Freeware & Software Downloads

Free software download, as defined by the Free Software Foundation, is software which can be used, copied, studied, modified, downloaded and redistributed with little or no restriction. Freedom from such restrictions is central to the concept, with the opposite of free software downloads being proprietary software (a distinction unrelated to whether a fee is charged). The usual way for software to be distributed as free software downloadvis for the software to be licensed to the recipient with a free software license (or be in the public domain), and the source code of the software to be made available (for a compiled language). By contrast, "Freeware" is software made available for download free of charge, but is generally proprietary.