How to avoid missunderstandings (was: A possible GFDL compromise: a proposal)
* MJ Ray (markj@cloaked.freeserve.co.uk) [030922 11:26]:
> On 2003-09-22 09:27:52 +0100 Andreas Barth
> <aba+nospam@not.so.argh.org> wrote:
> >Yes. However, as "software" is a so fundamental term to Debian, it
> >would perhaps be better to make an appropriate (semi-)official
> >statement anywhere.
> It seems a little odd to expect Debian to contain an official
> statement saying "by software, we mean software". Let the people who
> use bizarre definitions say "by software, we don't mean software but
> this other thing".
Well, for a native speaker you're of course right.
But for someone speaking english as a foreign language, it would help to
avoid missunderstandings. So, such a statement would have a good place in
the "The top 10 of misunderstandings in debian-legal"-FAQ. Or like a
statement: "When we say software, we mean software. If you're a native
english speaker, that shouldn't be a problem to you. But the word
"software" gives false friends in some other languages, where it is used as
synonym for the english "program"." (Or some other statement.)
Cheers,
Andi
--
http://home.arcor.de/andreas-barth/
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