On Monday 31 December 2007 15:36:59 Dan Kegel wrote:
On Dec 30, 2007 8:55 PM, L. Rahyen research@science.su wrote:
According to Wikipedia: "The *only* criterion for beingclassified as "freeware" is that the software must be made available for use for an unlimited time at no cost" [1]. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware
That page also mentions that some people disagree with that, and say that software which cannot be shared with others is not freeware.
The difference is interesting to me because nonredistributable freeware can be pulled from the internet at any time by its author, whereas redistributable freeware will always be available via mirrors. Thus the Wine community can count on redistributable freeware, but not in general on nonredistributable.
This matters sometimes, e.g. when considering which apps to put in our "must run in 1.0" test suite.
Could we use the 'downloadable apps' page for that? It shows the apps for which there are currently listed free downloads, optionally filtered by licence.
So it might be good to split freeware into two: Free to use, but not to share Free to use and to share
- Dan