The term Freeware refers to gratis proprietary software with closed source.^[1] It has been suggested that closed source be merged into this article or section. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ...

Freeware is copyrighted computer software which is made available for use free of charge, for an unlimited time, as opposed to shareware where the user is required to pay (e.g. after some trial period or for additional functionality). Authors of freeware often want to "give something to the community", but also want credit for their software and to retain control of its future development. Copyright symbol Copyright is a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. ... Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ... Look up shareware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

History

The term freeware was coined by Andrew Fluegelman when he wanted to sell a communications program named PC-Talk that he had created but for which he did not wish to use traditional methods of distribution because of their cost.^[2] Previously, he held a trademark on the term "freeware" but this trademark has since been abandoned. Fluegelman actually distributed PC-Talk via a process now referred to as shareware. Andrew Cardoza Fluegelman (born November 27, 1943--presumably died July 6, 1985) was a programmer and attorney best known as the inventor of what is now known as the shareware business model for software marketing. ... PC-Talk was one of the first three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware. ... For other senses of this word, see Trademark (disambiguation). ... Look up shareware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Criteria

The only criterion for being classified as "freeware" is that the software must be made available for use for an unlimited time at no cost. The software license may impose one or more other restrictions on the type of use including personal use, individual use, non-profit use, non-commercial use, academic use, commercial use or any combination of these. For instance, the license may be "free for personal, non-commercial use." Everything created with the freeware programs can be distributed at no cost (for example graphic, documents, or sounds made by user).

There is some software which may be considered freeware, but which has limited distribution; that is, it may only be downloaded from a specific site, and cannot be redistributed. Hence, this software wouldn't be freely redistributable software. According to the basic definition, that software would be freeware; according to stricter definitions, it wouldn't be. Freely redistributable software (FRS) is software that anyone is free to redistribute. ...

Comparison with other terms

The Free Software Foundation states that the "term freeware has no clear accepted definition, but it is commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but not modification (and their source code is not available). These packages are not free software, so please don't use freeware to refer to free software."^[3] The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit corporation founded in October 1985 by Richard Stallman to support the free software movement (free as in freedom), and in particular the GNU project. ... Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ...

The "Pricelessware" web glossary has a similar definition, which clearly states that Freeware is licensed to the end user, free of charge. But also states that Freeware is not the same as "Open Source" or "Public Domain".^[4] Hence, it should be clear to the reader that Freeware does not have its source code legally available to the end user, and therefore, it is nonsense to talk about gratis free software as freeware free software. Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... Source code (commonly just source or code) is any series of statements written in some human-readable computer programming language. ... Clockwise from top: The logo of the GNU Project (the GNU head), the Linux kernel mascot Tux the Penguin, and the FreeBSD daemon Free software is a term coined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation[1] to refer to software that can be used, studied, and modified without... Clockwise from top: The logo of the GNU Project (the GNU head), the Linux kernel mascot Tux the Penguin, and the FreeBSD daemon Free software is a term coined by Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation[1] to refer to software that can be used, studied, and modified without...

Hence, the term Freeware is always refering to gratis proprietary software with closed source. It has been suggested that closed source be merged into this article or section. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ...

Variations

There are not many variations of freeware. Freeware is not an umbrella term and does not include such loss leaders as crippleware, adware, spyware or demoware. It may include public domain software and proprietary software, but never shareware when there is hidden cost to be paid to use the software. Such a cost may be having to give up part of your screen real estate in order for the program to display advertising; continually being reminded about a "pro" version of the program via nag screens; having to use the program quickly before it becomes disabled; etc. Note that there are other types of costs than monetary when describing the term "free" as in "freeware." An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of related concepts, also called a hypernym. ... In marketing, a loss leader is an item that is sold below cost in an effort to stimulate other profitable sales. ... Crippleware is a form of shareware. ... WhenU adware displaying ads on a Windows desktop. ... A large number of toolbars, some added by spyware, overwhelm an Internet Explorer session. ... Demoware is a term of distinction used to differentiate between types of shareware software. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... It has been suggested that closed source be merged into this article or section. ...

References

1. ^ FSF: Categoris of Free and Non-Free Software
2. ^ http://textfiles.fisher.hu/news/freeware.txt
3. ^ FSF: Categoris of Free and Non-Free Software
4. ^ http://www.pricelessware.org/thelist/glossary.htm

See also

Wikibooks has more on the topic of

Freeware

• Abandonware
• Glossary of legal terms in technology
• Freely redistributable software
• List of freeware games
• List of commercial games released as freeware
• List of open source software packages
• Pricelessware
• Gratis versus Libre

Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo-en. ... Wikibooks logo Wikibooks, previously called Wikimedia Free Textbook Project and Wikimedia-Textbooks, is a wiki for the creation of books. ... Abandonware is widely thought to be computer software that is no longer current. ... The legal aspects of technology involve many different terms. ... Freely redistributable software (FRS) is software that anyone is free to redistribute. ... This is a list of freeware video games. ... Commercial games released as freeware are games that, in their original license, were not considered freeware, but were re-released at a later date with a freeware license, sometimes as publicity for a forthcoming sequel or compilation release. ... This is a list of open-source software packages: computer software licensed under an open-source license. ... Pricelessware is freeware selected annually as the best of the best by the readers of the newsgroup alt. ... Gratis versus Libre is the distinction between zero price and freedom. ...

External links

• Freeware at the Open Directory Project