Re: What does "libre" refer to in the context of a software license?
Daniel70 <[email protected]> Thu, 2 Jul 2026 22:11:23 +1000
| Newsgroups | alt.comp.freeware,alt.os.linux.mint,comp.os.linux.misc,alt.comp.os.windows-11,alt.comp.os.windows-10 |
|---|---|
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
On 1/07/2026 10:20 pm, J. P. Gilliver wrote: > On 2026/7/1 11:28:50, Daniel70 wrote: >> On 1/07/2026 4:51 am, Charlie Gibbs wrote: >>> On 2026-06-30, german newsgroups <[email protected]> wrote: > [] >>>> free means if you want, you could get the source, rewrite it >>>> et do a another version of the software ! >>>> may be the name will be "caca version" because, a team is >>>> 10000 peoples ! >>> >>> Compare "free as in speech" with "free as in beer". >>> >> To me, "free as in speech" is ME being able to say whatever I want .... >> whereas with "free as in beer" that's someone wanting to get my >> attention to SELL me something (maybe a brand of beer!!). >> >> Am I wrong?? > > In practice, yes. > > The two "free"s are usually brought up in the context of software; that > which is "free as in speech", usually applied to open source, means you > are free to do whatever you want with it, including changing all sorts > of settings; it usually doesn't cost anything either, though sometimes > (e. g. some Linux distributions, AIUI) there is a minor charge for the > convenience; the point usually being made when the two "free"s are > brought up is that it's not cost that is the main freedom being > considered. Free as in beer would be software that's free to download > and use, but over which you may have little choice about how it works > (including settings), or even information on how it works - it usually > _isn't_ source-code available, for example. A _good_ (IMO) example of > free-as-in-beer software is IrfanView (for private use - though Irfan > does accept donations); there are plenty of bad examples, such as those > that include malware or at least ad.s and information-grathering (I > think many "app"s, and browser add-ons, are such). I'll leave others to > give examples of good (and bad - there must be some!) free-as-in-speech > softwares. > Gee Whiz!! Didn't I just type that?? More succinct, or explicit, maybe, but the same. ;-P -- Daniel70