legalSoftware, often written by enthusiasts and distributed at no charge by users' groups, or via the
World-Wide Web,
electronic mail,
bulletin boards,
Usenet, or other electronic media.
At one time, "freeware" was a trademark of
Andrew Fluegelman. It wasn't enforced after his death.
"Freeware" should not be confused with "
free software" (roughly, software with unrestricted redistribution) or "
shareware" (software distributed without charge for which users can pay voluntarily).
Jim Knopf's story (https://freewarehof.org/sstory.html).
[
Jargon File]
(2003-07-26)