Easy prediction: people who have been taught to confuse #FreeSoftware and #OpenSource through the misleading terms #FOSS and #FLOSS will now be led to further accept the privatization of #knowledge by small, innovative (and easy to acquire) #ethical start-ups.

@Shamar
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, the obvious ambiguity of the word free in the context of software doomed the movement from ever spreading to the mainstream. Not a single non-technical person I've ever met really appreciated the phrase or its importance even after explanation, and the movement is older than I am.

Wholeheartedly agree re: ethical startups though. #WorkerOwnedCollectives need to become the norm.

#ethical #knowledge #floss #foss #opensource #freesoftware

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@jump_spider @Shamar

Sorry to butt in, but personally I agree wholeheartedly. I think the best thing the FSF could do for their movement is to completely rebrand the phrase to something like "libre software".

The current name is so catastrophically bad, I have witnessed multiple people within FLOSS circles that think charging for free software goes against its principles. No amount of "I'd like to interject for a moment" will ever fix such a broken term.

@henriquesga @Shamar
I recently overheard the distinction made between "open source" and "source available," which I personally enjoy. I think it's safe to conclude "open source" won the culture war, and I can image a normie saying, "Huh?' in reply after hearing "libre software" but possibly, "What's the difference?" after hearing someone point out something is merely source available

Free Software, Open Source and Capitalism 

Free Software, Open Source and Capitalism 

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