What is freeware?

That depends on your definition of ‚“free. ‚½ Free as in price or free as a matter of liberty? Let ‚ s examine freeware from the price perspective first. Freeware is another method software developers use to distribute their copyrighted software. In the case of freeware the author allows you to freely use and distribute without paying any registration or licensing fees. The author may still place conditions on use of the software or licensing restrictions. Freeware is most often distributed by Internet sites. One of the only downsides of freeware is it doesn ‚ t provide much in terms of support if something goes wrong. The most common categories of freeware are games , Internet tools, multimedia, screen savers, utilities, and drivers.

The Visual FoxPro community is very fortunate to have very generous developers who time and time again choose to deploy their development tools as freeware. They do this by uploading their applications into the knowledge bases of forums such as The Universal Thread or CompuServe ‚ s VFoxForum for the world to share. Many developers also maintain their own websites that contain download pages consisting of free tools to download. Rick Schummer and Rick Borup both have websites where users can download software ‚“The Rick ‚ s ‚½ deployed as freeware ( http://rickschummer.com and http://www.itasoftware.com/foxpage.htm respectively).

Freeware is also the deployment method of choice for developers who choose to provide a teaser to their more robust applications you have to pay for.

Now let ‚ s take a look at freeware deployment from the ‚“as a matter of liberty ‚½ point of view. Free software is a matter of the users ‚ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve the software. From this perspective ‚“Free Software ‚½ is:

1. The freedom to run the program for any purpose.

2. The freedom to study how the program works, and then adapt it to your needs. The user must have access to source code in this case.

3. The freedom to distribute/redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.

4. The freedom to improve the program, and release your own improvements to the public so everyone benefits.

A program can be considered free software only if all four requirements are met. Being free means you do not have to pay or ask for permission. This is also known as deploying into the ‚“public domain. ‚½ Because the copyright to developed software automatically belongs to the developer, the developer must label the distributed software as public domain.

Freeware, then, includes some public domain software. Most freeware is software that can be freely used without payment to the developer, but the developer retains the software ‚ s copyright.

Why would anyone want to distribute their software as freeware? Deploying software as freeware is the deployment method used by developers with a passion to share and give something back to their community, and developers who love developing software in their spare time. So, deploying software as freeware is not the option if you are trying to make money.

Freeware from the user ‚ s perspective is great. Having the source code means when the users want to add a new feature, they can. However, freeware is not necessarily free from a monetary standpoint. It takes time and money to modify it, to add the new feature, or to incorporate it into the application. Then again, if it can be used as is then it truly is free.

Most freeware does not provide much in terms of support if something goes wrong. Lack of support is one risk associated with using freeware. Other risks are the author does not provide a license, the freeware was developed by a hacker with unscrupulous intentions, or it wasn ‚ t tested very thoroughly and may lack reliability. Remember the old adage, ‚“you get what you pay for. ‚½

Some things to think about when deploying your software as freeware:

• You still own the copyright to the code, however you are giving others permission to create derivative works, if the source code is included. What happens if a developer takes your code and enhances it into a million dollar tool? What rights do you have to it then? We can ‚ t answer this. You need to contact an intellectual property attorney to see what, if any, recourse you would have. If this is a concern, you should not deploy freeware. Remember, you are doing this because it is your passion.

  Note ‚  

  To prevent creation of derivative works when deploying freeware with source code, add a clause in the copyright notice or the licensing agreement prohibiting derivative works. As always see your attorney for the appropriate method to accomplish your goal.

• Users are looking for reliable, stable, and secure freeware. There are concerns about hacker types programming back doors and access methods into the code. Some users think freeware should be as viable as shrink-wrapped software in terms of reliability and security.