Sergey V. Spiridonov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hall Stevenson wrote: > >> Outside of Debian, I think people consider software "free" if they can >> download it, use it, and NOT have to pay for it. I do at least. > > There are several meanings of the word 'free' in English. Here is the > quotation from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)": > This is the first one: > > Free Free (fr=e), a. Compar. Freer (-~er); superl. > Freest (-e^st). OE. fre, freo, AS. fre'o, fr=i; > akin to D. vrij, OS. & OHG. fr=i, G. frei, Icel. fr=i, > Sw. & Dan. fri, Goth. freis, and also to Skr. prija beloved, > dear, fr. pr=i to love, Goth. frij=on. Cf. Affray, > Belfry, Friday, Friend, Frith inclosure. > 1. Exempt from subjection to the will of others; not under > restraint, control, or compulsion; able to follow one's > own impulses, desires, or inclinations; determining one's > own course of action; not dependent; at liberty. > > That which has the power, or not the power, to > operate, is that alone which is or is not free. > --Locke. > > I do not quote all meanings (there are 16). Here is what you meant: > > > 15. Not gained by importunity or purchase; gratuitous; > spontaneous; as, free admission; a free gift.
Thank you for your insight. As Linux users, I'm sure we were all unaware of the issues surrounding the GPL, or the political and philisophical motivation of it's supporters. So inspired by your words am I, that I hereby officially announce my own fork of Gentoo: FREEtoo. Everything will be exactly the same, except only programs with FREE (OSI-approved) licenses will be allowed in FREEtage (nee portage). Now I just need to find someone to host it. -Eamon -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list
