Re: [Gimp-web] An introduction, and a simple patch



According to:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/floss-and-foss.en.html

"Free/Libre" doesn't make "Open Source" redundant. FOSS can cause
confusion, although most people believe it's a neutral term. FLOSS
doesn't cause confusion, and is a neutral term.

FOSS can cause confusion because it can mean one of the following:

a) "Free" is about gratis.

b) "Open source" is the same as "free".

There is other possibility besides what was suggested in this patch: To
use "Free/Libre Software" and remove "Free & Open Source Software"

Besides, being a free software project, it doesn't need to describe
itself as "open source" just to be understood by the public, it can
advertise itself by what it can really guarantee: respect for society's
essential freedoms[1]. Besides, the open source development model left
out from the free software movement in 1998[2], and since then, their
proponents have been spreading confusion[3][4][5].

The most famous speakers from the free software movement (not just RMS,
many others) also don't like to be addressed as "open source"
proponents.

GNU projects also don't describe themselves as "open source". I have
seen a past bug report for GIMP on this, but I can't find the reference,
but it's in the bug tracker.


REFERENCES

[1] http://media.libreplanet.org/u/libby/m/mako/

[2] http://www.gnu.org/gnu/thegnuproject.html (section: "Open Source")

[3] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html

[4] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/compromise.html

[5] http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/applying-free-sw-criteria.html

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