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I support F(L)OSS, and this project is wonderful. As a native English speaker, though, I really regret the whole community's collective decision to choose "libr

I support F(L)OSS, and this project is wonderful. As a native English speaker, though, I really regret the whole community's collective decision to choose "libre" to refer to software freedom. I understand the etymological origin, but -- to me -- saying "lee bruh" in English is like chewing tinfoil. It strikes me as a tragic failure of marketing. I seem to remember that one of the names that was rejected in favor of LibreOffice was "Bureau." I wonder how a sleek name like that might have affected the program's fortunes?

zfxfr 5y ago
As a native French speaker I don't see the problem with the prononciation of libre :) I understand the arguments for using English as a universal language but in this case the word libre brings an other nuance (meaning) "libre" != "free"
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
eplanit 5y ago
I sympathize with what you're saying, but IMHO "Bureau" invokes thoughts of authoritarian institutions.
- edoceo 5y ago
  Ministry of Freedom
Kaze404 5y ago
I don't understand this comment. The English language already has "libra", "library"... As someone who's fluent in English (but not a native speaker) there is no distinction.
- olivierestsage 5y ago
  It has to do with the rhythm of the way words are joined. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the exact right term to use here, but in English there isn't usually that kind of "pause" sound between words/consonants-- whereas, in my limited knowledge of French, it seems like that is quite common (many words seem to end in -re).
  - mPReDiToR 5y ago
    Is that a glottal stop?
  - Kaze404 5y ago
    I looked it up and it seems I had the wrong pronunciation of "libre". It's pronounced completely different in French, I had no idea. But still, this feels like a non-issue to me. There's nothing wrong with pronouncing "libre" in a way that's more comfortable for English speakers (like Libra), as it would still be crystal clear what you're referring to in my opinion.
    - jtvjan 5y ago
      > It's pronounced completely different in French For real? I thought both languages pronounced them like /libʁ/.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        In English, pronouncing it similar to if it was (in French) libré, for the software sense, is quite common.
      - Kaze404 5y ago
        At least according to Google Translate, yes.
- stinos 5y ago
  I understand it, I think. The shape your lips/mouth make for the 'li' in 'library' is different than for the 'li' in 'libre' (at least when I try to pronounce the latter as french 'libre' but with an English 'r' which I have the impression is how it's supposed to be done and is also what the parent indicates, might be wrong?). As a result there's this weird movement to go from 'lee' to 'br' and I have a hard time getting a typical English 'r' out of it which I have zero problems with in 'library'. Non-native English speaker as well.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
onebot 5y ago
Was about to say this same thing. I feel like it has a very poor band association in my mind.
bjornjajayaja 5y ago
I tend to nitpick in similar ways. However, LibreOffice is used across language boundaries, and words like Free and Open don’t translate as well in my opinion.

zfxfr 5y ago

As a native French speaker I don't see the problem with the prononciation of libre :) I understand the arguments for using English as a universal language but in this case the word libre brings an other nuance (meaning) "libre" != "free"

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

eplanit 5y ago

I sympathize with what you're saying, but IMHO "Bureau" invokes thoughts of authoritarian institutions.

edoceo 5y ago
Ministry of Freedom

Kaze404 5y ago

I don't understand this comment. The English language already has "libra", "library"... As someone who's fluent in English (but not a native speaker) there is no distinction.

olivierestsage 5y ago
It has to do with the rhythm of the way words are joined. I'm not a linguist, so I don't know the exact right term to use here, but in English there isn't usually that kind of "pause" sound between words/consonants-- whereas, in my limited knowledge of French, it seems like that is quite common (many words seem to end in -re).
- mPReDiToR 5y ago
  Is that a glottal stop?
- Kaze404 5y ago
  I looked it up and it seems I had the wrong pronunciation of "libre". It's pronounced completely different in French, I had no idea. But still, this feels like a non-issue to me. There's nothing wrong with pronouncing "libre" in a way that's more comfortable for English speakers (like Libra), as it would still be crystal clear what you're referring to in my opinion.
  - jtvjan 5y ago
    > It's pronounced completely different in French For real? I thought both languages pronounced them like /libʁ/.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      In English, pronouncing it similar to if it was (in French) libré, for the software sense, is quite common.
    - Kaze404 5y ago
      At least according to Google Translate, yes.
stinos 5y ago
I understand it, I think. The shape your lips/mouth make for the 'li' in 'library' is different than for the 'li' in 'libre' (at least when I try to pronounce the latter as french 'libre' but with an English 'r' which I have the impression is how it's supposed to be done and is also what the parent indicates, might be wrong?). As a result there's this weird movement to go from 'lee' to 'br' and I have a hard time getting a typical English 'r' out of it which I have zero problems with in 'library'. Non-native English speaker as well.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

onebot 5y ago

Was about to say this same thing. I feel like it has a very poor band association in my mind.

bjornjajayaja 5y ago

I tend to nitpick in similar ways. However, LibreOffice is used across language boundaries, and words like Free and Open don’t translate as well in my opinion.