Why does "Free" mean two completely unrelated things? (HotForWords)

[earthpigg]

aaaaand im pretty sure the heavy set guy with the crazy beard at the beginning is a linux nerd :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQd9GrmkwM0

[bodhi.zazen]

1. Free as in freedom to view, change, and redistribute the source code.

2. Free as in free beer, do not have to pay $ for the OS.

With #1 there is nothing wrong in charging fee for service, for the servers to host the code/ iso , pay for the CD / shipping costs, etc.

While the beer may be free, don't forget to tip the bartender.

[Coreigh]

http://freebeerfreespeech.org/

[decoherence]

lets see, junk food is marketed as trans-fat free. I guess that's 'libre' free... free from trans-fat, free to eat more, whatever.

that revolutionary new food processor I saw being advertised on the TV came with a BONUS! set of super-sharp steak knives. I guess that's 'gratis' free. I wasn't gonna pay for them but they're giving them to me anyway.

sigh... english... if i were to guess i'd say the second usage (free knives) is a kind of short form for saying 'you are free to take this.' In the first usage "free" does not mean anybody can take something. In fact it means the opposite. If you are free, nobody can come and take you.

Of course, then you have etymological nightmares like "order now and we'll send you these knives -- FREE!" God help the historical linguists of the future. Hopefully they'll have some nifty future gadget that can easily identify and filter out our 19/20/21 century crap

[HermanAB]

In Dutch, free has three different meanings, so stop moaning about there being two in English already!
;)

[pastalavista]

free means "no strings attached".. money, ownership issues, obligation or restriction. at least that's how I've come to take it. can't think of an instance where it doesn't apply. there are too many ways to interpret it but if it doesn't satisfy at least one of my conditions, it isn't free. freedom is being reconfigured every day. too many profiteers in the world...

[pp.]

It's in the nature of language that each and every single word has [0..n] unrelated meanings, [0..m] of them being consistent with the world as it can be observed, where m<n.

[Daveski]

In Dutch, free has three different meanings, so stop moaning about there being two in English already!
;)

Free Speech.
Free Alcohol.
Alcohol Free.