[okfn-discuss] [FC-d"iscuss] A Free, Libre and Open Glossary

[Gene Shackman]

"Free Software is NOT simply free to use. "Free Software" as defined by 
the ... Free Software Foundation"gets a lit


Well, this is where it gets sort of complex. To folks in the open knowledge movement, "free" has a specific meaning, as Aaron indicated. It means free to use, modify, share.  To folks in the general public, "free" likely means free of charge, and free to use. It does not necessarily include free to modify. Some examples are these packages, which are "free" to use, but not "free" to modify:

Epi Info http://wwwn.cdc.gov/epiinfo/
MicOsiris http://www.microsiris.com/ (a statistical program)
TextSTAT http://neon.niederlandistik.fu-berlin.de/en/textstat/ (a word analysis program)
Tableau public  http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/ (data visualization. As far as I can tell, this is free of charge but not open)

Thus, some general statement at the beginning of a glossary would be helpful, to explain what "free" means. So here is a modified opening statement.


(title) What is free or open knowledge?

There are a whole lot of things on the web, like software, papers, reports, data, artworks, etc, that are "free" to use, or "open" knowledge. But "free" and "open" have specific meaning, often different from what the general public understands. For example, in many definitions of "free", software has to be free to use, AND free to modify (e.g., "open"). The source code has to be available, and open to modification by anyone. Without those conditions, the software is not "free", but is just "free of charge".  This glossary explains the specific meaning of "free" and "open" and related terms, and explains what you need to know to understand appropriate use of "open" or "free" knowledge.



Gene
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