In a significant victory for public domain proponents, a federal appellate court found that model codes enter the public domain when they are enacted into law by local governments. The case came about when Peter Veeck posted the local building codes of Anna and Savoy, two small towns in north Texas, on his website. Both public domain and open-source software allow users to access and alter the source code of the software for the program itself. Source code is basically a list of commands that dictate how the program executes. Public domain software is any software that has no legal, copyright or editing restrictions associated with it. It is free and open-source software that can be publicly modified, distributed or sold without any restrictions. SQLite, I2P and CERN httpd are popular examples of public domain software.
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Shareware, freeware, and public domain are software categories definedby how programs may be distributed, copied, used, and modified.
Shareware
Shareware software is distributed at low (or sometimes no) cost, butusually requires payment and registration for full legal use. Copiesare distributed on a trial basis. You are free to test the software,see if it matches your needs, and decide whether it's a goodvalue. Order forms or advertisements included in the program or on thedistribution disk usually tell you how to register the program andwhat fee is required. Registered users of a shareware program willtypically receive a printed manual, an updated copy of the software,often with additional features, and the legal right to use the programin their home or business.
Shareware is not free software, since authors of shareware programsexpect payment from those who intend to use the programs regularly.However, it does have the advantage over standard commercial softwarethat you may thoroughly test a program to see if it's useful beforemaking a purchase.
Shareware is generally written by individuals or small companies,and its quality and level of support vary widely. In some cases,however, shareware packages are actually more capable thancorresponding commercial software, and some commercial programs gottheir start being marketed as shareware.
While shareware may be freely copied, companies may not charge feesfor copies that significantly exceed their duplication and handlingcosts. The authors of shareware programs also retain their copyrighton the contents, and you may not modify such programs or distributemodified copies.
Freeware
Freeware is also distributed at minimal cost, but in this case theauthors do not expect payment for their work. Typically, freewareprograms are small utilities or incomplete programs that authorsrelease for their potential benefit to others, but without support.The author of a freeware program may still retain a copyright on itscontents and stipulate that others not modify the program or chargesignificant fees for its use or distribution.
Public domain software
Public domain software is not copyrighted. It is released without anyconditions upon its use, and may be used without restriction. Thistype of software generally has the lowest level of supportavailable.
Related software
What Is A Public Domain Software
Open-source software is jointly developed software that can be used,shared, borrowed, or changed without restriction. For more, see About open source software and the Open Source Initiative
Other programs may fall in between or overlap these categories. Someauthors may ask for charitable donations in return for the useof their software. Still others may distribute free software as aform of advertising, sometimes called 'bannerware'.
If you purchase large volumes of low cost software for your personalcomputer, carefully study the accompanying license agreements andterms of use. Such software generally falls into these categories, andprograms whose authors expect payment for their use should not bemistaken for free software.