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I always thought that "free" in the FSF and other names stood as "for free", no payment needed, did not realize it actually stood for freedom. I think it might be that other people also mistake free software with some spam foundation, since the more common association of "free software" comes from spam malware filled websites offering "registry cleaners".



This unfortunate dual meaning of "free" in English is the reason for Richard Stallman saying:

> To understand the concept, you should think of "free" as in "free speech," not as in "free beer".

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html


And this all could have been avoided if they were known as the Software Freedom Foundation...




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