DA2C Shareware and Freeware

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		~ Shareware and Freeware Programs ~ Open Source and Linux

Shareware is software (programs) made available on a 'try before you buy' basis, you can download a copy and try it to see if it does what you want, and if you like the way it does it. Typically you are allowed 30 days to try the program, after which you must send payment to the author. Generally in return you get a serial number and licence, in some cases you get additional features unlocked and you may even get a printed manual.

You can freely pass copies on to friends for their evaluation, their trial period starts when they install the program(s). Shareware was very popular in the 1970s, 80s and early 1990s but more recently it has largely been displaced by 'Freeware' (discussed below). Over the years there have been some very successful shareware programs, widely adopted by those in the know as they are generally cheaper to buy than the fully commercial alternatives. Examples include PK-Zip from Phil Katz, which was (perhaps still is) the most widely used archive and compression suite of programs available, PC-Base (a database), PC Write (a word processor) and Graphics Workshop (a suite of image manipulation programs).

Shareware often has some advanced features disabled, in some cases it stops working after the 30 day trial unless a serial number is entered. As the overheads are low Shareware is typically half the cost of more conventional commercial software.

Freeware is software given away for free, you do not have to buy it, but the range and quality of support varies. Freeware makes sense in some circumstances, for one thing it has largely replaced shareware as a way for programmers to advertise their skills. One option is to give the program away with no technical support, if the user likes it they pay a fee to get the technical support (and often additional benefits). This model has been trialed by several commercial organisations however if the software is any good it soon develops an on-line user base, exchanging information and creating tutorials.

Open Source means that the original source code for the program(s) is also given away free, allowing users to make any changes they may wish. Open Source software is typically released under the Gnu Public Licence, which prevents people selling the original software and requires anyone who makes changes to it to pass those back to the original source. What this means in practice is that Open Source software is supported by many programmers, each adding their own contribution to the product.

Sun Microsystems, makers of the very powerful systems used for high end graphics and the like, bought in a commercial office suite from Star Systems called Star Office. They modified the programs to run on their computer systems but also to run on just about every computer system you could think of. For a time this was available free, allowing Sun customers to have a standard office suite on all their machines, but you had to pay a fee for technical support. This worked but as the user base for Star Office built up Sun established a new organisation, offering a totally free and open source version called Open Office. Open Office is available for all the main operating systems and has been very successful.

Linux is an open source freeware operating system (replacing DOS, Windows, Mac OS or Unix) Open source freeware pre-dates shareware, in the early days of computing enthusiasts and developers shared their work in order to advance the whole field of computing. Most computer systems at the time used the Unix operating system but as the computing world became more commercialised people found it increasingly difficult to modify the software to add features they wanted. A bad experience with an expensive printer in the early 1980s lead a chap called Richard Stallman to start the GNU project to produce a freeware and open source version of Unix (Gnu stands for Gnu Not Unix). By the later 1980s large corporations were using Gnu as they were allowed to change it to do things they required and a number of 'Unix clones' appeared. The University of California at Berkeley developed their Free BSD, but problems with some of the code being proprietary stalled its development as it could not be made freely available (it did continue under development however the Apple operating system for X86 series processors is based on Free BSD).

The problems with proprietary systems lead a chap called Linus Torvals to develop Linux, a Unix clone written from the ground up so it could be distributed as open source freeware. He announced this on a news group in 1991, since when Linux has become a major contender as the most popular operating system for machines ranging from home PCs to the massive 'servers' that run the internet.

There are many different flavours of Linux, the developers can sell their version, but only charging for additional programs that run under Linux, not for the core of Linux itself. Again the pay-for-support model has been deployed by the Linux community, for example Red Hat Linux is targeted at server type systems and they charge for technical support.

Open Source Freeware at DA2C
DA2C (and its predecessor DaBBS) have made extensive use of Shareware, Freeware and Open Source software, initially on the basis of cost but more recently because it represents some of the best software available. Programs such as Open Office (office suite), GIMP (graphics), and Scribus (DTP) offer all the features needed by our clients, the commercial alternatives would cost many hundreds of pounds. Many freeware programs have the additional advantage that they are available to run on a range of systems including Windows and Linux (the two most popular systems used by our clients).

These days we find very few cases where full commercial software is actually required, although as non-technical people in business prefer the familiarity of shrink-wrapped software it is sometimes advantageous to learn a particular program when seeking employment.

Naturally this does not please the commercial software industry and pressure is being brought to bear on politicians to try and outlaw or at least restrict open source and freeware. The unintended consequence of this was politicians looking into the matter and finding they could themselves save a lot of money by switching government systems to open source platforms.

It remains to be seen if the corporations have enough financial clout to force the changes they want.

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