"Fairware" definition

[jbdigriz]

This came up in another venue:

 

>Question from a friend:
>[9:31 PM]
> I appear to have run across the term 'fairware' in my travels. I haven't previously heard this term before. It appears to be yet another form of shareware that was current in the early >1980s. As far as I can tell it seems to occur only among TI-99 users. Have any of you heard this term before? If so, can you recall it being used by any other than TI-99 users?

 

I answered best I could, but wondered if there is a canonical accepted definition.

 

Input appreciated,

jbdigriz

Edited April 3, 2021 by jbdigriz

[+Ksarul]

BITD, Fairware was software of the try-before-you-buy variety. ISTR that TI shareware always gave a specific suggested donation value to the author, whereas fairware sometimes had send-what-you-like instead of a specific donation amount (but specific donation amounts were also pretty common). That said, I would suspect that the TI term was just that--a TI term for general-purpose shareware software. The terms were both in regular use within the community back then, and they were mostly interchangeable.

[jbdigriz]

That is essentially my recollection as well although I recall more of an emphasis in the 4A community on moral suasion rather than strict licensing terms, which in the case of shareware in general led to registration requirements, license keys, trialware, crippleware, etc.

 

Apparently someone out there is attempting some kind of treatise on the history of *ware.

 

Thanks for the input!

 

 

[+Ksarul]

That was another element on the Fairware--it was always the complete version of the program, not a limited-use or crippleware variant. TI Shareware offerings generally only withheld the detailed manual from unregistered users, if they had any limitations on the package at all. Shareware authors also promised to make updates (if any) available to registered users, generally for a small copying/posting fee.

[+dhe]

I also remember in one case, I think it was Disk+Aid (?) - If you paid the suggested amount, you could receive a copy of the assembler source.

I thought, what a great way to learn, but I was a bit disappointed, as the source code had ALL the comments stripped.

[RXB]

Yea originally RXB was FairWare and I saw all kinds of outlets making Cartridges or Disk for GRAM devices and were collecting money on these.

C.A.D.D. was the only distributer that ever paid me money for it.

So threw in towel and made RXB FREEWARE.

[GDMike]

In today's society, if that term was still used, you would see many variants, as in,

FARE WARE, FEE WARE, FAIRSHARE

and CLOUD WARE. Bwhahaha

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by GDMike