On: Ask HN: Is shareware dead?

[davexunit]

>You have free software that gives you a limited user experience or timed trial to decide if you want to buy the full thing.

"Free software" is already a well defined term, and it does not mean this.

https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

[icebraining → davexunit]

As much as I like the GNU philosophy, Free [as in price=0] Software is perfectly valid as well.

[astrodust → davexunit]

Yelling at clouds doesn't make them go away. The word "free" meaning "no cost" has been around a lot longer than GNU has.

Re-defining what "free" means is an uphill battle, and not everyone agrees with this effort.

[tajen → astrodust]

On a cultural note, it's fun to be aware that GNU doesn't mean the software must be costless. It's perfectly valid to sell an OSS for a fee, but you are required to provide the source code and your customer is free to sell/share it again. It's even written on the FSF's FAQ. I guess if you make something sufficiently "trade secret", your customer won't share it with the rest of the world.