|| On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:01:59 +0200 || Giacomo Poderi poderi1980@yahoo.it wrote:
gp> I'm sorry to point out that probably for this there is no real gp> solution: for example Microsoft certainly consider free the gp> software they offer for downloading within their website [0]
Nobody said that "free" in English was perfect, but you're missing several points here that make it the best we have:
What Microsoft is referring to on that page is called "freeware" and not Free Software. We obviously know that Microsoft is deliberately trying to ignore the fact that there is a 20 year old scientific definition of "Free Software" that is causing them quite a bit of trouble.
In general it is not the fact that you have enemies that will try to confuse your issue that decides about how good or bad a term is, it is the question of how good you can keep the basis clean.
For Free Software in English there are generally only two ways in which people understand the term: price or freedom. Such a confusion is comparatively easy to clear up. In pretty much any other language you can clearly refer to freedom.
The same is not true for "fair" which means something different for every person on this planet. You might as well use "nice" "good" "lovely" "cozy" "cuddly" or anything else.
Regards, Georg