     
     Shareware, Public Domain, & Freeware Software

     By Bill Quinn
     Pinellas IBM PCUG - Bits & Bytes
     Clearwater, FL

     Freely distributed software has been available since
     the first days of the personal computer. In the last five years this
     concept has evolved into an alternate to commercial software. My
     definitions of the software distribution market may help the novice
     computer users to have an understanding of the terms that are in use
     today.

     PUBLIC DOMAIN

     Public domain software has been released completely to the public,
     and the author retains no legal rights to it. The programmer may not
     want to market the program, or he may feel that the effort was not
     sufficient to justify any price. Whatever the reason; however, the
     key is that the author has given up all rights, and anyone may use
     the software and may pass it on to others.  The way to tell if you
     have public domain software is to look for a copyright notice. If
     there is no such notice, you have public domain software.

     SHAREWARE

     Shareware authors, unlike public domain authors, hold copyrights on
     their programs. The Shareware programmer's software is protected by
     U. S. and international copyright laws, as is commercial software.
     Shareware, however, unlike its commercial counterpart, may be copied
     freely and passed on to others. Like commercial software Shareware
     is a "FOR-SALE" product.

     Shareware authors request that people who try their software and
     decide to use it send a registration fee to the author. This
     registration fee is the equivalent to purchasing the software. For
     this registration fee authors may offer a wide variety of services -
     including printed manuals, disks, advance versions, and telephone
     support. Some companies also offer free updates.

     The most important benefit of registration is that you receive a legal
     license to continue using the software. I should like to think that
     Shareware is a method of distribution of commercial software. In short
     - try it; and if you continue to use it, send the requested fee to
     the program's author.

     FREEWARE

     Freeware holds a place between public domain software and Shareware.
     The author has retained the rights by exercising the copyright law,
     but he does not require any fee for continued use of the software.
     Some authors may request a small contribution if you use the program,
     but these contributions are not required. With Freeware you may find
     restrictions on the distribution of the program. While some authors
     will not allow you to charge for their program when it is distributed,
     other authors will place a dollar limit for copying and distributing
     their programs.

     STANDARDS

     Are there any standards? For public domain and Freeware, not really.
     Many Shareware authors, on the other hand, have become part of the
     Association of Shareware Professionals, ASP, which is dedicated
     to the establishment of recognized standards for Shareware programs
     and for their companies. Not all authors belong to ASP; but
     as more authors join, Shareware standards have become more universally
     followed.

     DISTRIBUTION METHODS

     There are four common methods of obtaining freely distributed software:
     from a friend, from a user group, from a disk vendor, and from a
     bulletin board.

     Friends

     The rules associated with freely distributed software generally
     allow users to make copies for others. If you have a friend with this
     type of software, you may make a copy the software. Because it is
     easy to copy software, please make certain that the program you are
     copying belongs to one of the freely distributed software classes,
     and that it is not commercial software. It is illegal to copy
     commercial software.

     One of the benefits of freely distributed software is that you can
     try it before buying it to decide if the program meets your needs.
     With commercial software you have to buy it before trying it. This
     means your decision must be based on what others have said about the
     program rather than on your own experiences with it.

     Users Groups

     This is one of the most popular ways of getting freely distributed
     software, because a wide variety of programs can be obtained, and
     in some cases you can associate with other members who are able to
     teach you how to use them. If the user group charges a fee for disk
     copying, you must remember that the fee is a copying fee. It is not
     part of the author's registration fee. Our complete disk copying
     library is on the club's Bulletin Board Service (BBS).

     Disk Vendor

     A disk vendor operates a business of copying disks for a specified
     charge per disk. Almost all disk vendors issue some type of disk
     catalog from which you select those program disk which you want to
     buy. Remember that the fees you pay to the disk vendor are fees for
     the copying and for the mailing of the disks you have ordered. Here
     again, the author of the program does not receive the money you paid
     to the disk vendor.

     There is one disk vendor who has made arrangements with several
     Shareware authors to accept registration fees for the author's
     program. The name of this disk vendor is:

     The Public (Software) Library
     PO Box 35705
     Houston, TX 77235-5705
     Orders: (800) 242-4775

     (On a personal note, I have found the PSL to be the best disk vendor
     in the country.)

     Bulletin Board Ssystem (BBS)

     BBSs require the user to have a device known as a modem. A modem
     allows one computer to talk to another computer over standard phone
     lines. There are literally thousands of BBS's around the world where
     you can download freely distributed programs. Our club has a 4 node
     (4 telephone lines) BBS which contains over 6,000 files. Our club's
     BBS is rather small compared to other BBS's in the country. Please
     remember that it is illegal to download any commercial software from
     a BBS.


     As an alternate to a local BBS, there are a number of Information
     On-line Services. These are a form of national bulletin board where
     users are able to access services like those found on local boards.
     Many of these On-line Services offer hundreds of thousands of freely
     distributed software programs.

     In summary, the world of freely-distributed software can be anything
     you want it to be. If you want to get a modem and plunge into the
     many bulletin board systems around the country, that is certainly
     one option. If, on the other hand, you want to sit back, browse
     through a nicely printed catalog and pick and choose, that option is
     also available. The very best part of these options is that all of
     this software is on a Try-Before-You-Buy basis, totally unlike any
     software you might obtain through a store or from mail order.

     One last item: there are computer viruses everywhere. In most cases
     every effort is made so that software is provided from the source
     virus free. Our BBS checks all files placed on the BBS for viruses
     before they can be downloaded to you. That is not always the case
     when you are provided a copy from an unknown or unintending source.
     So, please practice safe computer procedures when you are introducing
     new disks to your computer. Be Prepared.

     Enjoy

