Free as in... 1

[skiflyer]

Wish I could find a better forum for this question, but I think it will work here...

I'm looking for a better definition than I know of for the "Free as in" taglines.

Free as in Speech and Free as in Beer are the two I know... and from what I can tell Free as in Speech means, completely open source, free to distribute/use, maintenance of credit for originating. Whereas free as in beer means all of those things, plus an implication of responsibility to contribute changes. i.e. I'll get this beer, you get the next one.

Am I right, am I wrong, are there more?

-Rob

 

[danielhozac]

I always thought Free as in Beer referred to being free of charge, and Free as in Speech being just that, completely free to do what you want.

//Daniel

 

[sleipnir214]

You're talking about Richard Stallman's famous line, "Don't think free as in free beer; think free as in free speech."

The meaning is there to clarify the differences in the possible meanings of "free". "Free" in "Free beer" implies that something is without cost. "Free" in "Free speech" implies the concept of liberty, egalitarianism, etc.

Read more here:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

TANSTAAFL!!