Editing Freeware (section)

==History==
The term ''freeware'' was coined in 1982<ref>"Shareware: An Alternative to the High Cost of Software", ''Damon Camille'', ''1987''</ref> by [[Andrew Fluegelman]], who wanted to sell [[PC-Talk]], the communications application he had created, outside of commercial distribution channels.<ref>[http://textfiles.fisher.hu/news/freeware.txt Fisher.hu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614133129/http://textfiles.fisher.hu/news/freeware.txt |date=2006-06-14 }}</ref> Fluegelman distributed the program via the same process as ''[[shareware]]''.<ref>[http://www.pc-shareware.com/quality.htm The Price of Quality Software] by Tom Smith</ref> As software types can change, freeware can change into shareware.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Corbly|first=James Edward|date=2014-09-25|title=The Free Software Alternative: Freeware, Open Source Software, and Libraries|url=http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/view/5105|journal=Information Technology and Libraries|volume=33|issue=3|pages=65|doi=10.6017/ital.v33i3.5105|issn=2163-5226|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In the 1980s and 1990s, the term ''freeware'' was often applied to software released without [[source code]].<ref name="gnu">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html |title=Categories of free and nonfree software |quote=The term “freeware” has no clear accepted definition, but it is commonly used for packages which permit redistribution but not modification (and their source code is not available). These packages are not free software, so please don't use "freeware" to refer to free software. |access-date=2017-05-01}}</ref><ref name="fsf">{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Freeware |title=Words to Avoid (or Use with Care) Because They Are Loaded or Confusing |last=Stallman|first=Richard M.|author-link=Richard M. Stallman|work=GNU.org|publisher=Free Software Foundation |quote=Please don't use the term "freeware" as a synonym for "free software." The term "freeware" was used often in the 1980s for programs released only as executables, with source code not available. Today it has no particular agreed-on definition. |access-date=2017-05-01}}</ref>