[jan@intevation.de: Re: [Freegis-list] open source SEG-Y view er wanted]

[Matt.Wilkie]

> >The actual problem of your license that violates the definition
> >of Free Software is

...

> First. To my knowledge there is no all inclusive legal 
> definition of what  constitutes "Free Software".  You may 
> be referring to the  "copyleft" policy of the GNU project, 
> but the rest of the world is not them.   Indeed, we may
> be violating *your* definition of Free Software, but we 
> stand by our right to call our materials "Free".

This debate has been hashed over many times without satisfactory
resolution, and will continue to be for the forseeable future. 
The term Free Software, as used by FreeGIS.org refers to software 
which follows the Open Source Definition http://www.opensource.org/osd.html.


The problem is that the words used, Free and Software, are very
generic. Short of the Free Software Foundation establishing Free
Software as a trademark, which will never happen, Free Software 
will not become a phrase permanently bonded with the meaning 
"Software which follows the Open Source Definition".

I'm not the first to suggest this, but what we really need is
a word which doesn't come with the popularity and host of
assiciated meanings, connotations, and uses that "free" does.
As if that is not restriction enough, the needed word also 
has to be well known enough to be mostly recognizable and 
understood without resorting to reading the OSD. "This program
is Gribbledy Software" just won't work. 

The only word I've seen so far that comes close to matching, 
though still not a perfect match, the meaning of free as the 
'Free Software' community intends is "libre".

So in the end, I have to stand by the Colorado School of Mines 
right to call their not-OSDI-compliant program 'free software'
even though my personal stance is different. I do ask, but not
expect, that they courteously refrain from capitalizing the 
phrase so as to avoid at least some of the name space collision.


my 2c,


-matt
========================================
Matt Wilkie * GIS Technician * Yukon Renewable Resources GIS
http://renres.gov.yk.ca/pubs/rrgis/