[Fsf-india] FSF.org.in

[Khuzaima A. Lakdawala]

Raghavendra Bhat <ragu@vsnl.com> writes:

> During RMS'  last visit, a  ranking professor was suggesting  to replace
> the word `free' with `open' in  the handouts to be printed.  I asked him
> that this  shall not happen, but  he was insistent saying  that there is
> this `negative'  connotation with  the word `free',  he was  saying that
> people associate  a `free' product  as a shoddy  one, as if  handing out
> `freebies' along  with an  X commercial product.  "Hey, look, here  is a
> `free' pen if you buy two packets of Y wheat flour".  This `free' pen is
> badly  made and one  of the  cheapest available.   He was  implying that
> people associate *free* software with the afore-mentioned `free' pen :(

This issue can be easily addressed by using the term "Swatantra
Software" instead -- this was first suggested by RMS at Bang!inux
2000.

Even the very English "The Register" (www.theregister.co.uk) regularly
uses the term "Software Libre," borrowing from the French. We don't
even need to borrow from a foreign language since we have our very own
word to communicate the exact meaning of "free" as in "freedom."

-- 
Khuzaima A. Lakdawala