I think we established that reciprocal links are not FREE. How about where you have to join a forum before you can submit to their directory? Free or Not Free? Seems cool 'cos you can possibly pick up a sig link too, but is it Free? thanks for thoughts...
In my opinion free means at no additional cost, monetary or otherwise. If anything other than placing a submission is required of you then it is not free.
You are better off just having folks sign up to the directory in order to get a free link. Just cause you force someone to sign up for a forum does not really mean it has a value (unless you are padding the number to re-sell).
It depends what it costs to join the forum. If it's just a case of submitting an email address and login details, then it is no different from the price of submitting to a free directory that requires registration. It's only a little more hassle. So I would consider that setup to be free, but personally I wouldn't go for it.
but is it important to define the word 'free'? In your example, i think it is relative and to some doing that additional task of registering is hardly any effort and is free to them, but of course to others, it is not. It's just a matter of how each individual views the 'price' of signing up for a forum. Personally, it will be free for me as it is hardly any effort