5: What are FSF, LPF, OSF, GNU, RMS, FTP, and GPL?
FSF == Free Software Foundation
LPF == League for Programming Freedom
OSF == Open Software Foundation
GNU == GNU's Not Unix
RMS == Richard Matthew Stallman
FTP == File Transfer Protocol
GPL == GNU General Public License
NOTE: Avoid confusing the FSF, the LPF, and the OSF. The LPF opposes
look-and-feel copyrights and software patents. The FSF aims to make high
quality free software available for everyone. The OSF is a consortium of
computer vendors which develops commercial software for Unix systems.
NOTE: The word "free" in the title of the Free Software Foundation refers
to "freedom," not "zero dollars." Anyone can charge any price for
GPL-covered software that they want to. However, in practice, the
freedom enforced by the GPL leads to low prices, because you can always
get the software for less money from someone else, because everyone has
the right to resell or give away GPL-covered software.
General Questions