Re: Too Good to be True?

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Article #72813

#72813

From: Bengt Larsson
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1992 06:31

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In article <9201132300.AA23815@antaire.com> Gray.Watson@antaire.com writes:
>Like free speech?  Goddam those highly specialized and misleading founding
>fathers!!

Well.

>Webster's New World Dictionary:
>	free, adj. fre'er, fre'est
>		1. not under the control or power of another; having
>		   liberty; independent
>		2. having civil or political liberty
>		3. able to move in any direction; loose
>		4. not burdened by obligations, debts
>		5. not confined to the usual rules [free verse]
>		...
>		9. no cost or charge
>		...

Most of those definitions apply to living things, not objects. "Free"
people are not bound, enslaved, restricted from movement etc. A "free"
object is something available for free. Your definition seems odd, as
if a program has a personality, or a "mind of its own", or a right to
act and pursue its happiness. 

"free food", "free transportation", "free health care", "free tickets" etc.

But "free software"?? 

It's OK to make up new definitions, of course, but I actually think
"free software" in the GNU sense is misleading.

Or to be more benign, I'll call it clever marketing.

Bengt L.
-- 
Bengt Larsson - bengtl@maths.lth.se

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From: bengtl@maths.lth.se (Bengt Larsson)
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: Too Good to be True?
Message-ID: <1992Jan14.063158.15330@lth.se>
Date: 14 Jan 92 06:31:58 GMT
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