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FAQ
What does free actually mean?
There are a number of ways that
software is made available for free:
- Freeware is software
offered free of charge. However, it does often
have an End User Licence and each license will be
particular to the software, but there are some
general points, for example you can't re-sell it
although you might be able to redistribute it. Aka
Closed source software
- Open source software - this
tightens up sometimes loose freeware arrangements. Open source
software is software that is made available as source code under a
copyright license which allows users to copy, use and modify it provided
that you agree to provide the source to others. There are a number
of open source licences, e.g. the GNU Public License.
- Liteware are free
versions of commercial software. Often the
lite version will not offer
full functionality, or will display ads,
or will only support a small number of users or pieces of
content.
- Trialware is free
software (from commercial software providers) that expires
within a period of time or watermarks the content
until the full software is purchased.
What is the difference between downloaded software
and hosted services? Software that is downloaded
and installed on your own computer becomes your
responsibility to install, maintain and upgrade as necessary,
whilst a hosted service will provide
you with the most up-to-date environment.
The latter is often useful where there is little IT support available
in the organisation or you want to circumvent.
What extras do you get when you
buy commercial software?
You will
probably get most, if not all, of the following:
- a vendor who will talk you
through the functionality of the software, providing
online or onsite demonstrations, trial
implementations, etc
- customisation and
configuration of the software, where required, to
meet your specific needs
- customer support for a
specified period - by email, phone, live chat,
screen sharing/remote assistance, webinars,
forums, and so on.
- onsite or online user
training (although this may be an extra cost)
- upgrades to new software
within specified periods
What you get with
freeware/open source tools will depend on the
supplier.
More information
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