Why we speak about Free Software Free Software is often referred to as "Open Source." This goes back to the Open Source Initiative trying to create a marketing campaign for Free Software. The OSI had the intention to maintain the integrity of the movement and prevent abuse by proprietary vendors by introducing a trademark for Free Software. Having followed the development of the Open Source Initative for three years, the reasons to prefer the term Free Software have become even more true. For various reasons, Free Software or the equivalent term in the local language is offering many advantages. "Free Software" is easier to understand In many languages, the ambiguity of the term "free" does not exist. It may in others, including English, but that is easy to avoid by pointing out that free refers to freedom, not price. Although access to the source code is a precondition for two of the freedoms, access to the source code alone is not enough. Free Software avoids catering to this relatively common misunderstanding. Free Software is harder to abuse Unfortunately many companies have started calling their products "Open Source" if at least some parts of the source code can be seen. Users buy their software in the belief to get something that is "as good as GNU/Linux" because it claims to follow the same principle. We should not allow proprietary vendors to abuse peoples enthusiasm like this. Since the trademarking initiative failed, there is no way to prevent this from happening. Free Software is well-defined Experience in science and philosophy has shown that a good and concise definition is to be preferred. The Free Software Definition of the Free Software Foundation with its four freedoms is the most compact and clear definition existing today. Free Software provides additional value Other than Open Source, Free Software provides more than just a technical model how to develop better software, it provides a philosophy. Companies can profit and learn from the philosophy and background of Free Software. Free Software offers freedom Free Software contains the freedoms to - run the program, for any purpose. - study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. - redistribute copies. - improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Because of these four freedoms, Free Software offers freedom to learn, freedom to teach, freedom of competition, freedom of speech and freedom of choice. Freedom counts! For all these reasons we made the conscious decision to avoid Open Source and speak of Free Software or the equivalent term in the local language. We encourage you to make the same decision. An initative of the Free Software Foundation Europe and the Free Software Foundation We speak of Free Software Alcove ... ... ...