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Am I the only person bothered by the differences in Free?
wraith808:
+1000 :)
TaoPhoenix:
WTFPL FTW! :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup:
-Renegade (October 08, 2013, 03:41 PM)
--- End quote ---
... And then they Copyrighted the page!
Right...
TaoPhoenix:
Well, this is a bit of a surprise!
My other hangout is Slashdot, which (used to?) lean much heavier on the Free As in FOSS side.
Several points I don't yet see represented:
1. So what DO you call "what is now called 'FOSS' software?" If you could turn back time and call it anything, what 8 letter word or less do you call it? See the problem of LibreOffice.
2. The word "Free" has been beyond zombified, then eaten by Cthulu and spat up, then dumped into Loch Ness, where it later became microbe lunch. That's because Physical Goods vendors have used 100+ definitions of "Free" that mean random things.
3. As the humanities type, why exactly wouldn't you release the source code? Are Bastardized Copies really that bad?
4. Copyright Happened. Specifically "It doesn't in fact matter if you got a program 'free of charge', without the extra license then there's always a deep remote threat the vendor can later get sneaky and try to sue you for copyright." And that wouldn't be so bad if the fine was $325. But instead it's $325,000.
5. Things like Licenses will always be a mess because you don't want to be arguing the word "D-Bag" in a court case. Because people like Prenda Law just want to see that on the official court testimony in a frame on their wall as a joke with clients over beer.
TaoPhoenix:
I've not seen any pushback on this particular topic in the realm of thinkspeak. Free has always meant free as in I give you something for no charge. But now, we need such disambiguations:
-wraith808 (October 08, 2013, 10:41 AM)
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What does that first line even mean? Straight up, what is "thinkspeak"? And how have you managed "not to see any pushback"?! It must depend where you do your internet work. Because fifteen years of Slashdot has showcased "pushback".
Renegade:
WTFPL FTW! :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup: :Thmbsup:
-Renegade (October 08, 2013, 03:41 PM)
--- End quote ---
... And then they Copyrighted the page!
Right...
-TaoPhoenix (October 08, 2013, 11:43 PM)
--- End quote ---
It is ironic, but it's also a systemic problem. You can't have 50 versions of a license, so you can't have people take "WTFPL", rewrite it, and call it "WTFPL". It defeats the purpose of a license.
So while it is ironic, it's really no different than using any given word. When I say "tree", I can't be talking about something to drink coffee out of, or a mode of transportation. If people did that, communication would be impossible.
For a great example of why this is, watch this Twilight Zone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wordplay_(The_Twilight_Zone)
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