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Yes, I think this is an English problem. In Portuguese, for example, there is "Gratis" and "Livre" which have too different meanings and there is no possible co
by cfn 13y ago
Yes, I think this is an English problem. In Portuguese, for example, there is "Gratis" and "Livre" which have too different meanings and there is no possible confusion between the two. Maybe they should say that the software should be "set free" instead.
- mkr-hn 13y agoIt's not an English problem. The language already has tools to clarify. Free (to modify) Free (to use) Free (to resell) People just don't use them when they're trying to make a slogan, and it causes confusion. English is full of overloaded words.
- dkuntz2 13y agoThat is kinda an English problem. If we need those qualifiers, the language could use some work. The whole purpose of language is to abstract complex thoughts into communicable ideas, and if we keep getting hung up on the fact that everyone using "free" slightly differently, the language has sorta failed at its job. I say this as someone who know English and a little bit of French.
- cfn 13y agoThe problem is that "free" is overloaded as you concluded. I didn't mean to offend any sensibilities, I was just saying that this discussion does not happen in some other languages because they have different words.