Free, as in beer

created by bingeldac
(idea) by bingeldac (3.1 y) (print)   (I like it!) 1 C! Fri Apr 21 2000 at 6:47:57
"Free as in Beer" a term very familiar with GNU/Linux users. RMS says, "Think free software, not free as in beer", but I disagree. Free beer is one of the greatest things that exists on the planet. If something is "Free as in Beer" it is of the utmost of freedom almost in the realm of liberty. A great thing for free is nothing to shake a stick at. Thus GNU/Linux is "Free as in Beer" because not only is free beer a great thing but GNU/Linux is just as vital as life.
(idea) by evan927 (5.7 y) (print)   (I like it!) Mon May 06 2002 at 8:34:11
I'm not sure what Pasty was thinking, but...

Free as in Beer is a common phrase in the GNU/Linux community. Due to a slight shortcoming in the English language, the word "free" has several different meanings. To compensate for this, the community has adopted saying free as in beer and free as in speech.

The difference should be obvious. Free as in beer means that something has no monetary cost. Thus, if I'm at the groccery store and I try their new pigs in a blanket, that's free. I didn't have to pay anything for it.

Free as in speech, though, is very different.

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