www/philosophy words-to-avoid.html

[Karl Berry]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Karl Berry <karl>       07/03/25 22:08:18

Modified files:
        philosophy     : words-to-avoid.html 

Log message:
        (mp3player): new entry, from rms, after Shawn
        Quinn.  also use &mdash; and &hellip;.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.61&r2=1.62

Patches:
Index: words-to-avoid.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html,v
retrieving revision 1.61
retrieving revision 1.62
diff -u -b -r1.61 -r1.62
--- words-to-avoid.html 31 Jan 2007 23:04:43 -0000      1.61
+++ words-to-avoid.html 25 Mar 2007 22:08:14 -0000      1.62
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#ForFree"
        name="TOCForFree">For free</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#FreelyAvailable"
-       name="TOCFreelyAvailable">Freely Available</a>"
+       name="TOCFreelyAvailable">Freely available</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#Freeware"
        name="TOCFreeware">Freeware</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#GiveAwaySoftware"
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@
        name="TOCLAMP">LAMP system</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#Market"
        name="TOCMarket">Market</a>"
+| "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#MP3Player"
+       name="TOCMarket">MP3 player</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#Open"
        name="TOCOpen">Open</a>"
 | "<a href="words-to-avoid.html#Piracy"
@@ -232,8 +234,8 @@
 
 <p>
 By contrast, beings that have ethical responsibility can decide to
-preserve something that, on its own, would tend to vanish -- such as
-civil society, democracy, human rights, peace, public health, ... or
+preserve something that, on its own, would tend to vanish&mdash;such as
+civil society, democracy, human rights, peace, public health, &hellip; or
 computer users' freedom.
 </p>
 
@@ -244,7 +246,7 @@
 that it is available "for free."  That term specifically means "for
 zero price."  Free software is a matter of freedom, not price.</p>
 <p>
-Free software copies are often available for free--for example, by
+Free software copies are often available for free&mdash;for example, by
 downloading via FTP.  But free software copies are also available for
 a price on CD-ROMs; meanwhile, proprietary software copies are
 occasionally available for free in promotions, and some proprietary
@@ -255,7 +257,7 @@
 
 
 <h4>"<a href="words-to-avoid.html#TOCFreelyAvailable"
-     name="FreelyAvailable">Freely Available</a>"</h4>
+     name="FreelyAvailable">Freely available</a>"</h4>
 <p>
 Don't use "freely available" as a synonym for "free software."  They
 are not equivalent.  "Freely available" means that anyone can easily
@@ -263,6 +265,7 @@
 users that have a copy.  These are answers to different questions.
 </p>
 
+
 <h4>"<a href="words-to-avoid.html#TOCFreeware"
      name="Freeware">Freeware</a>"</h4>
 <p>
@@ -298,13 +301,13 @@
      name="IntellectualProperty">Intellectual property</a>"</h4>
 <p>
 Publishers and lawyers like to describe copyright as "intellectual
-property"---a term that also includes patents, trademarks, and other
+property"&mdash;a term that also includes patents, trademarks, and other
 more obscure areas of law.  These laws have so little in common, and
 differ so much, that it is ill-advised to generalize about them.  It
 is best to talk specifically about "copyright," or about
 "patents," or about "trademarks."</p>
 <p>
-The term "intellectual property" carries a hidden assumption---that
+The term "intellectual property" carries a hidden assumption&mdash;that
 the way to think about all these disparate issues is based on an
 analogy with physical objects, and our ideas of physical property.</p>
 <p>
@@ -325,18 +328,32 @@
      name="LAMP">LAMP system</a>"</h4>
 
 <p>
-"LAMP" stands for "Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP"---a common
+"LAMP" stands for "Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP"&mdash;a common
 combination of software to use on a web server, except that "Linux"
 really refers to the GNU/Linux system.  So instead of "LAMP" it should
 be "GLAMP": "GNU, Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP"
 </p>
 
+
+<h4>"<a href="words-to-avoid.html#TOCMP3Player"
+     name="MP3Player">MP3 player</a>"</h4>
+<p>
+In the late 1990's it became feasible to make portable, solid-state
+digital audio players. Most support the patented MP3 codec, but not all.
+Some support the patent-free audio codecs Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, and may
+not even support MP3-encoded files at all, precisely to avoid the
+patents.  To call such players "MP3 players" is not only confusing, it
+also puts MP3 in an undeserved position of privilege which helps the
+patent holders continue to attack our community.  We suggest the terms
+"digital audio player", or simply "audio player" if context permits.
+
+
 <h4>"<a href="words-to-avoid.html#TOCMarket"
      name="Market">Market</a>"</h4>
 
 <p>
 It is misleading to describe the users of free software, or the
-software users in general, as a ``market''.</p>
+software users in general, as a "market".</p>
 <p>
 This is not to say we're against markets.  If you have a free software
 support business, then you have clients, and you trade with them in a
@@ -345,7 +362,7 @@
 <p>
 But the free software movement is a social movement, not a business,
 and the success it aims for is not a market success.  We are trying to
-serve the public by giving it freedom--not competing to take them
+serve the public by giving it freedom&mdash;not competing to take them
 away from a rival.  To equate this campaign for freedom to a business'
 campaign for mere success is to diminish the significance of freedom.</p>
 
@@ -357,7 +374,7 @@
 different group</a>, whose values are less idealistic than ours, uses
 "open source" as its slogan.  If you are referring to them, it is
 proper to use their name, but please don't lump us in with them
-or describe our work by their label---that leads people to think
+or describe our work by their label&mdash;that leads people to think
 we are their supporters.</p>
 
 
@@ -466,9 +483,9 @@
 treat the legal system as an authority on ethics: if copying is
 forbidden, it must be wrong.</p>
 <p>
-So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system--at least in the
-US--rejects the idea that copyright infringement is "theft."
-Copyright apologists are making an appeal to authority...and
+So it is pertinent to mention that the legal system&mdash;at least in the
+US&mdash;rejects the idea that copyright infringement is "theft."
+Copyright apologists are making an appeal to authority &hellip; and
 misrepresenting what authority says.</p>
 <p>
 The idea that laws decide what is right or wrong is mistaken in
@@ -574,7 +591,7 @@
 <p>
 Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2007/01/31 23:04:43 $ $Author: rms $
+$Date: 2007/03/25 22:08:14 $ $Author: karl $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>