> I do not actually agree with this, for the record. I think that the > Linux commitment to Free Open Source Software (not sure what the 'L' > stands for in Mark's acronym)
From: Alan Bell <alan.b...@theopenlearningcentre.com> > Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] New Linux website - Feedback? [was: ubuntu-uk > Digest, Vol 67, Issue 28] > To: ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com > Message-ID: <4ce55475.6080...@theopenlearningcentre.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > On 18/11/10 16:16, Sean Miller wrote: > > > > I do not actually agree with this, for the record. I think that the > > Linux commitment to Free Open Source Software (not sure what the 'L' > > stands for in Mark's acronym) > it stands for Libre meaning freedom as opposed to the other sort of free > which is means cheaper than cheap. That is the important meaning of > Free, just in English the two meanings are expressed with one word, > which is a bit unfortunate. The Liberty side of Free is what it is all > about and that is where you will find the real business value of the > software we are talking about. FLOSS was a term coined specifically to AVOID taking sides in the "Free" (Stallman) vs. "OpenSource" (Raymond) battle that seemed to dominate the movement in the 1990s (which is, after all, when I started using Linux.) The L stands for: - Libre (French/Spanish) - Livre (Portuguese) - Libero (Italian) The F stands for: - Free (English) - Frei (German) It's only English, by the way, that has the ambiguity problem with a single word - free - meaning either "no charge" or "unrestricted", depending on who you ask. If pushed to decide between Free and OpenSource, I prefer OpenSource, because I find the arguments of Raymond (and to a lesser extent, Lessig) more compelling than Stallman... and I CERTAINLY stand with Linus on the question of which version of the GPL is most appropriate :-) However, 99 times out of 100, I would rather NOT get drawn into discussions about "the meaning of free" and rather talk about "What Ubuntu can do for you..." As such, I find Shuttleworth refreshing, and Ubuntu is, accordingly a good O/S for me for many, many, reasons. Mark
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