201.150.118.26 at 12:17, 10 May 2025

2025-05-10T12:17:32Z

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{{Short description|Software anyone is free to redistribute}}
{{other uses|Free software (disambiguation)}}
'''Freely redistributable software''' ('''FRS''') is [[software]] that anyone is free to redistribute. The term has been used to mean two types of free-to-redistribute software, distinguished by the legal modifiability and limitations on the purpose of use of the software. FRS which can be legally modified and used for any purpose is the same as [[free software]]. Non-legally modifiable FRS is [[freeware]], [[shareware]], or similar.

The non-modifiable FRS generally comes in the form of [[executable]] [[binaries]]. [[Proprietary software]] companies and authors often use it to showcase their work or encourage users to buy full products from them (in the case of [[shareware]], [[Demoware|demo]], or trial versions). Freeware that is not restricted to be obtained from a specific distributor is also FRS.{{Clarify|date=August 2011}}

==Firmware and microcode==
In cases of [[firmware]] or [[microcode]], it is acceptable for major open-source projects like [[OpenBSD]] to include a binary firmware of a device within the distribution,<ref name="rum"/> as long as said firmware runs only on the external device in question and not on the main CPU where the operating system itself is running. However, for such inclusion to be in place, the binary firmware must be distributed under an adequate license,<ref name="rum"/> like [[ISC license|ISC]] or [[BSD licenses|BSD]], and must not require a discriminatory contract to be in place.<ref name="ipw.awad"/> A lack of such a license is why wireless devices from [[Intel#Open source support|Intel Corporation]] do not work out of the box in almost all open-source distributions, whereas [[Ralink]] wireless cards work just fine.<ref name="ipw.awad">{{cite web|url=http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/share/man/man4/ipw.4#92|title=ipw.4 – Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 IEEE 802.11b wireless network device, Sh FILES|website=BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD share/man/man4/|quote=These firmware files are not free because Intel refuses to grant distribution rights without contractual obligations. As a result, even though OpenBSD includes the driver, the firmware files cannot be included and users have to find these files on their own.|date=2014-02-15|access-date=2014-12-28}} See also: [http://mdoc.su/o/ipw.4 ipw], [http://mdoc.su/o/iwi.4 iwi], [http://mdoc.su/o/wpi.4 wpi] and [http://mdoc.su/o/iwn.4 iwn].</ref><ref name="rum">{{cite web|url=http://bxr.su/OpenBSD/sys/dev/microcode/rum/rum-license |title=rum-license (covers rum-rt2573 for rum(4), as well as run-rt2870 and run-rt3071 for run(4)) |website=BSD Cross Reference, OpenBSD src/sys/dev/microcode/rum/}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{software distribution}}

[[Category:Software licensing]]

Freely redistributable software - Revision history

201.150.118.26 at 12:17, 10 May 2025