Types of Software and their Licensing

A software license determines the way in which that software can be accessed and used. Depending on the software licensing, the end users have or do not have rights to copy, modify or redistribute the software. Here are the ways in which different types of software are distributed to users.

(1) __________. A majority of software applications are licensed and not sold. In this case, a user purchases a software license and not the software itself. The vendor allows for the installation of this software on a specific number of machines. Licenses disallow the resale of software.

(2) _________. Unlike licensed software, this software is sold to users. A user needs to purchase this type of software from the vendor in which case he owns a legitimate copy of the software and can resale the software.

(3) __________ Software is developed for a specific user or organization in accordance with the user’s needs.

Off-the-Shelf Software. As opposed to custom software, off-the-shelf software is standard software which has predefined specifications that may or may not satisfy any specific user’s requirements.

(4) _____________ isapplication software that can be downloaded, used, modified and copied without any restrictions. Generally small programs are released as freeware and are open for use.

Shareware and Retail Software. While shareware is provided as a trial version to users, retail software is sold to end users. With the increasing availability of shareware and freeware on the web, the retail market is changing. Developers and vendors have started offering their software over the Internet. At times, shareware is made available as crippleware, when its main features do not work after the trial period has ended. In other words, such shareware has to be purchased to enable its crippled features. Retail software may be given as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Pack, i.e. the software developer gives a licensed copy of the software to a computer manufacturer who installs it on computers before they are sold.

Open Source and (5) ___________ Software. In a closed source model, the source code is not released to public, while the source code is available for modification and use in open source software.

Needs to be Installed software needs to be installed on your computer hard drive for use.

(6) ___________________ softwaredoes not need to be downloaded on a computer as it runs online, for instance:antivirus software and Internet games.

Proprietary Software. In proprietary software, legal rights remain exclusively with the copyright holder. Most proprietary software is available in the closed source form. Proprietary software is provided as shareware or demoware when users do not have to pay for use. However, the programmer may ask a user to pay a small fee after which he is entitled to receive assistance and updates of that software.