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Re: Open source - Free software


From: Barry Margolin
Subject: Re: Open source - Free software
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:43:47 -0400
User-agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.5.2 (PPC Mac OS X)

In article <efeh2f$1eb$1@nntp.itservices.ubc.ca>,
 Unruh <unruh-spam@physics.ubc.ca> wrote:

> Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> writes:
> 
> >In article <1159346302.210382.216410@e3g2000cwe.googlegroups.com>,
> > "Roger Johansson" <roger4911@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >> Jim Richardson wrote:
> >> 
> >> > "freeware" and "Free Software" are not the same thing. Free Software
> >> > refers to (mostly) GPL stuff. (See the FSF for details) that's all Open
> >> > Source, as well as "Free Sosftware" freeware, is just the usual "try our
> >> > stuff before you buy" thing. A whole different kettle of fish.
> >> 
> >> At the heart of this matter we find a group of people who have created
> >> the FSF you mention, Free Software Foundation.
> >> 
> >> Obviously they think they can hijack a common word like free, and
> >> decide that it can only mean one thing in connection to software.
> 
> >Whether they should be able to is of purely academic interest.  The fact 
> >is that they *did* do this, and this is what the phrase "free software" 
> >now means in the industry.  You can dislike it all you want, but you 
> >can't legitimately claim that it didn't happen, and ignoring it will 
> >simply lead to confusion in discussions like this.
> 
> Well, not defining your terms can certainly lead to confusion in a
> discussion like this. And it seems that the OP does not really want to
> define his terms. 

He posted to GNU and Linux newsgroups, and the term "free software" has 
an accepted meaning in these communities, so it's not usually considered 
necessary to repeat them.

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***


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