One of the most contentious words in the OpenSource/FreeSoftware movements. The problem is that in english there are two different meanings of the word "free":

As in beer

It doesn't cost anything.

As in speech

It's not confined, it has freedom, etc...

FreeSoftware is about "Free as in Free Speech", although it's often has no cost associated with it, and thus the confusion persists. People tend to talk about "Free as in freedom" with a capital F and "free as in beer" with a lowercase "f". YMMV.

Perhaps it would be better if people used the latin words libre (as in liberty) and gratis (as in no cost)...

CategoryPolitics