At this point, the only reason i still use the term "Free Software" is to align myself with the Free Software movement as opposed to the Open Source movement, but to end this stupid naming controversy and make both movements stronger, not only do we have to, but we should for our own benefit use the term "open source" instead. I did a little rant about this a while ago on YouTube. The argument is really very simple.
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15 years 15 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago
I usually don't have much
I usually don't have much problem when I talk to people about free software. Whenever I bring it up, I say something like this, "When I say free software, I mean software that respects the user's freedom. It doesn't matter to me if there is a monetary cost attached to the software, what I really care about is if the software respects the user's freedom".
I would then outline the FSF four freedoms before continuing on my discussion.
If the other party continues to confuse my issue of free software, I usually repeat that mantra in a different form. Sometimes I would share an example of how much money I pay to a vendor to acquire free software in an attempt to emphasise the fact that I'm not referring to gratis. Other things that I might mention to distinguish myself is "free as in free speech, not free beer" or "free market economy" or "when I say free software, I don't mean gratis. I am saying that the software should respect freedom".