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I was once told we shouldn’t use libre in titles. But, I don’t have any reason for this. Anybody have any idea where they got this?

by tdhz77 8y ago

Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
Maybe because no-one knows how to pronounce it? (Is it lee-bruh, as French, or lee-bray, as Spanish?)
- Narishma 8y ago
  In French it would just be lee-br as the 'e' at the end of a word is silent.
  - bradknowles 8y ago
    On the page, it says: Author: Intika (from Liege/Belgium) So, I would assume that the French pronunciation is the intended one. Although I might be wrong. Of course, the author has used the name "Librefox" as a single word, so there would presumably be liaison between the "e" and the "f", and so therefore you would presumably actually hear the "e" in the French pronunciation.
_emacsomancer_ 8y ago
It's not really an English word, so many English speakers don't quite know how to pronounce it or exactly what it would mean.
- boomboomsubban 8y ago
  Even now people everywhere have problems pronouncing GNU, Emacs, or Linux, and the word's connection to "liberty" should become clear if someone thinks about it for any time. Both "free" and "open" have their own problems, it seems like a fine alternative.
AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
It's become a common way of signaling that your app/service is "Free as in Freedom", as opposed to "Free as in beer", open source vs. FOSS, etc. I find it a little odd here, because Firefox already meets the definition of FOSS. But it's not unheard of for a popular project to go from free to proprietary, and for a fork of the last free version to somewhere work "libre" into the title.
- floatingatoll 8y ago
  It's become a very effective way for me to detect projects that have prioritized idealism over pragmatism. (I personally fall on the pragmatism side of that spectrum, and so I find it useful to avoid the oil-water problems that causes.)
- type0 8y ago
  I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as FOSS, is in fact FLOSS, or as I've recently taken to calling it F/L/OS/S meaning “Free/Libre and Open Source Software”. Free is not free by itself, call if F/L/OS/S to explicitly avoid a preference between the two political camps. If you wish to be neutral, this is a good way to do it, since this makes the names of the two camps equally prominent. There really is a F/L/OS software and there are people who use it, but it is just a part of the system they use, that in fact called GNU/Linux. Anyway Libre refers to freedom, instead of calling it open source you could also start to call this type of software Libre software. “Free and Open Source Software” is misleading since it can be interpreted as free as in beer when it is Free as in Freedom. Not calling it FLOSS is an obstacle to understanding GNU philosophy, free software and open source are different political positions that are completely not the same. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html
- humblebee 8y ago
  At one point I understood the distinction of `"Free as in Freedom", as opposed to "Free as in beer"`, but I have since forgot. Is there a longer form explanation I can read / bookmark?
  - 8y ago

I was once told we shouldn’t use libre in titles. But, I don’t have any reason for this. Anybody have any idea where they got this?

by tdhz77 8y ago

I was once told we shouldn’t use libre in titles. But, I don’t have any reason for this. Anybody have any idea where they got this?

Doctor_Fegg 8y ago

Maybe because no-one knows how to pronounce it? (Is it lee-bruh, as French, or lee-bray, as Spanish?)

Narishma 8y ago
In French it would just be lee-br as the 'e' at the end of a word is silent.
- bradknowles 8y ago
  On the page, it says: Author: Intika (from Liege/Belgium) So, I would assume that the French pronunciation is the intended one. Although I might be wrong. Of course, the author has used the name "Librefox" as a single word, so there would presumably be liaison between the "e" and the "f", and so therefore you would presumably actually hear the "e" in the French pronunciation.

_emacsomancer_ 8y ago

It's not really an English word, so many English speakers don't quite know how to pronounce it or exactly what it would mean.

boomboomsubban 8y ago
Even now people everywhere have problems pronouncing GNU, Emacs, or Linux, and the word's connection to "liberty" should become clear if someone thinks about it for any time. Both "free" and "open" have their own problems, it seems like a fine alternative.

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

It's become a common way of signaling that your app/service is "Free as in Freedom", as opposed to "Free as in beer", open source vs. FOSS, etc. I find it a little odd here, because Firefox already meets the definition of FOSS. But it's not unheard of for a popular project to go from free to proprietary, and for a fork of the last free version to somewhere work "libre" into the title.

floatingatoll 8y ago
It's become a very effective way for me to detect projects that have prioritized idealism over pragmatism. (I personally fall on the pragmatism side of that spectrum, and so I find it useful to avoid the oil-water problems that causes.)
type0 8y ago
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as FOSS, is in fact FLOSS, or as I've recently taken to calling it F/L/OS/S meaning “Free/Libre and Open Source Software”. Free is not free by itself, call if F/L/OS/S to explicitly avoid a preference between the two political camps. If you wish to be neutral, this is a good way to do it, since this makes the names of the two camps equally prominent. There really is a F/L/OS software and there are people who use it, but it is just a part of the system they use, that in fact called GNU/Linux. Anyway Libre refers to freedom, instead of calling it open source you could also start to call this type of software Libre software. “Free and Open Source Software” is misleading since it can be interpreted as free as in beer when it is Free as in Freedom. Not calling it FLOSS is an obstacle to understanding GNU philosophy, free software and open source are different political positions that are completely not the same. https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html
humblebee 8y ago
At one point I understood the distinction of `"Free as in Freedom", as opposed to "Free as in beer"`, but I have since forgot. Is there a longer form explanation I can read / bookmark?
- 8y ago