the.com/freeware
Free as in beer, not free as in you can see the recipe.
means Software you can use at no cost, though its source code usually stays closed and off-limits.
from A straightforward blend of 'free' and 'ware' (as in software), coined in the early 1980s — Andrew Fluegelman is often credited with using it for a program he distributed without charge, asking users to pay only if they liked it. The term caught on precisely because it needed no explaining: free, like a gift, not free like an open book.
- vs open source
- code stays locked, only the price tag is open
- origin
- term coined by Andrew Fluegelman for PC-Talk, 1982
- catch
- often monetized via ads, data, or a paid big sibling
- classic example
- Skype and Winamp built empires on free downloads