native english speakers - by which I mean USA, Canada and UK - know what libre means.
It's like the word "bazaar" - even if you say "baajaar", you will get most Indians to understand the meaning.
close to 90% asians will not even know the meaning of Libre even if you write it down.
Please understand, I am not debating the relative merit of using the word "open" as opposed to "libre" as a branding exercise - people just dont know what libre is.
They don't need to know - if they care, they can learn. How many people knew what "ubuntu" meant before the Ubuntu distribution? How many people know what "ubuntu" means now?
agreed - but the problem is two fold. I can say ubuntu to a person on the street and they remember it, because the word is phonetically easy. Libre isnt.
Again, this is not about branding - "libre" is a word that is extremely difficult to pronounce, read and remember for a lot of asians.
Which non-native english speakers are you talking about?
My pronunciation (as a native english speaker) is pretty much like the spanish version I guess.
That said I don't think it's a particular fantastic name.