To: letters@lwn.net Subject: Correction: "Free" AnyJ From: Peter Moulder <reiter@netspace.net.au> Date: 30 Jul 1999 00:50:11 +1000 [Not intended for publication; though I've no objection to its publication.] In http://lwn.net/1999/0729/devel.phtml, you write "The usual answer has been emacs or xemacs with jde. One other free alternative, though, is AnyJ". I don't know whether you were aware, but AnyJ is not free in the "free software" sense, the sense that would usually be associated with emacs. From the AnyJ download page: LINUX (FREE, but not redistributable) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i.e. gratis but not "free" in the Linux sense. With free (Open Source) software, I know that it will always be supported, or at least that it is always possible for anyone to fix bugs and distribute fixed versions. With proprietory software like AnyJ, I can use the version that they're currently distributing, but I don't even know whether they'll release version 1.0 gratis, and I certainly don't know whether the company will still be around for version 2; if they're not, the software loses its value, and I'll have wasted time in dead-end software. For reasons such as the above (and others, depending on how much freedom is granted, e.g. whether or not source code is available for compilation on non-x86 machines), it would be helpful to many of your readers if you can distinguish between gratis and libre wherever you do know that a piece of software is not free in something like the Open Source or FSF sense. Thanks for considering this in future, pjm.