Meeting Pearls 1/Meeting Pearls Vol 1 (1994).iso/about_pd

Text File | 1994-06-23 | 4KB | 67 lines

Dear users!

There are thousands of files on this Meeting Pearls CD that are all freely
- or at least under some special conditions nearly - freely distributable.
The exact conditions are usually defined by the individual authors. For the
usage of some of the programs their authors demand a contribution in form
of money or a gift, other programs are absolutely free and can be used as
long and as often as you want without paying anything.

In case the author is demanding a fee for the usage of his or her software
we appeal to you to pay the amount because this is a motivation for the
author to write more and even better software for all of us in the future.
Please do not misinterpret a donation to the assemblers of the Meeting
Pearls CD (see the file Info.doc) as a compensation for the payment a the
individual fees of the individual software authors - this is definitive NOT
true. With such a donation you only support future meetings and the possible
assembling of a new Meeting Pearls CD.

There is currently no single institution where you can send the money for
the individual authors. The same is true if you by a shareware program in a
department store for US $5 - the author will not see a single cent!
Therefore we advise you to buy freely distributable as cheap as possible and
to pay the shareware fee if you like the program directly to the author.
This way your money will at least reach the right destination. Even better
you could copy the software from a friend for free - but not every body has
the possibility to do so!

Certainly you have already heard of "Freeware", "Shareware", "Public Domain"
or "PD" and "FD". What is the exact meaning of these terms?

SHAREWARE is software under Copyright, for which the author demands the
payment of a fee if you like the software. If you use this software more or
less regularly you are committed to pay the demanded amount. If you do not
agree you are not allowed to continue to use the software. Frequently you
even get a special service if you pay the demanded amount.

FREEWARE is software under Copyright, which you can use as often as you want
without paying anything. However the author still keeps all rights of the
program - you are not allowed to alter it in any way or to distribute it
commercially.

PUBLIC DOMAIN is software which was put at the publics disposal and on which
the author has retreated from all rights (as far as this is possible - in
Germany it is only partially possible). You can use this software for free,
you can alter it, distribute it commercially etc. You can virtually do
anything with it what comes to mind!
BUT the term "Public Domain" is unfortunately also frequently used as a
generic term for "Shareware", "Freeware", and "Public Domain", so you have
to be carefully to find out what the author means in every single case.

PD is only an abbreviation  for the term "Public Domain".

FD ("freely distributable") is a generic term for "Public Domain",
"Freeware" and "Shareware". Since this term was not introduced until
approximately 1989, long after "Public Domain" was already used as a generic
term for all of these, it is not used very consequent.

Then there is GIFTWARE, where the author requests a gift, as well as several
other - not too wide spread - terms. You have to study the documentation of
the programs in each case to find out to which status the software belongs
and what you can do with it or not! If you use a program on a regular basis
you have definitively to ensure whether and under which conditions you are
allowed to use it by looking into the documentation.


                                                          Angela Schmidt