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To give the FSF some credit, they would have to go through a ton of hoops and PR changing their name to the LSF if they got behind the idea 100%. :) Not that y

To give the FSF some credit, they would have to go through a ton of hoops and PR changing their name to the LSF if they got behind the idea 100%. :) Not that you are wrong. The "free as in freedom, not as in beer" trope has just gotten too tiresome. It's a losing battle. The only solution is taking control of the language, and Libre helps to achieve this. Going forward I will give some thought to always using this term when appropriate.

mbrock 7y ago
On the other hand freedom is a really nice word that everyone loves whereas "libre" is some fake French or something that you have to try to pronounce with some kind of rolled r like is that really going to succeed in the American marketplace of ideas
- mplanchard 7y ago
  It isn’t fake. Libre is a real french word that means “free to do [something]” or “free from [something],” along with a few other meanings. I do think the pronunciation issue is going to hamper its adoption, though. If it’s pronounced as it is in French, it’s very similar to how we say the zodiac sign “libra,” but if you don’t know it’s french, it could easily be Spanish/Italian/Latin and be pronounced “leebray.” The fact that it’s not an easy word to know how to pronounce means that people who have only read it will be hesitant to use it in conversation or public speech.
  - Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
    In fact, it is also a Spanish word, roughly pronounced "leebray" (in Italian and Latin it's different, though). In fact, just learned now that it's supposed to be loaned from French, I had always assumed it to be from Spanish (I'm biased because I'm Spanish).
    - kgwgk 7y ago
      > just learned now that it's supposed to be loaned from French Is it? According to https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html ‘We sometimes call it “libre software,” borrowing the French or Spanish word for “free” as in freedom’
      - MagicPropmaker 7y ago
        Exactly. The "French Way" thing is an affect that's frequently mocked on other forums, see https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/le https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/le

mbrock 7y ago

On the other hand freedom is a really nice word that everyone loves whereas "libre" is some fake French or something that you have to try to pronounce with some kind of rolled r like is that really going to succeed in the American marketplace of ideas

mplanchard 7y ago
It isn’t fake. Libre is a real french word that means “free to do [something]” or “free from [something],” along with a few other meanings. I do think the pronunciation issue is going to hamper its adoption, though. If it’s pronounced as it is in French, it’s very similar to how we say the zodiac sign “libra,” but if you don’t know it’s french, it could easily be Spanish/Italian/Latin and be pronounced “leebray.” The fact that it’s not an easy word to know how to pronounce means that people who have only read it will be hesitant to use it in conversation or public speech.
- Al-Khwarizmi 7y ago
  In fact, it is also a Spanish word, roughly pronounced "leebray" (in Italian and Latin it's different, though). In fact, just learned now that it's supposed to be loaned from French, I had always assumed it to be from Spanish (I'm biased because I'm Spanish).
  - kgwgk 7y ago
    > just learned now that it's supposed to be loaned from French Is it? According to https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html ‘We sometimes call it “libre software,” borrowing the French or Spanish word for “free” as in freedom’
    - MagicPropmaker 7y ago
      Exactly. The "French Way" thing is an affect that's frequently mocked on other forums, see https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/le https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/le