@Suiseiseki You didn't actually answer the question. So putting it another way... Can software be free, in and of itself? If two people use a computer, one who compiled and installed the software, and one who doesn't know about it, then yes, of course, that second person does not have freedom when using the computer, but is the software proprietary in their hands, and free in the first person's hands?
Granted, the question is rather irrelevant, because we don't care about the software being free, but the freedom of the people using it.