Libre software

Libre software is a less ambiguous term for free software. The European Commission coined the term in 2000 to avoid the confusing ambiguity of the English adjective free (see gratis versus libre).

Related Topics:
Free software - European Commission - 2000 - Ambiguity - English - Adjective - Free - Gratis versus libre

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While the English adjective free can mean either "no price" or "unfettered", libre is an unambiguous loanword from the French language meaning "unfettered", or "possessing freedom". The adjective libre compliments the French gratuit, which is synonymous with the Spanish gratis (describing a commodity that is "free of charge").

Related Topics:
Adjective - Free - Loanword - French language - Freedom - Synonym - Spanish - Gratis - Commodity

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To accommodate the distinction, the acronym FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) was expanded to yield the more descriptive term FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open-Source Software).

Related Topics:
Acronym - Free and Open Source Software - Free/Libre/Open-Source Software

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However, the term libre software is not completely unambiguous. In Tagalog, the adjective libre is ambiguous in the same way that free is in English. In the Philippines, therefore, malayang software is the preferred term for free software.

Related Topics:
Tagalog - Philippines - Malayang software - Free software

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