Re: Open source - Free software

[Al Klein]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 09:27:45 -0400, Barry Margolin
<barmar@alum.mit.edu> wrote:

>In article <dn7mh2p92cthtfvhptachaq22rlrdedbnb@4ax.com>,
> Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:34:32 -0500, Jay Belanger <belanger@truman.edu>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> >Al Klein <rukbat@pern.invalid> writes:
>> >...
>> >> Free Software may, but free software refers to software that's free
>> >> (by any of the many definitions of the word "free".  (That's how
>> >> English [and most other languages] works.)
>> >
>> >Really?  The meaning of the adjective doesn't depend on the noun it
>> >modifies? 
>> 
>> Not necessarily.  Defining "free" as "without cost" is perfectly
>> legitimate, as long as the particular usage isn't illogical.  Any
>> meaning can be defined into uselessness if illogicality is allowed.
>
>And sometimes both meanings are logical, and then context is used to 
>determine which is most likely intended.

And, in the English-speaking world, "free" is almost always (let's say
by millions to one, at least) used, when used with a product, to mean
"with no charge".  *VERY FEW* people use free as in freedom when using
it to modify the name of a product or product type.

>And in the GNU and Linux newsgroups, the context establishes that "free 
>software" refers to freedom, not price.

1) You're posting to acf as well.

2) Linux and GNU constitute a minuscule part of the English-speaking
world.
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