Denial of freedom to computer users to alter or modify the source code was an injustice, noted software freedom activist Richard Mathew Stallman said here.

The goal of the Free Software Movement was that all software be free so that all software users could be free, he said delivering keynote address at a national conference on 'Free Software in Education', organised by the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C), last night.

The supporters of proprietary software were restricting the freedom of the user to control their own computers, he said, adding, proprietary software imposes unethical social system on its users.

'The distinction between a Free and Proprietary software is not a technical distinction, but it is about the ethical, social and political question of what freedom individual users and groups of users have', he said.

Non-free software keeps the users divided and helpless, Stallman, the founder of Free Software Movement, said.

Chief minister V S Achuthanandan in the complimentary message which was read at the function, emphasised the need for the use of free software.

Kerala Government had decided to use Free Software at the school, he said.