The term for free software (українською)

Note: this page is outdated and the only reason it is available is to prevent link rot. The new version is available here: Libre or Gratis?

There are several terms for software that gives its users freedom:

"free software";
"libre software";
"open source software";
"FOSS";
"FLOSS".

When I speak English, I prefer the term “free software”, but if the person I'm talking to doesn't know about it, I use the term “libre software”. I try to avoid the term "open source software" because "open source" can also mean "source-available", which is not "free"/"libre".

On the other hand, when I speak Ukrainian, I use the term "free software" (or rather its translation, "вільне програмне забезпечення" / "вільна програма") almost exclusively, because in Ukrainian there is a separate word for "free" with the meaning "libre".

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