Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Free Mac Software?

By Terrance Derby


So, precisely what is mac freeware?

Freeware is a phrase that is used freely throughout the internet and quite often wrongly. Possibly it is the 'Free' part of the title that causes confusion as when somebody gives you something for free it is generally yours to use, alter or pass on as you see fit. with 'Freeware' this is not the case.

You can use Freeware for as long as you like without making any payment but this software still has a license restricting how you can use it. The software license normally restricts the usage in some way so that, for instance, the core files are not allowed to be modified, or you are not allowed to re-distribute the software or take any payment for making the software available for download.

What's the point of this? Why not just give it away?

There is usually a purpose for why the developer has chosen to allow you to use this software for free. For instance, the developer wants you to use a 'Lite' version of the software and be so impressed with it that you buy the full pro version or they would like you to go to their website to download it where they hope to tempt you with other goods.

Does this mean that Freeware is bad? No. How can something that you can use for free be bad?

OK. so they possibly could have an agenda behind creating and distributing the software but you still get to utilise it for free for as long as you like so long as you adhere to the license agreement. The bottom line is that if you are using the software and you like it then you can continue for as long as you like without payment.

So what software is completely free?

Completely free software is know as "Free Software" but this again is a term that has become misused so I would double check by reading any licences or small print before using it as a base to develop your own software.

Here a a couple or other terms relating to Free Software where the meanings have become misused.

Shareware - This type of software you can distribute as much as you like as long as you don't take payment or modify the source code. The big difference between this and Freeware is that the license to use the software only last for a limited time (usually 30 days) after which you need to make a payment to continue using it.

Open Source - You can modify and distribute this software however much you like. You can use it to create your own software packages and some of the best software around is open source software. What you can not do is sell this software or any software that you develop from it. You must also always credit the original author of the software and leave any credit tags embedded within it.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...