Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!texbell!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: Public Domain, Shareware, etc. Message-ID: Date: 28 Jul 90 12:50:13 GMT References: <9007270846.AA13467@thep.lu.se> Reply-To: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 35 In article <9007270846.AA13467@thep.lu.se> magnus@THEP.LU.SE (Magnus Olsson) writes: > Public Domain: The software is totally 'public'; you may do almost what you > like with it - modify it, give it away - as long as you don't sell it opr try > to pass it off as your own. No, you can do that too. Public Domain means just that... anyone can use it for any purpose. > Freeware: The software is copyrighted but given away for free. You're not > allowed to distribute modified versions. No, Freeware is an overall generic term for all of these concepts. The FSF uses it to mean software under the GNU copyleft, but other folks have other ideas. > Shareware: The software isn't free, but may be distributed freely. Once you've > tried it out and decided to keep it, you have to pay. Well, "have" to in some moral sense. A program I wrote, "Browser", comes with a doc file that requests a donation if you feel like it. I consider anything stronger than that to be simply self-deception. > Am I permitted to take a PD program, modify it, and use it as a part of a > commercial program? Yes. > Is there a name for a distribution form which is like shareware, but you don't > *have* to pay for it, even if you keep it (but are encouraged to do so)? Some of the more aggressive shareware authors have tried to get people to refer to this as "donateware", but it hasn't caught on. There is also "crippleware", shareware that is distributed in crippled or demo form, and you need to send in $$$ to get the real thing. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' +1 713 274 5180. 'U`