[conspire] What's wrong with "FLOSS"

[Zachary Mutrux]

William R Ward wrote:

>Amen.  Please use the term "Open Source" that people actually
>understand.  Zac Mutrux & Christian Einfeld, this means you.
>
Hey, I never claimed not to be a lightweight. I'll also confess to 
calling San Francisco "Frisco" just before moving there a few years ago. 
Which faux pas earned me lasting ridicule by my friends. So, point 
taken. See if I ever write FLOSS on this list again. ;-)

When it comes to what people "actually understand," though, I suggest 
that there is no universal solution. For an audience that knows nothing 
of computer programming, "open source" is jargon just as much as any 
acronym (cute or not). "Free software" on the other hand, are words that 
are welcome in the nonprofit world, where the appeal of open source 
software is the cost of a license, even though they misunderstand the 
ambiguous "free".

I generally use "open source", myself. I think Aspiration (along with 
many others) have found that using one phrase or the other tends to 
raise hackles among idealogues. **OS* is the term used by Aspiration and 
I expect they will continue to use it for the same reason that RMS 
approved of it.

Yours,

Zac

-- 
Zac Mutrux
CompuMentor