AMV Free/Open Source Software Lists

trythil · Post by **trythil** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:15 am

SQ wrote: I don't think this is a waste of a topic Trythil, It's just that people consider things free when they don't pay for it, not how it works in the back end of things.

The point of this topic was to focus on the "back end" of things, but it's not really accomplished that goal, so it's not really useful anymore.

(You could argue that it wasn't really useful to begin with, since I botched the price vs. freedom distinction in post #1, and didn't really succeed in making it clear.)

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:20 am

It is with a heavy heart that I unsticky this thread. Trythil, I suggest you try again, and lay out very clearly the distinction between Free and free.

trythil · Post by **trythil** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 12:27 am

Kalium wrote:It is with a heavy heart that I unsticky this thread. Trythil, I suggest you try again, and lay out very clearly the distinction between Free and free.

Someone else can do that. I'm done.

Willen · Post by **Willen** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 10:49 am

The definition of Free in this instance equates to freedom as in "land of the free" from the Star-Spangled Banner or Free as in "free speech".

Wikipedia wrote:Free software, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed with little or no restriction. Freedom from such restrictions is central to the concept, with the opposite of free software being proprietary software (a distinction unrelated to whether a fee is charged). The usual way for software to be distributed as free software is for the software to be licensed to the recipient with a free software license (or be in the public domain), and the source code of the software to be made available (for a compiled language).

By contrast, "Freeware" is software made available free of charge, but is generally proprietary, as users do not necessarily have the freedom to use, copy, study, modify or redistribute it. Source code for freeware may or may not be published, and permission to distribute modified versions may or may not be granted, so freeware is gratis, but not necessarily libre software. Free software is entirely compatible with commercial software: a prohibition on selling the software would be a restriction failing the free software definition.

NOT free as in "free beer", or gratis (i.e. zero price), hence the usual use of a capital "F" in the spelling.

Wikipedia wrote:Gratis is an adjective in Latin and various Romance and Germanic languages meaning "free," in the sense that one does not have to pay for some good or service (free of charge).

I think we went over this topic in this thread: http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/v ... hp?t=72294

But ultimately, if people were to actually read trythil's first post, you'd have read this (emphasis added by me):

trythil wrote:Free, in this case, refers strictly to software which is licensed under a Free Software license by the definitions set by the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. Open Source software refers to software that is licensed under an OSI approved license.

For your reference:
GNU Project - Confusing Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding
GNU Project - The Free Software Definition
GNU Project - Various Licenses and Comments
Open Source Initiative - Approved Licenses

These definitions cannot be strictly enforced in the .org boards, as post editing is disabled. However, please do NOT post "freeware", "shareware", or anything which so dilutes the definition of "Free".

It does not include "freeware" or "shareware" or any kind of software that is "free of charge" but is of a closed and proprietary nature, like that from Apple (iMovie) and Microsoft (Windows Movie Maker) which are included with the OS (which technically doesn't make them exactly "free" since you have to pay for the copy of the OS either as a separate (CD-ROM) purchase or as part your computer system (pre-installed), unless you stole your copy of Mac OS X or WinXP).

Now, are we clear?

Gepetto · Post by **Gepetto** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 7:56 am

o.o trythil really stresses out with these definitions, doesn't he?

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:51 pm

Gepetto wrote:o.o trythil really stresses out with these definitions, doesn't he?

Yes. There is a very simple and very good reason for this: they matter.

Gepetto · Post by **Gepetto** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:53 pm

Kalium wrote:
Gepetto wrote:o.o trythil really stresses out with these definitions, doesn't he?
Yes. There is a very simple and very good reason for this: they matter.

I never implied that they don't. I just commented on how he makes a point of letting people know how pissed he is about it. There are no voice tones on text-based forums.