Freeware

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Jump to: navigation, search 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 !"# $he opposite of Freeware is %ayware

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" &istory ' (riteria ) *ee also + ,eferences - ./ternal links

[edit] History
$he term freeware was coined by 0ndrew Fluegelman when he wanted to sell a communications program named %(1$alk that he had created but for which he did not wish to use traditional methods of distribution because of their cost !'# Fluegelman actually distributed %(1$alk via a process now referred to as shareware (urrent use of the term freeware does not necessarily match the original concept by 0ndrew Fluegelman

[edit] Criteria
*oftware classified as freeware is normally fully functional for an unlimited time with no cost, monetary or otherwise Freeware can be proprietary software available at 2ero price !)# $he author usually restricts one or more rights to copy, distribute, and make derivative works of the software !+# $he software license may impose restrictions on the type of use including personal use, individual use, non1profit use, non1commercial use, academic use, commercial use or any combination of these For instance, the license may be "free for personal, non1commercial use" 0ccordingly, freeware may or may not be free and open source software and, in order to distinguish, the Free *oftware Foundation asks users to avoid calling "freeware" free software !-# $he principal difference being that free software can be used, studied, and modified without restriction3 free software embodies the concept of "free speech" while freeware that of "free

beer" Freeware is also different from shareware3 the latter obliges the user to pay after some trial period or to gain additional functionality !4#

Free software
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Jump to: navigation, search For software which is available to the end user at no cost, see freeware.

*ystems like 5ebian are composed of free software Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and that manufacturers of consumer1facing hardware allow user modifications to their hardware Free software is available gratis (free of charge) in most cases 6n practice, for software to be distributed as free software, the human1readable form of the program (the source code) must be made available to the recipient along with a notice granting the above permissions *uch a notice either is a "free software license", or a notice that the source code is released into the public domain $he free software movement was conceived in "78) by ,ichard *tallman to satisfy the need for and to give the benefit of "software freedom" to computer users !"# $he Free *oftware Foundation was founded in "78- to provide the organi2ational structure which *tallman correctly foresaw would be necessary to advance his Free *oftware ideas From "778 onward, alternative terms for free software came into use $he most common are "software libre", "free and open source software" ("F9**") and "free, libre and open source software" ("F:9**") $he "*oftware Freedom :aw (enter" was founded in ';;- to protect and advance F:9** !'# $he antonym of free software is "proprietary software" or "non1free software" (ommercial software may be either free software or proprietary software, contrary to

a popular misconception that "commercial software" is a synonym for "proprietary software" (0n e/ample of commercial free software is ,ed &at :inu/ ) Free software, which may or may not be distributed free of charge, is distinct from "freeware" which, by definition, does not re<uire payment for use $he authors or copyright holders of freeware may retain all rights to the software3 it is not necessarily permissible to reverse engineer, modify, or redistribute freeware !)#!+# *ince free software may be freely redistributed it is generally available at little or no cost Free software business models are usually based on adding value such as applications, support, training, customi2ation, integration, or certification 0t the same time, some business models which work with proprietary software are not compatible with free software, such as those that depend on a user paying for a license in order to lawfully use a software product

[edit] History
Main article: History of free software 6n the "7-;s, "74;s, and "7=;s, it was normal for computer users to have the freedoms that are provided by free software *oftware was commonly shared by individuals who used computers and by hardware manufacturers who were glad that people were making software that made their hardware useful 9rgani2ations of users and suppliers were formed to facilitate the e/change of software, see, for e/ample, *&0,. >y the late "74;s change was inevitable: software costs were dramatically increasing, a growing software industry was competing with the hardware manufacturer?s bundled software products (free in that the cost was included in the hardware cost), leased machines re<uired software support while providing no revenue for software, and some customers able to better meet their own needs did not want the costs of "free" software bundled with hardware product costs 6n United States vs. IBM, filed January "=, "747, the government charged that bundled software was anticompetitive !-# While some software might always be free, there would be a growing amount of software that was for sale only 6n the "7=;s and early "78;s, the software industry began using technical measures (such as only distributing binary copies of computer programs) to prevent computer users from being able to study and modify software 6n "78; copyright law was e/tended to computer programs

,ichard *tallman, the founder of the Free *oftware @ovement 6n "78), ,ichard *tallman, longtime member of the hacker community at the @6$ 0rtificial 6ntelligence :aboratory, announced the ABC proDect, saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users *oftware development for the ABC operating system began in January "78+, and the Free *oftware Foundation (F*F) was founded in 9ctober "78- &e developed a free software definition and the concept of "copyleft", designed to ensure software freedom for all $he economic viability of free software has been recognised by large corporations such as 6>@, ,ed &at, and *un @icrosystems !4#!=#!8#!7#!";# @any companies whose core business is not in the 6$ sector choose free software for their 6nternet information and sales sites, due to the lower initial capital investment and ability to freely customi2e the application packages 0lso, some non1 software industries are beginning to use techni<ues similar to those used in free software development for their research and development process3 scientists, for e/ample, are looking towards more open development processes, and hardware such as microchips are beginning to be developed with specifications released under copyleft licenses (see the 9pen(ores proDect, for instance) (reative (ommons and the free culture movement have also been largely influenced by the free software movement

[edit] Naming
$he F*F recommends using the term "free software" rather than "open source software" because, they state in a paper on Free *oftware philosophy, the latter term and the associated marketing campaign focuses on the technical issues of software development, avoiding the issue of user freedoms !""# ":ibre" is used to avoid the ambiguity of the word "free"

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Shareware
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search :ook up shareware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary $he term shareware, populari2ed by >ob Wallace,!"# refers to proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability or convenience *hareware is often offered as a download from an 6nternet website or as a compact disc included with a periodical such as a newspaper or maga2ine $he aim of shareware is to give buyers the opportunity to use the program and Dudge its usefulness before purchasing a license for the full version of the software *hareware is usually offered as a trial version with certain features only available after the license is purchased, or as a full version, but for a trial period 9nce the trial period has passed the program may stop running until a license is purchased *hareware is often offered without support, updates, or help menus, which only become available with the purchase of a license $he words "free trial" or "trial version" are indicative of shareware $he term shareware is used in contrast to retail software, which refers to commercial software available only with the purchase of a license which may not be copied for others, public do ain software, which refers to software not copyright protected, and freeware, which refers to copyrighted software for which the author solicits no payment (though he or she may re<uest donations)

Open source
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Jump to: navigation, search $his article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject Wiki%roDect *oftware or the *oftware %ortal may be able to help recruit one !May "##$% $his article needs additional citations for erification!
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For software under a license that eets the &pen Source 'efinition, see &pen source software. Not to be confused with &pen Source Intelli(ence.

Open source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software?s source code *ome consider open source as one of various possible design approaches, while others consider it a critical strategic element of their operations >efore open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept3 the term open source gained popularity with the rise of the 6nternet, which provided access to diverse production models, communication paths, and interactive communities *oftware development costs in organi2ations have been touted as being appro/imately "-E of total costs $his indicates that the value of one over another development methodology is more of a marketing decision (which customers and pricing models) as much as it is about the design of software $he open source model of operation and decision making allows concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and priorities, and differs from the more closed, centrali2ed models of development !"# $he principles and practices are commonly applied to the peer production development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration $he result of this peer1based collaboration is usually released as open1source software, however, open source methods are increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as biotechnology

Software license
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0 software license (or software licence in commonwealth usage) is a legal instrument (by way of contract law) governing the usage or redistribution of software 0ll software is copyright protected, irrespective of whether it is in the public domain (ontractual confidentiality is another way of protecting software 0 typical software license grants an end1user permission to use one or more copies of software in ways where such a use would otherwise constitute copyright infringement of the software owner?s e/clusive rights under copyright law *ome software comes with the license when purchased off the shelf or an 9.@ license when bundled with hardware *oftware can also be in the form of freeware or shareware *oftware licenses can generally be fit into the following categories: proprietary licenses and free and open source licenses, which include free software licenses and other open source licenses $he features that distinguishes them are significant in terms of the effect they have on the end1user?s rights 0 free or open source license makes software free for inspection of its code, modification of its code, and distribution While the software released such a license, like the ABC Aeneral %ublic

:icense can be sold for money,!"# the distribution cannot be restricted in the same ways as software with copyright and patent restrictions used by firms to re<uire licensing fees

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[edit] "roprietary software

Main article: )roprietary software $he hallmark of proprietary software licenses is that the software publisher grants a license to use one or more copies of software, but that ownership of those copies remains with the software publisher (hence use of the term "proprietary") 9ne conse<uence of this feature of proprietary software licenses is that virtually all rights regarding the software are reserved by the software publisher 9nly a very limited set of well1defined rights are conceded to the end1user $herefore, it is typical of proprietary software license agreements to include many terms which specifically prohibit certain uses of the software, often including uses which would otherwise be allowed under copyright law $he most significant effect of this form of licensing is that, if ownership of the software remains with the software publisher, then the end1user ust accept the software license 6n other words, without acceptance of the license, the end1user may not use the software at all 9ne e/ample of such a proprietary software license is the license for @icrosoft Windows 0s is usually the case with proprietary software licenses, this license contains an e/tensive list of activities which are restricted, such as: reverse engineering, simultaneous use of the software by multiple users, and publication of benchmarks or performance tests

[edit] Free and open source software

Main article: Free and open source software

With a free software license, in contrast to proprietary software licenses, ownership of a particular copy of the software does not remain with the software publisher 6nstead, ownership of the copy is transferred to the end1user 0s a result, the end1user is, by default, afforded all rights granted by copyright law to the copy owner Bote that "copy owner" is not the same as "copyright owner" While ownership in a particular copy is transferred, ownership of the copyright remains with the software publisher 0dditionally, a free software license typically grants to the end1user e/tra rights, which would otherwise be reserved by the software publisher With a free software license, in contrast to proprietary software licenses, a primary conse<uence of the free software form of licensing is that acceptance of the license is essentially optionalFthe end1user may use the software without accepting the license &owever, if the end1user wishes to e/ercise any of the additional rights granted by a free software license (such as the right to redistribute the software), then the end1user must accept, and be bound by, the software license 9pen source licenses generally fall under two categories: $hose that aim to preserve the freedom and openness of the software itself (?copyleft? licenses), and those that aim to give freedom to the users of that software (permissive licenses) 0n e/ample of a copyleft Free *oftware license is the ABC Aeneral %ublic :icense (A%:) $his license is aimed at giving the end1user significant permission, such as permission to redistribute, reverse engineer, or otherwise modify the software $hese permissions are not entirely free of obligations for the end1user, however $he end1user must comply with certain terms if the end1 user wishes to e/ercise these e/tra permissions granted by the A%: For instance, any modifications made and redistributed by the end1user must include the source code for these, and the end1user is not allowed to re1assert the removed copyright restrictions back over their derivative work ./amples of permissive free software licenses are the >*5 license and the @6$ license, which essentially grant the end1user permission to do anything they wish with the source code in <uestion, including the right to take the code and use it as part of closed1source software or software released under a proprietary software license

[edit] Other characteristics

6n addition to granting rights and imposing restrictions on the use of software, software licenses typically contain provisions which allocate liability and responsibility between the parties entering into the license agreement 6n enterprise and commercial software transactions these terms (such as limitations of liability, warranties and warranty disclaimers, and indemnity if the software infringes intellectual property rights of others) are often negotiated by attorneys speciali2ed in software licensing $he legal field has seen the growth of this speciali2ed practice area due to uni<ue legal issues with software licenses, and the desire of software companies to protect assets which, if licensed improperly, could diminish their value

[edit] Software licenses and copyright law

6n the Cnited *tates, *ection ""= of the (opyright 0ct gives the owner of a particular copy of software the e/plicit right to use the software with a computer, even if use of the software with a computer re<uires the making of incidental copies or adaptations (acts which could otherwise potentially constitute copyright infringement) $herefore, the owner of a copy of computer software is legally entitled to use that copy of software &ence, if the end1user of software is the owner of the respective copy, then the end1user may legally use the software without a license from the software publisher 0s many proprietary "licenses" only enumerate the rights that the user already has under C * ( "=, * ""=, and yet proclaim to take rights away from the user, these contracts may lack consideration %roprietary software licenses often proclaim to give software publishers more control over the way their software is used by keeping ownership of each copy of software with the software publisher >y doing so, *ection ""= does not apply to the end1user and the software publisher may then compel the end1user to accept all of the terms of the license agreement, many of which may be more restrictive than copyright law alone 6t should be noticed that the form of the relationship determines if it is a lease or a purchase, for e/ample UM* v. +u(usto,!'# ,ernor v. +utodes- !)#!+#

Software license agreement

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unity, see /ula, 1e2as.

$he e/amples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the #nited States and do not represent a worldwide iew of the subject %lease improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page $his article needs additional citations for erification!
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0 software license agreement is a contract between a producer and a purchaser of computer software that is included with software $he license may define ways under which the copy can be used, in addition to the automatic rights of the buyer including the first sale doctrine and "= C * ( G ""= (freedom to use, archive, re1sale, and backup) $hese documents often call themselves end$user license agreements (%#&'s) @any form contracts are only contained in digital form, and only presented to a user as a click1 through where the user must "accept" 0s the user may not see the agreement until after he or she has already purchased the software, these documents may be contracts of adhesion *oftware companies often make special contracts with large businesses and government entities $hey may come with support contracts, and specially drafted warranties

"ublic domain
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Jump to: navigation, search 1his article is about public ownership of creative wor-s. For use in relationship to public lands, see public do ain !land%. For how the public do ain applies to 5i-ipedia, see 5i-ipedia:)ublic do ain. $he public domain is an intellectual property designation for the range of content that is not owned or controlled by anyone $hese materials are "public property", and available for anyone to use freely for any purpose $he public domain can be defined in contrast to several forms of intellectual property3 the public domain in contrast to copyri(hted works is different from the public domain in contrast to trade ar-s or patented works Furthermore, the laws of various countries define the scope of the public domain differently, making it necessary to specify which Durisdiction?s public domain is being discussed $he public domain is most often discussed in contrast to works whose use is restricted by copyright Cnder modern law, most original works of art, literature, music, etc are covered by copyright from the time of their creation for a limited period of time (which varies by country) When the copyright e/pires, the work enters the public domain 6t is estimated that currently, of all the books found in the world?s libraries, only about "-E are in the public domain, even though only ";E of all books are still in print3 the remaining =-E are books which remain unavailable because they are still under copyright protection !"# $he public domain can also be defined in contrast to trademarks Bames, logos, and other identifying marks used in commerce can be restricted as proprietary trademarks for a single business to use $rademarks can be maintained indefinitely, but they can also lapse through disuse, negligence, or widespread misuse, and enter the public domain 6t is possible, however, for a lapsed trademark to become proprietary again, leaving the public domain $he public domain also contrasts with patents Bew inventions can be registered and granted patents restricting others from using the inventions without permission from the inventor :ike copyrights, patents last for a limited period of time, after which the inventions covered by them enter the public domain and can be used by anyone