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SHAREWAR.TXT
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1993-03-25
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Shareware, Public Domain, & Freeware Software
By Bill Quinn
Pinellas IBM PCUG - Bits & Bytes
Clearwater, FL
Freely distributed software has been available since
the first days of the personal computer. In the last five years this
concept has evolved into an alternate to commercial software. My
definitions of the software distribution market may help the novice
computer users to have an understanding of the terms that are in use
today.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Public domain software has been released completely to the public,
and the author retains no legal rights to it. The programmer may not
want to market the program, or he may feel that the effort was not
sufficient to justify any price. Whatever the reason; however, the
key is that the author has given up all rights, and anyone may use
the software and may pass it on to others. The way to tell if you
have public domain software is to look for a copyright notice. If
there is no such notice, you have public domain software.
SHAREWARE
Shareware authors, unlike public domain authors, hold copyrights on
their programs. The Shareware programmer's software is protected by
U. S. and international copyright laws, as is commercial software.
Shareware, however, unlike its commercial counterpart, may be copied
freely and passed on to others. Like commercial software Shareware
is a "FOR-SALE" product.
Shareware authors request that people who try their software and
decide to use it send a registration fee to the author. This
registration fee is the equivalent to purchasing the software. For
this registration fee authors may offer a wide variety of services -
including printed manuals, disks, advance versions, and telephone
support. Some companies also offer free updates.
The most important benefit of registration is that you receive a legal
license to continue using the software. I should like to think that
Shareware is a method of distribution of commercial software. In short
- try it; and if you continue to use it, send the requested fee to
the program's author.
FREEWARE
Freeware holds a place between public domain software and Shareware.
The author has retained the rights by exercising the copyright law,
but he does not require any fee for continued use of the software.
Some authors may request a small contribution if you use the program,
but these contributions are not required. With Freeware you may find
restrictions on the distribution of the program. While some authors
will not allow you to charge for their program when it is distributed,
other authors will place a dollar limit for copying and distributing
their programs.
STANDARDS
Are there any standards? For public domain and Freeware, not really.
Many Shareware authors, on the other hand, have become part of the
Association of Shareware Professionals, ASP, which is dedicated
to the establishment of recognized standards for Shareware programs
and for their companies. Not all authors belong to ASP; but
as more authors join, Shareware standards have become more universally
followed.
DISTRIBUTION METHODS
There are four common methods of obtaining freely distributed software:
from a friend, from a user group, from a disk vendor, and from a
bulletin board.
Friends
The rules associated with freely distributed software generally
allow users to make copies for others. If you have a friend with this
type of software, you may make a copy the software. Because it is
easy to copy software, please make certain that the program you are
copying belongs to one of the freely distributed software classes,
and that it is not commercial software. It is illegal to copy
commercial software.
One of the benefits of freely distributed software is that you can
try it before buying it to decide if the program meets your needs.
With commercial software you have to buy it before trying it. This
means your decision must be based on what others have said about the
program rather than on your own experiences with it.
Users Groups
This is one of the most popular ways of getting freely distributed
software, because a wide variety of programs can be obtained, and
in some cases you can associate with other members who are able to
teach you how to use them. If the user group charges a fee for disk
copying, you must remember that the fee is a copying fee. It is not
part of the author's registration fee. Our complete disk copying
library is on the club's Bulletin Board Service (BBS).
Disk Vendor
A disk vendor operates a business of copying disks for a specified
charge per disk. Almost all disk vendors issue some type of disk
catalog from which you select those program disk which you want to
buy. Remember that the fees you pay to the disk vendor are fees for
the copying and for the mailing of the disks you have ordered. Here
again, the author of the program does not receive the money you paid
to the disk vendor.
There is one disk vendor who has made arrangements with several
Shareware authors to accept registration fees for the author's
program. The name of this disk vendor is:
The Public (Software) Library
PO Box 35705
Houston, TX 77235-5705
Orders: (800) 242-4775
(On a personal note, I have found the PSL to be the best disk vendor
in the country.)
Bulletin Board Ssystem (BBS)
BBSs require the user to have a device known as a modem. A modem
allows one computer to talk to another computer over standard phone
lines. There are literally thousands of BBS's around the world where
you can download freely distributed programs. Our club has a 4 node
(4 telephone lines) BBS which contains over 6,000 files. Our club's
BBS is rather small compared to other BBS's in the country. Please
remember that it is illegal to download any commercial software from
a BBS.
As an alternate to a local BBS, there are a number of Information
On-line Services. These are a form of national bulletin board where
users are able to access services like those found on local boards.
Many of these On-line Services offer hundreds of thousands of freely
distributed software programs.
In summary, the world of freely-distributed software can be anything
you want it to be. If you want to get a modem and plunge into the
many bulletin board systems around the country, that is certainly
one option. If, on the other hand, you want to sit back, browse
through a nicely printed catalog and pick and choose, that option is
also available. The very best part of these options is that all of
this software is on a Try-Before-You-Buy basis, totally unlike any
software you might obtain through a store or from mail order.
One last item: there are computer viruses everywhere. In most cases
every effort is made so that software is provided from the source
virus free. Our BBS checks all files placed on the BBS for viruses
before they can be downloaded to you. That is not always the case
when you are provided a copy from an unknown or unintending source.
So, please practice safe computer procedures when you are introducing
new disks to your computer. Be Prepared.
Enjoy