Re: [fsf-community-team] What's in a name............

[Simon Bridge]

On Mon, 2009-12-14 at 14:35 -0500, Danny Piccirillo wrote:
> I prefer the term Free Software, but i agree on this. Open source is
> clearer, although still inadequate, as i'm sure the FSF agrees.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html

No - "Open Source" is not clearer - the name only tells you that the
source code is available. That is not what free software means.

>  The problem with Free Software, is that in common speak, it refers to
> freeware. I see this as a big loss when it comes to new people doing a
> Google search find mixed reults...

Lets have a look - google "free software" - (from an internet cafe -
google is a bit uncanny about getting search results tailored to my
preferences) - top ten results:

http://download.cnet.com/
... a list of explicitly "free-to-try" software. note: not "freeware".
http://www.fsf.org/
... FSF home page
http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html
... FSF free software definition
http://www.freewarefiles.com/
http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com/
http://www.freewarehome.com/
... freeware
http://www.gnu.org/
... GNU Project
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
... free software definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software
... free software article in wikipedia
http://directory.fsf.org/
... free software dictionary - FSF/UN site

So the punter gets 3/10 sites about freeware, 6/10 for software freedom,
and one about free-trail software which feels the need to be specific.

>  open source doesn't have that problem.

But it does have the problem that the term is already used to refer to a
different movement.


>  I don't think this should be an open source vs free software debate,
> since both terms aren't perfect but rather a discussion on whether we
> can find a better term

Now you've seen why we do not adopt the term "open source" to describe
what we do.

You must realize that this has been discussed for almost 30 years and
nobody has come up with anything better so far. In fact it is one of the
first things new software freedom activists think to do.

It takes only 10 seconds to say "free as in speech, not as in beer" to
make the position clear. Honestly, there are bigger problems. But if you
want some fun, set up a stall with free software CDs and a big sign
saying "Free Software $5" and see how many people you get to educate.