[OT] Free Office suite for Linux and Windows

[Richmond]

On 10/12/13 16:04, Richard Gaskin wrote:
> Philip Hudson wrote:
>> This is a very old discussion.
>
> And yet here we are. :)  Thanks, Richmond.
>
>> We can and should use 'libre' and 'gratis instead if/when it's 
>> appropriate.
>
> Agreed, though among laymen the usage of Latin is rare, and among 
> professionals we know from the context that what's meant is "open 
> source".
>
> When quoting Stallman it's hard to avoid using "free", and only 
> Richmond presumes Stallman can ever be budged on that. :)

What Richard Stallman means by "Free" is not what most other people 
understand by "Free"; I know Stallman
is a bit like Robespierre, unbudgeable (mind you, we know what happened 
to Robespierre:
possibly the first example of a 'headless server').

Where I take issue with Stallman is not with his theory of how the world 
should be, and how copyright is, on the whole,
counter-creative; but in that by using the word "free" in the way he 
does, people may be mislead into thinking he means "free"
in the way it is normally used by us naive realists.

Swapping a Latin or French word for the English "Free" does not solve 
that problem as, 'gratis' in Latin means the same as 'free'
means in English.

Richmond.