[conspire] What's wrong with "FLOSS" (was: Penguin Day - Demysitify FLOSS for Nonprofits)

[Christian Einfeldt]

Hi, 

> I was just flabbergasted that an organisation devoted to _public
> outreach_ (the Penguin Day people) were deliberately using a term
> that's completely inscrutible to the public, in place of two
> others (free software and open source) that were, respectively,
> troublingly ambiguous but at least easily explainable, and
> demonstrably clear/effective.

During the actual Penguin Day, the organizers, Gunner and Katrin, 
where very charismatic and very good at staying away from acronyms 
and explaining acronyms when someone else used them. 

>
> If I were writing the promotional material for Penguin Day

Did they use the acronyms FLOSS or FOSS or OSS in their promotional 
material?  Or was it just here on this list? 

>
>     "Not only does the English language borrow from other
> languages, it sometimes chases them through dark alleys, hits
> them over the head, and goes through their pockets."  -- Eddy
> Peter

I laughed out loud when I read this.  Thanks I needed that.

How do you interpret this statement?  Does it refer to the 
infiltration of English into other cultures through mass media, 
etc.?  That's how I'm interpreting it.