This week, DocMan just released its much-anticipated version 1.5.  Great! Wahoo! Yipeee! Only...wait, it's no longer...free.  *Gasp*  I mean, not "free as in freedom" as Richard Stallman and Software Freedom Law Center put it, it but "free as in beer."

I read up on the Joomlatools blog about the new release, and yup...sure enough, in little black and white pixels, it says right there that DocMan is now going to CHARGE for its software.  Oh, the nerve of those guys, charging - let's see - twelve Euros for their software which was once free-as-in-beer!

I never much liked the "free as in beer" analogy the FOSSers of the world pinned on freeware, as they tried to distance peoples' preconceived notions of Open Source. They tried to re-define "Free" as in freedom, which is a bit much to get your head around. While I agree with them, it was an unnecessary stretch. But now, I see their wisdom after all. I read down the Joomlatools blog comments from a couple angry folks about the audacity of the Docman team to actually charge for the beer that once flowed free-as-in-dude-I'm-too-cheap-to-pay-for-it-anyways from an endless Joomlatools kegger. This, from Jessi:

"Totally removing DocMan from my 10 clients websites and finding another solution."

The free as in beer analogy was pure genius; I just didn't get it yet. I guess free as in beer is fine, until you have to peel the ornery drunks off the kegger at the end of the night.

Kudos to the DocMan Team, and Cheers on your new release!

(Editor's update <insert sarcastic smilie here> aparently, my sarcasm was too thinly veiled - let free as in FREEDOM ring!)

John Coonen is Co-Host of JoomlaChicago, a registered Joomla! User Group and the CMS Expo.