The GNU Project is a collaborative initiative launched in 1983 by Richard Stallman to develop a complete free software operating system. Its primary goal is to promote the freedom to use, modify, and distribute software, ensuring that users have control over their computing environment. At the heart of the GNU Project is the GNU General Public License (GPL), which allows software to be freely shared and improved. The project has produced many essential tools and applications, including the GNU Compiler Collection and the GNU Emacs text editor, which are widely used in the software development community.