Re: What so special about PostgreSQL and other RDBMS?

From: Frank van Bortel <fvanbortel_at_netscape.net>
Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 11:47:23 +0200
Message-ID: <c9eund$n3a$1@news3.tilbu1.nb.home.nl>

Galen Boyer wrote:

> On Mon, 31 May 2004, hjr_at_dizwell.com wrote:
>

>>You and Galen happen to have decided amongst yourselves, in
>>that scratch-and-match way you described in another part of the
>>thread, that "free" means "costing nothing", and nothing
>>else. As we discovered elsewhere in the thread, you did much
>>the same for the word "sell".

>
>
> Well, I'm just trying to explain what I know the free software
> society defines as free. To the regular Joe, say the word free
> and it means no money passed hands, so that is how the word has
> morphed, but "free software" has in its contract, the "GNU
> General Public License" and in that document, there is very
> little about money, and all about making sure the code stays
> "free" of software patents.
>
> I know the market uses the term "free software", but they are
> almost always talking about open-source software.
>

Absolutely do not want to get involved, and did not follow much of this thread but I recall one explanation: "It's free software as in Freedom of choice, not as in Free beer". Hmmm - while writing this, I decided to check with gnu: there it is: "Free as in Freedom" is on the GNU Organization home page (http://www.gnu.org/). Just one click away (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html) : <quote>
``Free software'' is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ``free'' as in ``free speech,'' not as in ``free beer.''
</quote>

-- 

Regards,
Frank van Bortel

Received on Mon May 31 2004 - 04:47:23 CDT