Freeware Network’s Blog

There is some confusion in regards to the relation between freeware and free software. Some claim freeware is not free software. Is there or isn’t there a difference between the two.

If you ask the average Internet user, they will say it is the same thing - Freeware is just a combination and a short form of free software. Just like “infomercial” is a combination of information and commercial.

If you ask people involved with open source projects they would say that free software is not the same thing as freeware.

Freeware
According to American Heritage Dictionary freeware is “Software that is available for free, usually over the Internet.”

According to Jargon File freeware is, “Free software, often written by
enthusiasts and distributed by users’ groups, or via electronic mail, local bulletin boards, Usenet, or other electronic media…”

According to Wikipedia.org, “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”. However, “Fluegelman actually distributed PC-Talk via a process now referred to as shareware”. And Jargon File adds: “At one time, `freeware’ was a trademark of Andrew Fluegelman…”, but “It wasn’t enforced after his mysterious disappearance and presumed death in 1984.”

Freeware may be defined as a copyrighted software which is distributed free of charge, and may be used indefinitely. This is different than shareware, demo or trialware where the user is required to pay after the trial period.

There are many variations to what is considered freeware. Some variations are related to the license agreement, which restricts the use of the software for personal, non-commercial, academic, etc. Other variations are related to the user interface and limitation of the features offered. For example, freeware may include ads on the interface, which we refer to as adware, or remind you from time to time that you may donate funds or upgrade the freeware to a paid version, which is referred to as nags or nagware. The upgraded version usually include additional features, will free you from the ads, or a combination of both. Sometimes the paid version will include free support, which the freeware may not entitle the user for.

Applications that correspond to above definition are for example, Opera (Browsers), Download Accelerator (Download Managers), RoboForm (Browser Tools) and many more.

On the other hand we have free software.

Free Software
According to the Free Software Foundation, “Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free'’ as in “free speech,'’ not as in “free beer.'’

“Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.”

The philosophy behind the Free Software Foundation and Free Software Movement is that software should be your property and you have the rights to customize it and modify it as per your requirements. The same way you can paint your house, change your car’s motor and wheels, you have the same rights on your software. Proprietary software do not allow this and if you need to customize it you need to ask the developer to do it, which may cost a fortune or may not be possible at all (have you ever tried to ask the company that sold you your operating system to customize it to your needs?).

As a matter of fact, when you purchase a proprietary software you do not become the owner of the software, you just pay for the rights to use it, and even the use is restricted to a certain number of work stations, or even to a specific one (see OEM software)

Most Free Software are released under the GPL (General Public License), which means you can modify and redistribute the software, but under the restriction of maintaining credit to previous developers. You also must release the modified software under GPL as well, which means you cannot transform it into Proprietary software.

Maybe the most famous free software is the Linux operating system, but the list continues with other famous free software application, such as, Firefox (Browser), Apache (web server), Limewire (File Sharing/Peer to Peer), and many more.

Free Software or open source software create other restrictions when it comes to what you may do or may not do with the software, but I will leave this discussion to a future article which I plan to write in the near future.

Conclusion
When you study these two terms, ‘freeware’ and ‘free software’ you may find that there is a difference in the definition. However, on practically it is hard to separate the two terms. Most Internet users will not know the difference between the two terms for them freeware is synonymous with free software. Many software titles which fall into the definition of freeware, according to above, are presented by the publishers as free software, which is certainly not incorrect, since free software may also mean free of charge.

When you choose a software application you need to make sure it answers your requirements and you may want to take into account the limitation and restrictions they may include. If you find a great software title free of charge which carry ads on its interface (adware), why not use it if the ads do not bother you. If they do bother you can usually pay a fee and get rid of them. If you find an application that falls into the definition of free software, as explained above, better still. Just make sure it is actively maintained and supported by an active community.

At Freeware Network we do not discriminate between ‘freeware’ and ‘free software’, whatever their definition is. Our policy is to include in our database software applications that you may download the free of charge and use it for an unlimited time (even if there are other restrictions and limitations). At the same time we do not tolerate spyware and will not knowingly list any application which include spyware.

In the preparation of this article I have used the following resources:
Free Software Foundation
Wikipedia.org
Dictionary.com