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Freeware Python editor

Emile van Sebille emile at fenx.com
Wed Oct 31 19:58:25 EST 2001 
"Erik Max Francis" <max at alcyone.com> wrote in message
news:3BE099F6.A9E0708F at alcyone.com...
> Paul Winkler wrote:
>
> > But this was before my time. Can anyone who was hacking in the 70s/80s
> > comment on the evolution of these terms? When did "freeware" come to
> > mean "free beer, no source"?
>
> In the eighties, _freeware_ was a very common term which simply meant
> that the software was freely available for (sometimes non-commercial
> only) use.  Whether source code was available for free, available for a
> fee, or not available at all was a totally separate question.
>
>
>From the Jargon file:

freeware /n./

Free software, often written by enthusiasts and distributed by users'
groups, or via electronic mail, local bulletin boards, Usenet, or other
electronic media. At one time, `freeware' was a trademark of Andrew
Fluegelman, the author of the well-known MS-DOS comm program PC-TALK III. It
wasn't enforced after his mysterious disappearance and presumed death in
1984. See shareware, FRS.

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Also of interest: all the -ware terms from the Jargon file:

annoyware
bloatware
brochureware
careware
charityware
crippleware
crudware
firmware
freeware
fritterware
guiltware
liveware
meatware
nagware
payware
postcardware
psychedelicware
shareware
shelfware
shovelware
treeware
vaporware
wetware
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Obvious by their absence from this list are:

hardware
software
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And a term I remember, but also not on the list:

trialware (a forerunner of nagware, only the sales reps called you)
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Other -wares that shoulda been:

dongleware (only works when your printer doesn't  ;-)
timeware (stops working on lapse of maintenance contract)


--

Emile van Sebille
emile at fenx.com

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