Quote:
Originally Posted by arjaybe
I prefer to keep it simple. I don't like to see free, and to a lesser extent open source, software confused with freeware. The freeware universe is tainted with bad software downloaded by gullible (usually Windows) users. Some freeware might be good software written by honorable people, but a lot of it is created for bad purposes. So I don't like to see people confuse it with the good stuff. I don't want people thinking of nagware and rootkits when I tell them about Calibre or LibreOffice. Therefore, there has to be a distinction from freeware. A Free Software, and to a lesser extent open source, license clearly attached to the software is a necessary part of that distinction.
When I capitalize Free Software it's not to limit it to the FSF, it's to suggest that the reader not confuse it with freeware. If you don't capitalize Free, then the first thing people think of is money. I hope that by capitalizing I can create the opportunity to think of freedom, or at least to stop and think.
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Hmm... When I read what you say here, all I get is that you have a set of free software products that you happen to trust, and you have decided (arbitrarily, it seems) to call it "Free Software". In other words, you have done what I suggested: you have assessed the provenance of these products as good enough for you. Since "Free Software" (unless referencing FSF) has no commonly accepted meaning, adding that as a label to what you yourself have vetted is not much use to anyone else.
If you really want to keep it simple, just say it like it is: "here is some free software that I use and trust."