Moodle is freely distributed under an Open Source license which means that it is free for anyone to study, use, change, and redistribute without charge.  Often, this "freedom" is described in the context of "free as in speech" and "free as in beer."

The community of software developers and educators involved in Moodle's creation and evolution does not subscribe to the notion that learning, online or otherwise, can be patent-protected.  Although the software is "free as in beer," it is the culmination of thousands of dedicated people working in close collaboration to create a great educational tool.

Through Moodlerooms, we hope to bring Moodle to teachers and learners in ever greater numbers.  We support institutions, faculty members and instructors, and students who are all using Moodle to enhance instructional effectiveness and relevance – and to facilitate fluid collaboration in the interest of learning.  The collaborative elements of Moodle allow the online environment to be even more "connected" than a brick-and-mortar school.  Students and teachers know that Moodle doesn't make learning easier, it makes it richer by bringing teachers closer to students. 

The more you get to know Moodle – and the services Moodlerooms provides to make this powerfully intuitive open source software a powerfully effective and scalable Learning Management System – the more you will see how community can be shaped by a shared task. 

More about Open Source: wikipedia's definition.