On Dec 30, 2007 8:55 PM, L. Rahyen research@science.su wrote:
According to Wikipedia: "The *only* criterion for being classifiedas "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.
So it might be good to split freeware into two: Free to use, but not to share Free to use and to share - Dan