Gratis versus Libre

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Gratis versus Libre is the distinction between zero price (gratis) and freedom (libre). Gratis is slowly becoming more common in the English language.[citation needed] However, libre has not, and no English adjective signifies freedom only. This distinction is often important in dealing with laws concerning the use of information, such as copyright and patents. The terms are often used in the free software and open source communities, as well as the broader free culture movement, to categorize computer programs according to the licenses and legal restrictions that cover them. Both this expression and the term gratis are used to distinguish freeware (gratis software) from free software.

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Look up gratis in
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"Gratis" redirects here. For the referral marketing company, see Gratis Internet.

Gratis is the plural ablative form of the first declension noun "grātia" in Latin and used as an adjective in various Romance and Germanic languages (like Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch) meaning "for nothing," in the sense that one does not have to pay for some good or service (free of charge), even though the good or service has value.

For the French pop album, see Libre (Sébastien Izambard). For Marc Anthony album, see Libre (album).
Look up libre in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Libre is a word in various Romance languages, e.g. Spanish and French (descended from the Latin word līber) that denotes the state of being free, as in "having freedom". Members of the free software community often talk about free as in free speech (libre) and free as in free beer (gratis, gratuit), as the word free in English does not distinguish between these meanings. "Free software" (with a capital F) usually means the former.

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