psrc@mtunq.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (08/05/90)
In article <4076@trantor.harris-atd.com> sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) asks about > copyrighted software that the author has made FREE for personal, > non-commercial use. However, you usually cannot sell such software > for profit without additional licensing and fees. There is a big > difference between PD on the one hand, and Copyrighted but Free for > personal use on the other. . . . > I've often felt the need for a name to describe such software. > Perhaps there IS such a name and I simply do not know it. At one > time I thought "Freeware" was the right term, but then I saw that > term used to describe what is more widely known as Shareware. "Freeware" was actually a trademark of the late Andy Fluglemann (sp.?), author of PC-Talk, the first shareware package for the IBM PC (or the first popular one, anyway). The word "shareware" comes from Bob Wallace, author of PC-Write; he suggested that name after some magazine editor called for a name for such software (that is, a name in the public domain for copyritten software!) Public Brand Software, my favorite source of non-commercial software and shareware, distinguishes between true public domain software, "bannerware" ("a word we have coined to describe software where the copyright has been reserved by the author but no registration fee is requested. This is done often when the software is released for advertising purposes or by authors who are just giving out the software and can't or don't feel a need to support it."), and shareware. So "bannerware" is the answer to your question. BTW, I find PBS to be a good source of all three kinds of software. They're not super cheap ($5/order plus $5/disk), but their catalog is excellent (they list shareware registration fees!), and I've never had a whit of trouble with them. You can also sign up to their bulletin board and download for $50/year. For a free catalog, call 1-800-426-DISK, or 1-800-727-3476 in Indiana or 1-317-856-7571 in Indianapolis. > Bob Davis, sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com, uunet!x102a!trantor!sonny Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories att!mtunq!psrc, psrc@mtunq.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.