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People disagree about this. If F is for free as in speech, what is the L for? I've been in the GNU/libre/open source world since 1986. My experience is that th
by PaulDavisThe1st 2y ago
People disagree about this. If F is for free as in speech, what is the L for?
I've been in the GNU/libre/open source world since 1986. My experience is that the L (for libre) was added specifically because the english "Free" is ambiguous and too often interpreted as without-cost/free-as-in-beer/gratis.
- satvikpendem 2y agoLibre more specifically means the GNU licenses, as GNU didn't like that licenses like MIT were being called FOSS, as they don't preserve user freedoms like (A|L)GPL do.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y agoThis is absolutely not the history I have lived through.
- satvikpendem 2y agohttps://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html Stallman wants people to say FLOSS to denote free software versus open source software, and my interpretation of this article is that he only deems the GNU licenses to be truly free (libre) software.
- PaulDavisThe1st 2y agoStallman acknowledges the he did not invent the term, and describes how the "L" was added to connote freedom in the free-as-in-speech sense, rather than type of freedom the "F" was typically associated with.
- satvikpendem 2y agoFOSS was already a term to denote the other types of open source license like MIT, that is why FLOSS was specifically coined, to not only say that there is a difference in the word free, but also to differentiate GNU OSS license from the others.
- amszmidt 2y ago> [..] only deems the GNU licenses to be truly free (libre) software. Simply has never been the case.