The term freeware refers to that software (program or application) that is distributed for free and that can be used without a time limit. It is a concept that is confused with that corresponding to shareware, which allows the consumer to test the application so that, after the days of use are over, they can pay for it and obtain a more complete program.
As such, the first registered freeware was designed by Andrew Fluegelman in 1982, who also coined the word and registered it as his own. What Fluegelman had in mind when creating this free software was the intention of generating income from this program, that is, everything was part of a kind of circle, with the consumer and the product being the main protagonists. Seen from a certain perspective, the company would be the intermediary between the client and the object to be sold, almost as if it were presenting them; whereas the trial time is the decisive stage in which it is observed if the buyer would really consider purchasing a paid version of the software.
However, the ideas around what freeware really represents have changed, so that, today, the aforementioned shareware would be called. Free software is an invention that is distributed in this peculiar way due to various reasons, for example, that the company in charge of the development does not feel satisfied with the result and believes that it cannot generate profits or, it is part of a trick so that it gets more followers, thus creating a small audience willing to pay for its products.
On the other hand, the content licenses of these programs are subject, contrary to popular belief, to a series of rules similar to those found in paid products. For example, the user is given express freedom so that he can distribute the products by his own means, although he also has to give credit to the creative company because he would be infringing copyright. In the same way, versions of the application are available that are free and that do not have a prominent relationship with the full version.
