Suggested small improvements to the (already excellent) DFSG FAQ
[Barak Pearlmutter's mail comes back no matter how I send it,
so I am posting to the list]
The FAQ is very good. Here are some suggestions for further
improvement.
> 26. [...]
> OSS was also meant to sound more professional and hence
> more attractive to businesses.
You might also mention after this that it turned out that the
term 'open source' could not be registered as a trademark in
the United States after all. And it contains an even more
serious ambiguity that the word 'free', in that some companies
"open" their source code for people to examine without granting
them the right to make changes or to pass on copies. Bruce
Perens himself has confessed that coining a competing term
might not have been such a great idea.
http://linuxtoday.com/developer/1999061503710NWSM
The problem of the ambiguity with the word 'free' is best resolved
NOT by saying 'free as in speech' (since the freedom we are
concerned about is not exactly the same freedom as the freedom of
speech) NOR by adopting the word 'libre', but by speaking where
necessary about "software freedom" or "freedom to write, share
and use software".
> Bruce Perns
Perens
> 27. [...]
> Debian encourages corporations to create products based on
> Debian GNU/Linux, and such corporations include or have
> included Progeny, Lindows, Corel, and others.
Progeny GNU/Linux is no more. Corel Linux has become Xandros.
The "Corel" link links to some "funny" site about Hell.
> 28. [...]
> Automation and increased efficiency often reduce the number
> of jobs in some category and this is something we accept---
> buggy whip manufacturers come to mind.
'Buggy whip manufacturers' traditionally refers to an industry,
not to a profession. You could say 'coal miners' or 'hatters'.
> 29. [...]
> The name is a bit of a joke, as the term comes from the
> Four Freedoms Speech delivered by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
> in which he ...
I suggest:
The term 'four freedoms' is a play on words used by the
American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a speech in
which he ...
--
Thomas Hood
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