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freeware

 
Dictionary: free·ware   (frē'wâr') pronunciation
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n.

Software that is available for free, usually over the Internet.


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Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: freeware
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Software that is distributed without charge and which may be redistributed without charge by its users. However, ownership is retained by the developer who may change future releases from freeware to a paid product (feeware). See shareware, free software and public domain software.

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Marketing Dictionary: freeware
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Software that may be passed on to additional users at no charge. Freeware is either in the public domain or is copyrighted but made available at no charge to anyone who wants a copy. Freeware is often confused with shareware, copyrighted software that may be freely copied and distributed by users but that requires payment from each new user.

Business Dictionary: Freeware
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Computer software, usually in the early stages of development, that is freely distributed at no charge, usually via the Internet. The author often hopes to benefit from improvements added by other developers and eventually market the program commercially or as Shareware.

Hacker Slang: freeware
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[common] Freely-redistributable software, often written by enthusiasts and distributed by users' groups, or via electronic mail, local bulletin boards, Usenet, or other electronic media. As the culture of the Internet has displaced the older BBS world, this term has lost ground to both open source and free software; it has increasingly tended to be restricted to software distributed in binary rather than source-code form. At one time, freeware was a trademark of Andrew Fluegelman, the author of the well-known MS-DOS comm program PC-TALK III. It wasn't enforced after his mysterious disappearance and presumed death in 1984. See shareware, FRS.

 
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Wikipedia: Freeware
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Not to be confused with free software.

Freeware (from "free" and "software") is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee.[1] The opposite of Freeware is Payware.

Contents

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] Fluegelman actually distributed PC-Talk via a process now referred to as shareware. Current use of the term freeware does not necessarily match the original concept by Andrew Fluegelman.

Criteria

Software classified as freeware is normally fully functional for an unlimited time with no cost, monetary or otherwise. Freeware can be proprietary software available at zero price.[3] The author usually restricts one or more rights to copy, distribute, and make derivative works of the software.[4] The software license may impose 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".

Accordingly, freeware may or may not be free and open source software and, in order to distinguish, the Free Software Foundation asks users to avoid calling "freeware" free software.[5] The principal difference being that free software can be used, studied, and modified without restriction; free software embodies the concept of "free speech" while freeware that of "free beer". Freeware is also different from shareware; the latter obliges the user to pay after some trial period or to gain additional functionality.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Merriam-Webster definition of freeware
  2. ^ http://textfiles.fisher.hu/news/freeware.txt
  3. ^ Dixon, Rod (2004). Open Source Software Law. Artech House. p. 4. ISBN 9781580537193. http://books.google.com/books?id=9b_vVPf53xcC&pg=PA4&dq=%22free+software%22+freeware#PPA4,M1. Retrieved 2009-03-16. "On the other hand, freeware does not require any payment from the licensee or end-user, but it is not precisely free software, despite the fact that to an end-user the software is acquired in what appears to be an identical manner." 
  4. ^ Graham, Lawrence D (1999). Legal battles that shaped the computer industry. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 175. ISBN 9781567201789. http://books.google.com/books?id=c6IS3RnN6qAC&pg=PA175&dq=%22Legal+battles+that+shaped+the+computer+industry%22+%22from+the+beginning+of+the+computer+age%22. Retrieved 2009-03-16. "Freeware, however, is generally only free in terms of price; the author typically retains all other rights, including the rights to copy, distribute, and make derivative works from the software." 
  5. ^ http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/words-to-avoid.html#Freeware
  6. ^ The Linux Information Project (2006-10-22). "Freeware Definition". http://www.linfo.org/freeware.html. Retrieved 2009-06-12. 

External links

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Translations: Freeware
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - gratis software

Français (French)
n. - (Comput) logiciel gratuit

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Comp.) lizenzfreie Software

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δωρεάν προγράμματα Η/Υ

Español (Spanish)
n. - programas de libre distribución, programas gratuitos, programas de dominio público

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gratisprogram (data)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
免费软件

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 免費軟體

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 가벼운 자유로운 복장

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) برامج مجانيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תוכנה הניתנת להעתקה חינם באינטרנט‬

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feeware (technology)
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2009 Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read more
Marketing Dictionary. Dictionary of Marketing Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Freeware".  Read more
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