3 ms·
The fact that this "mistake" occurs so frequently and is so trivial to make just tells me that the meaning you want it to have will not survive in the long run.
by xyzzy_plugh 6y ago
The fact that this "mistake" occurs so frequently and is so trivial to make just tells me that the meaning you want it to have will not survive in the long run.
You are correct that it isn't Open Source as defined by the Open Source Initiative, nor does it use an Open Source Initiative Approved License.
None of that information, however, is helpful to the author or really changes anything about the article.
- willis936 6y agoJust because there are people who don’t understand what “free as in beer” means doesn’t mean that people should stop teaching them what it means.
- JohnJamesRambo 6y agoI have never understood what the hell "free as in beer" means either.
- dodobirdlord 6y agoIf you see a sign advertising “Free Beer” you understand that the meaning of “free” in this context means “goods and/or services available at no cost”. The English word “free” means a lot of things and the meaning of “free” in the expression “Free Beer” is very different from the meaning in the expression “Free Speech”, where it is used to mean “not legally restricted”.
- JohnJamesRambo 6y agoI guess I just don't know any places that have free beer.
- garmaine 6y ago"Free beer" is often used to describe a social or work gathering. If the host/company pays for drinks, it's "free beer." As in, "hey come to the seminar with me on Thursday: there's pizza and free beer."
- humbledrone 6y agoIt's confusing to me too when it's phrased that way. Stallman's original quote makes much more sense, "Think free as in free speech, not free beer." In other words, contrasting free as in "no restrictions", versus free as in "no cost".
- dijit 6y agoGratis vs Libre. Even as a non-latin speaking person I can identify the difference between those types of "free". Or, alternatively "Free as in Freedom", which is another phrase I've heard coming from the FSF.
- Cybiote 6y agoPerhaps Freedoms vs Freebies?
- aksss 6y agoI always thought “free as in beer” meant that you could make your own beer if you were willing to put the discovery, learning, and work in to make it happen. And you were responsible for the output.
- MaxBarraclough 6y agoThat's not correct, the meaning is as humbledrone says. Free as in beer is used in contrast with Free as in freedom, and refers to something made available free of charge.
- skohan 6y agoIt's an extremely important distinction. There's a term for software like Unreal Engine, which is "source available", and the difference between this and "open source" has massive categorical differences in terms of what you can legally do with this source code. If an important distinction like this is fading from our language, it's probably evidence that newer members of the community haven't been fully educated on the implications of software licensing terms, and if that's the case we should focus on improving that education, not resign ourselves to important knowledge being lost by the community. For instance, if you learned that young people were not aware of the dangers of exposure to lead, you would not throw up your hands and say: "I guess we'll just start using lead pipes again". You would make an effort to pass on that knowledge.
- MaxBarraclough 6y agoThis topic turned up on HN 6 weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26079067 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26079067 I agree with your position. Open Source is not a meaninglessly unclear term, it is a precise term of art. It makes good sense to resist efforts to turn it into a meaningless marketing term like premium. Some people point out that the term isn't trademarked. That doesn't matter. That isn't how terms of art work.