www/philosophy words-to-avoid.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       13/10/27 13:38:37

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

Log message:
        Link to why-call-it-the-swindle.html.
        Rewrite "monetize" entry.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.167&r2=1.168

Patches:
Index: words-to-avoid.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html,v
retrieving revision 1.167
retrieving revision 1.168
diff -u -b -r1.167 -r1.168
--- words-to-avoid.html 13 Aug 2013 16:26:25 -0000      1.167
+++ words-to-avoid.html 27 Oct 2013 13:38:36 -0000      1.168
@@ -9,12 +9,15 @@
 <p>
 There are a number of words and phrases that we recommend avoiding, or
 avoiding in certain contexts and usages.  Some are ambiguous or
-misleading; others presuppose a viewpoint that we hope you
-disagree with.</p>
+misleading; others presuppose a viewpoint that we disagree with, and
+we hope you disagree with it too.</p>
 
 <div class="announcement">
-Also note <a href="/philosophy/categories.html">Categories
-of Free Software</a>.</div>
+Also note <a href="/philosophy/categories.html">Categories of Free
+Software</a>
+and <a href="/philosophy/why-call-it-the-swindle.html">Why Call It The
+Swindle?</a>.
+</div>
 
 <p>
   <a href="/philosophy/philosophy.html">Other Texts to Read</a>
@@ -566,14 +569,20 @@
 
 <h4 id="Monetize">&ldquo;Monetize&rdquo;</h4>
 <p>
-The natural meaning of &ldquo;monetize&rdquo; is &ldquo;convert into
-money.&rdquo;  If you make something and then convert it into money,
-that means there is nothing left except money, so nobody but you has
-gained anything, and you contribute nothing to the world.</p>
-<p>
-By contrast, a productive and ethical business does not convert all of
-its product into money.  Part of it is a contribution to the rest of
-the world.</p>
+The proper definition of &ldquo;monetize&rdquo; is &ldquo;use
+something as currency.&rdquo; For instance, human societies have
+monetized gold, silver, copper, printed paper, special kinds of
+seashells, and large rocks.  However, we now see a tendency to use the
+word in a new and unfortunate way, meaning &ldquo;to make a profit
+from something&rdquo;.</p>
+<p>
+Referring to that practice using this word
+implicitly involves a metaphor of &ldquo;converting the thing into
+money&rdquo;, and that metaphor is what's harmful, because it
+presumes that the money is what really matters.</p>
+<p>
+A productive and ethical business can make money, but that's not
+all it thinks about.</p>
 
 
 <h4 id="MP3Player">&ldquo;MP3 Player&rdquo;</h4>
@@ -837,7 +846,7 @@
 
 <p>Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2013/08/13 16:26:25 $
+$Date: 2013/10/27 13:38:36 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>