On 24 Jul 2008, at 06:22, Kalle Happonen wrote: > John Mark Walker wrote: >> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 2:25 PM, Yorick Moko >> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> by "gratis" he means "without cost" >> >> Oops... :) Yes, I mean "free as in beer." > > Not to be a nitpick, but I think the official quote is "free as in > free > beer" which makes much more sense :).
I have never seen the phrase used this way, only "free as in beer" (vs "free as in speech"). I think historically beer was given out on polling day, when candidates wished to influence the electorate. They would host a big party and drunk electors would go to the polling booths thinking "that guy would make a great politician because he gave me free beer". Thus the beer is not "really free". > In general I have a way too hard time to find free beer. Exactly! If someone gives you free beer then they probably want something in return! Likewise "there's no such thing as a free lunch", even if the salesman is buying. Stroller. _______________________________________________ Openmoko community mailing list [email protected] http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
