On Tue, 29 May 2007, Francesco Poli wrote: > The first common meanings of the word "proprietary" seem to refer to > the concept of property, owning, and trademark/patent/copyright.
They refer to the concept of property which is *exclusively* owned and controlled, such that a single entity is able to market and sell it. > what's your definition of "proprietary software", then? Software > with source code kept secret? Software whose use, modification, selling, or distribution is controlled exclusively by a single party, generally by restricting access to the source code and/or restrictive licencing agreements. > Just a nit-pick, not really interchangeably, because of semi-free > software. I am deliberately neglecting semi-free software here. Well, that's the root of our contention then. As proprietary software does not encompass the entire set of non-free software, you should not use the terms interchangeably. Don Armstrong -- All bad precedents began as justifiable measures. -- Gaius Julius Caesar in "The Conspiracy of Catiline" by Sallust http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]