Thanks for the good explanation. And PIM systems are used in conjunction with ERP systems to manage product-related data and then exchange that data across different sales channels.
From my opinion ERP is completely different here. ERP usually store product IDs and other operational product information. When PIM/PDM is focused only on product data and usually guys from marketing team is working a lot with PIM.
PIM is considered part of MDM, because MDM solutions can work in different areas like customers, addresses, etc. While PIM is only for products, so we can call it Product MDM.
Not sure if for the last thirty years, but for the last 10 years when I work in this field I have been using PIM term. I agree that there are other terms that are synonymous like PDM.
Akeneo is undoubtedly the most famous open source PIM. But it's not completely free. There is a free version with fairly large restrictions. And the commercial version isn't cheap.
You are right that the site is primarily for technicians who need to implement a PIM solution. So it's useful for those who know they need PIM and are looking for possible solutions. We are going to improve this in future, but now we are targeting the people who is looking for small, easy and free PIM.
There are several free PIM systems available, and we just want to share information that there is another alternative.