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>FLOSS made the internet possible. FTFA! In all seriousness though; there isn't an aspect of computing that hasn't been improved by F(L)OSS. (What's the L st

>FLOSS made the internet possible. FTFA! In all seriousness though; there isn't an aspect of computing that hasn't been improved by F(L)OSS. (What's the L stand for?)

weikju 5y ago
Libre. Usually used to denote that we mean freedom not zero-cost when saying “free”
- Proven 5y ago
- xwolfi 5y ago
  It's French or Spanish for free, because in our languages we split the concept of free beer and free speech into two words. Gratuituous could be used for free of charge since it's what we used in latin languages (which I suppose is the same root as gracious - at least in formal french we replace gratuit with gracieux to mean the same thing). So I wonder if English, tired of borrowing a strange word, will use gracious or gratuitous some day to denote free of charge ! That would maybe avoid all these questions of what libre means !
  - bitbckt 5y ago
    We (English speakers) frequently use gratis for free-as-in-beer.
    - kergonath 5y ago
      True, but “free” can always have that meaning as well, making it always ambiguous.
  - mdpye 5y ago
    As the sibling says, we do use gratis as a loan. Gracious already means "with grace" (of manners or motions), and gratuitous "excessive" (as in violence)...
- i67vw3 5y ago
  I use Libre to indicate “freedom” based software, while FOSS for “free” software. I rarely use FLOSS as, floss is a known word for flossing teeth and for the dance move. Libre just sounds cool compared to floss.
throwaway984393 5y ago
> there isn't an aspect of computing that hasn't been improved by F(L)OSS Mmmm.. I'd have to disagree, based on my professional experience. FLOSS hasn't really improved business software. User interfaces, Groupware, Enterprise software, Tax software, Government software, Industrial software, Telecom, POS, EHR, etc. It's hardly ever written as FLOSS because it takes a lot of time and effort, and devs don't find it rewarding to write that stuff in their free time (most OSS is written because the developer just needed that code). When there is a FLOSS solution, it's not an improvement over the proprietary alternative. Even in "IT", there is a huge dearth of quality FLOSS used to build... anything. There's lots of one-off projects that are good for one thing or another, but very few large robust solutions, and components never seem to mix together unless they have "custom integrations" to tie them to other systems. Microsoft will forever be the king of Enterprise software integration and business productivity tools, and each industry has its own "business software" titan. SaaS and PaaS are also more closed-source than open. When there is some FLOSS that does something difficult like video rendering, or running distributed applications, the entire industry uses it. But for the bulk of the business world's needs, often the only solutions are proprietary.

>FLOSS made the internet possible. FTFA! In all seriousness though; there isn't an aspect of computing that hasn't been improved by F(L)OSS. (What's the L stand for?)

weikju 5y ago

Libre. Usually used to denote that we mean freedom not zero-cost when saying “free”

Proven 5y ago
xwolfi 5y ago
It's French or Spanish for free, because in our languages we split the concept of free beer and free speech into two words. Gratuituous could be used for free of charge since it's what we used in latin languages (which I suppose is the same root as gracious - at least in formal french we replace gratuit with gracieux to mean the same thing). So I wonder if English, tired of borrowing a strange word, will use gracious or gratuitous some day to denote free of charge ! That would maybe avoid all these questions of what libre means !
- bitbckt 5y ago
  We (English speakers) frequently use gratis for free-as-in-beer.
  - kergonath 5y ago
    True, but “free” can always have that meaning as well, making it always ambiguous.
- mdpye 5y ago
  As the sibling says, we do use gratis as a loan. Gracious already means "with grace" (of manners or motions), and gratuitous "excessive" (as in violence)...
i67vw3 5y ago
I use Libre to indicate “freedom” based software, while FOSS for “free” software. I rarely use FLOSS as, floss is a known word for flossing teeth and for the dance move. Libre just sounds cool compared to floss.

throwaway984393 5y ago

> there isn't an aspect of computing that hasn't been improved by F(L)OSS Mmmm.. I'd have to disagree, based on my professional experience. FLOSS hasn't really improved business software. User interfaces, Groupware, Enterprise software, Tax software, Government software, Industrial software, Telecom, POS, EHR, etc. It's hardly ever written as FLOSS because it takes a lot of time and effort, and devs don't find it rewarding to write that stuff in their free time (most OSS is written because the developer just needed that code). When there is a FLOSS solution, it's not an improvement over the proprietary alternative. Even in "IT", there is a huge dearth of quality FLOSS used to build... anything. There's lots of one-off projects that are good for one thing or another, but very few large robust solutions, and components never seem to mix together unless they have "custom integrations" to tie them to other systems. Microsoft will forever be the king of Enterprise software integration and business productivity tools, and each industry has its own "business software" titan. SaaS and PaaS are also more closed-source than open. When there is some FLOSS that does something difficult like video rendering, or running distributed applications, the entire industry uses it. But for the bulk of the business world's needs, often the only solutions are proprietary.