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Do we need an Indian term for Free Software?

Deep PandyaDeep Pandya Sun 5 Jul 2026 3:56PMPublicSeen by 44

One challenge I observed while interacting with people I know, for conveying the meaning of the software freedom, is terminology. I usually avoid the term free software and say libre software instead. When they ask what is that? I explain the concept of copyleft and send them a link to Dr. Stallman's TEDx presentation on free software.

I find that most people respond by acknowledging the concept as open-source software and I have to correct them again by highlighting the significance of 4-freedoms, control, inspection, privacy, independence etc. and conclude with something like, more than open source. I have also written few posts on introduction and spiritual analogy of free/libre software.

So, I think we should adopt or develop a nationally recognizable term for free software. One example is Swatantra Software, which was earlier used by FSFI. In India, we have several major languages - Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Odia etc. We can translate free software into these languages, and some terms might work across multiple languages. I feel we should have at least one strong, nationally recognizable Indic term (like Swatantra - of Sanskrit origin) that effectively conveys the idea of software freedom.

fugata

fugataSun 5 Jul 2026 4:05PM

I support the use of "swatantra". It also gives us "paritantra" as an antonym (i.e. a term for proprietary software).

We not only need an Indian term, but also a better English term. "Free" causes uncountable confusion.

I've written my thoughts about this in detail in a blog post as well (high-five for Codeberg Pages ;) ) - https://contrapunctus.codeberg.page/blog/the-name-free-software.html

SpaciousKarter78

SpaciousKarter78Sun 5 Jul 2026 4:08PM

I've seen contrapunctus calling it Azad Software many times, maybe that would be a better term for it in Hindi.

In India, we have several major languages - Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Odia etc. We can translate free software into these languages, and some terms might work across multiple languages.

We already call free software as "swecha software" in Telugu and I noticed this being the case in many translation files that were worked on over 1-2 decades ago.

The problem again here is, lack of contributors who are interested in working on translations. We can sure call "Free Software" whatever we want in different Indian languages but it doesn't make much sense when most of the free software out there isn't even available completely in those languages.

SpaciousKarter78

SpaciousKarter78Sun 5 Jul 2026 4:13PM

Also it does not make a lot of sense to use "Swatantra" as the default Indic term across all languages.

Some languages do not heavily use Sanskrit words. "Swatantra" is a Sanskrit loan word in Telugu but it's mostly used as "Swatantram" which widely refers to "Independence" whereas we have "Swecha" which literally means free in terms of freedom.

John Machan

John MachanSun 5 Jul 2026 4:45PM

I would vote against any Hindi or Sanskrit term because it reinforces the amplifying hegemony of those languages here. Since there isn't a national language here, there cannot be a "nationally recognizable" term. I would use the translated meaning of the term in whatever language I am writing.

However, if I have to choose a term, I'd rather discriminate constructively and offer some resistance to the hegemony, by selecting a word from a language that's most severely oppressed by it in current times, such as Urdu.

Azad, therefore is my reluctant choice, while I'd prefer to have none.

fugata

fugataSun 5 Jul 2026 6:03PM

@spaciouskarter78 @johnmachan1 Before you suggest alternatives, remember the requirements - we need both a word for "free software" and a word for proprietary software. "Azad" is easy to speak (which is why I've often used it in the past) and I'd myself have preferred an Urdu/Hindustani word for the same reasons as @johnmachan1 , but the possible antonyms are all so clumsy to use that I don't think it's a good choice.