Mediaboss Marketing

Freeware (portmanteau of "free" and "software") is computer software that is available for use at no monetary cost, which may have restrictions such as redistribution prohibited, and for which source code may not be available.[1][2][3] Freeware, although itself free of charge, may be intended to benefit its owner, e.g. by encouraging sales of a more capable version. According to the Free Software Foundation (FSF), "freeware" is a loosely defined category and it has no clear accepted definition, although FSF asks that free software (libre; unrestricted and with source code available) should not be called freeware.[3] Examples of closed-source freeware include Adobe Reader and Skype.

The term freeware was coined by Andrew Fluegelman when he wanted to sell in 1982[4] a communications program named PC-Talk that he had created but for which he did not wish to use commercial distribution channels.[5] Fluegelman actually distributed PC-Talk via a process now referred to as shareware, no longer called freeware.[6]

The term freeware was used often in the 1980s and 1990s for programs released without source code.[3][7]

Software classified as freeware may be used without payment and is typically either fully functional for an unlimited time, or has limited functionality, with a more capable version available commercially or as shareware.[8] In contrast to what the FSF calls free software, the author usually restricts the rights of the user to use, copy, distribute, modify, make derivative works, or reverse-engineer the software.[1][2][9][10] The software license may impose various additional restrictions on the type of use, e.g. only for personal use, private use, individual use, non-profit use, non-commercial use, academic use, educational use, use in charity or humanitarian organizations, non-military use, use by public authorities or various other combinations of these type of restrictions.[11] For instance, the license may be "free for private, non-commercial use". The software license may also impose various other restrictions, such as restricted use over a network, restricted use on a server, restricted use in a combination with some types of other software or with some hardware devices, prohibited distribution over the Internet other than linking to author's website, restricted distribution without author's consent, restricted number of copies, etc.[9][10] Restrictions may be required by the licence, or enforced by the software (e.g., not usable over a network).

The US Department of Defense (DoD) defines "open source software" (i.e., free software or free and open source software), as distinct from "freeware" or "shareware"; it is software where "the Government does not have access to the original source code".[12] The "free" in "freeware" refers to the price of the software, which is typically proprietary and distributed without source code. By contrast, the "free" in "free software" refers to freedoms granted users under the software license (for example, to run the program for any purpose, modify and redistribute the program to others), and such software may be sold at a price.

In contrast the Oxford English Dictionary simply characterises freeware as being "available free of charge (sometimes with the suggestion that users should make a donation to the provider)".[13]

Shareware is similar to freeware. It obliges the user to pay after some trial period or to gain additional functionality.[1] Typically, the user pays to remove restrictions on an existing installation of the software, which is then modified in place. Another form of shareware is free of charge only for personal or educational use, e.g., IrfanView and XnView are often labelled as "freeware".

Some freeware products are released alongside separate more capable paid versions. This approach is known as freemium ("free" + "premium"), since the free version is intended as a promotion for the premium version.[14] The two often share a code base, using a compiler flag to determine which is produced. The BBEdit, BBEdit Lite and TextWrangler text editors for the Macintosh are examples of this model. The freeware version may be advertising supported, as was the case with the Eudora email client.

Non-freemium freeware has been criticized as "unsustainable" because it requires a single entity to be responsible for updating and enhancing the product, which is then given away without charge.[14] Other freeware projects are simply released as one off programs with no promise or expectation of further development. These may include source code, as does free software, so that users can make any required or desired changes themselves, but this code remains subject to the license of the compiled executable and does not constitute free software.

Freeware cannot economically rely on commercial promotion. Thus the internet is the primary resource for information on which freeware is available, useful, and is not malware. However, there are also many computer magazines or newspapers that provide ratings for freeware and include compact discs or other storage media containing freeware.

More here:
Freeware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia