The issue is that the word "free" in English has two meanings, while other languages have two separate words for each meaning (gratis = free of charge, libre =

The issue is that the word "free" in English has two meanings, while other languages have two separate words for each meaning (gratis = free of charge, libre = free as in freedom). The reason why L means Libre is to emphasise that the "free" in "free software" refers to the libre meaning of the word "free", not necessarily the gratis meaning. This is also what the phrase "free as in speech, not as in beer" attempts to disambiguate.