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", even though no cost is usually associated with it. 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)...

A good discussion about why things should be Free posted on xiph.org.

CategoryPolitics