[okfn-help] "Open Knowledge Foundation" in other languages / Free vs. Open

Sat Nov 5 09:16:47 UTC 2011

Hi Everton

On 5 November 2011 06:26, Everton Zanella Alvarenga
<everton137 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> since a Brazilian chapter is in progress, [1] I was wondering how it
> should be called in Portuguese and for this I also want understand
> better the reason for using "open" instead of "free". I asked this to
> Rufus a few months ago here in Brasil and, if I understood correctly,
> the main reason for using open if because of the English ambiguity
> with the word "free" (you always have to explain: free as in freedom,
> not as in free beer). In Portuguese we don't have such ambiguity and
> the word "livre" (= "free") is related to "liberdade" (= "freedom"),
> so it sounds better, in my opinion, when I say "conhecimento livre" (=
> "free knowledge"), instead of "conhecimento aberto" (= "open
> knowledge").
>
> Have the members of the other chapters <http://wiki.okfn.org/Chapters>
> discussed about this? Which name are you using in your own language?

Using the word 'open' instead of 'free' has also caused confusion here
in Germany. For example some of our closest friend from Wikipedia /
Wikimedia are using the term 'free knowledge' and assumed that 'open
knowledge' must be less free in parallel to free software vs. open
source. The point is that most people that have an understanding of
the difference between free software and open source don't know the
open definition.

> I believe here in Brazil, where only a few people speak Portuguese, it
> will be more convenient to have a Portuguese name for "Open Knowledge
> Foundation" - I was thinking about "Fundação do Conhecimento Livre",
> but a friend just suggested a better one "Fundação pelo Conhecimento
> Livre", although this should be discussed soon with the Brazilian
> community to agree on a name. Would be a problem to use the word
> "livre" instead of "aberto"?

For the German Chapter we decided to go with a language mixed name
"Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland" (for Germany).

This is partly because under German law you can not found an
association with the word 'foundation' in the name because a
foundation is a different legal body than an association.

>
> In cases such as a press release, I think it is proper to have the
> English name together with the mother tongue chapter name.
>
> I am also trying to see if I can find substantial differences between
> these two definitions:
>
> http://freedomdefined.org/Definition
>
> http://opendefinition.org/okd/
>
> Naively speaking in term of Creative Commons (CC) licenses, both only
> accept as open/free knowledge when the data/content/information is
> under a CC-by, CC-by-SA licenses or less restrictions, so both matches
> each other in this sense. Could someone point out important
> differences other than the names if I am not seeing?
>
> Maybe the issue "Open vs. Free" could be on OKFn FAQ
> <http://okfn.org/about/faq/> and the chapter question on the chapter
> instructions.

Absolutely, and in addition it should also go into the open definition
FAQ that we should set up. OMG, was this a ticket of mine?

All the best
Daniel

>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom
>
>
> [1] http://wiki.okfn.org/Brazil
>
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>

-- 

Daniel Dietrich

The Open Knowledge Foundation
Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
www.okfn.org - www.opendefinition.org

www.ddie.me
twitter.com/ddie
+49 171 780 870 3