of freedom -- hence it is recommended to prefer using the term free hardware. Sometimes the acronym FOSH (free and open source hardware) is used neutrally, similarly to [FOSS](foss.md). Indeed we will find many different definitions of *free hardware* and *free technology*, usually with same core ideas but sometimes in disagreement; for example the [Trash Magic](trash_magic.md) manifesto states that free hardware and technology is that which "gives more than it takes", that it's only that which can be made from the available waste stream of current society even by a non-expert (i.e. being free not just legally but also [practically](de_facto.md)), which is further not encumbered by any intellectual property etc.; for this it excludes "open source" hardware from inclusion under free hardware (as "open source" hardware may require factories, high expertise etc.).
[GNU](gnu.md), just like [us](lrs.md), highly advocates for free hardware, though, unlike with software, they don't completely reject using non-free hardware nowadays, not just for practical reasons (purely free hardware basically doesn't exist), but also because hardware is fundamentally different from software and it is possible to use *some* non-free hardware (usually the older one) relatively safely, without sacrificing freedom. The [FSF](fsf.md) issues so called **[Respects Your Freedom](ryf.md)** (RYF) certification for non-malicious hardware products, both free and non-free, that can be used with 100% free software (even though RYF has also been a target of some criticism of free software activists).