[Fsf-friends] Free Software [~Solutions [was So what is the problem?]

[Sandip Bhattacharya]

Ramanraj K wrote:
> "Free Software" is without ambiguity or overapplicability:

Without ambiguity? You have taken a very common english word and added 
special meaning to it, and you call it unambiguous?

Why then do you always have to qualify it in front of new people by saying 
"free as in freedom, and not as in beer!"?

The whole english culture has attached the meaning to the word "free" as to 
mean, "available without strings". And regardless of how noble the 
intentions of the "strings" in Free Software, it still is inconsistent with 
the common usage of the word "free".

In the real world "Free" != "freedom" .. in the semantic sense.
- We Indians fought for *freedom*
- We got CDs for free.

For goodness sake dont say that the term "Free Software" is unambiguous. It 
is anything but that. Call it "Freedom Software" or "People's Software" or 
"Software for the masses". Else you will spend all your life trying to 
convince people that you want to change the meaning of the word in Oxford 
dictionary.

- Sandip

-- 
Sandip Bhattacharya    *    Puroga Technologies   *     sandip@puroga.com
Work: http://www.puroga.com        *         Home: http://www.sandipb.net

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