Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/software-licensing

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Careware

Software licensed in a way that benefits a charity

Summary

Software licensed in a way that benefits a charity

Careware (also called charityware, helpware, or goodware) is software licensed in a way that benefits a charity. Some careware is distributed free, and the author suggests that some payment be made to either a nominated charity, or a charity of the user's choice. Commercial careware, on the other hand, includes a levy for charity on top of the distribution charge. Careware can also involve a barter of some kind, or even a pledge to be kind to strangers.

Overview

The term "charityware" was credited to Canadian developer Roedy Green in a 1988 issue of 2600 Magazine. One of the first known uses of the term "careware" appeared in Dr. Dobb's Journal in Al Stevens' C Programming Column in about 1991. Stevens was developing a user interface library and publishing the source code in monthly installments. To distribute code to readers, Stevens suggested they send him an addressed stamped mailer with a blank diskette. He copied the code onto the diskette and returned it. He also suggested that to express their appreciation they include a dollar, which he would donate to the local food bank in Brevard County, Florida. Stevens named this distribution method "careware."

Paul Lutus's{{cite web

For example, the vim text editor is free software but includes a request from its author, Bram Moolenaar, that users donate to ICCF Holland for work to help AIDS victims in Uganda. Vim's Charityware license has been declared by Richard Stallman to be GPL-compatible. Another current example is MJ's CD Archiver, a file archiver for Microsoft Windows/Linux/Mac OS X. The suggested charity is NACEF, a US-registered charity for China's Project Hope.

A close variation of careware is donationware, which has a narrower definition than careware.

Examples

Non-commercial examples

  • FireFTP
  • KiXtart
  • Kye (video game)
  • Peazip
  • Vim (text editor)
  • Windows Live Messenger (through "i'm" initiative)

Commercial examples

  • Product Red

References

References

  1. {{FOLDOC. Careware
  2. "What is a charityware?". charityware.info.
  3. (1988). "A Solution to Viruses". 2600 Magazine.
  4. Stevens, Al. (1 August 1991). "C Programming". Dr. Dobb's Journal.
  5. (18 October 1998). "The CareWare Idea".
  6. "VIM license".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

software-licensing information-technology-charities
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Careware — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report