Outside of Debian, I think people consider software "free" if they can download it, use it, and NOT have to pay for it. I do at least.
There are several meanings of the word 'free' in English. Here is the quotation from Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)":
This is the first one:
Free Free (fr=e), a. Compar. Freer (-~er); superl.
Freest (-e^st). OE. fre, freo, AS. fre'o, fr=i;
akin to D. vrij, OS. & OHG. fr=i, G. frei, Icel. fr=i,
Sw. & Dan. fri, Goth. freis, and also to Skr. prija beloved,
dear, fr. pr=i to love, Goth. frij=on. Cf. Affray,
Belfry, Friday, Friend, Frith inclosure.
1. Exempt from subjection to the will of others; not under
restraint, control, or compulsion; able to follow one's
own impulses, desires, or inclinations; determining one's
own course of action; not dependent; at liberty. That which has the power, or not the power, to
operate, is that alone which is or is not free.
--Locke.I do not quote all meanings (there are 16). Here is what you meant:
15. Not gained by importunity or purchase; gratuitous; spontaneous; as, free admission; a free gift.
-- Best regards, Sergey Spiridonov
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