Editing Careware

{{Short description|Software licensed in a way that benefits a charity}}
'''Careware''' (also called '''charityware''', '''helpware''', or '''goodware''') is [[software]] licensed in a way that benefits a [[Charitable organization|charity]]. Some careware is [[Freeware|distributed free]], and the author suggests that some payment be made to either a nominated charity, or a charity of the user's choice. [[Commercial software|Commercial]] careware, on the other hand, includes a levy for charity on top of the distribution charge.<ref>{{FOLDOC|Careware}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://charityware.info/wiki/what-is-a-charityware |title=What is a charityware? |publisher=charityware.info |accessdate=11 January 2010 |archive-date=21 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821070031/http://charityware.info/wiki/what-is-a-charityware |url-status=dead }}</ref> Careware can also involve a barter of some kind, or even a pledge to be kind to strangers.

==Overview==
The term "charityware" was credited to Canadian developer Roedy Green in a 1988 issue of 2600 Magazine.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=Ross |title=A Solution to Viruses |journal=2600 Magazine |date=1988 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=4–7, 28–38 |url=https://archive.org/details/2600magazine/2600_5-2/page/n14/mode/1up |access-date=21 April 2022}}</ref> One of the first known uses of the term "careware" appeared in [[Dr. Dobb's Journal]] in Al Stevens' C Programming Column in about 1991. Stevens was developing a user interface library and publishing the source code in monthly installments. To distribute code to readers, Stevens suggested they send him an addressed stamped mailer with a blank diskette. He copied the code onto the diskette and returned it. He also suggested that to express their appreciation they include a dollar, which he would donate to the local [[food bank]] in [[Brevard County, Florida]]. Stevens named this distribution method "careware."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ddj.com/architect/184408606 |work=Dr. Dobb's Journal |title=C Programming |date=1 August 1991 |accessdate=11 January 2010 |last=Stevens |first=Al}}</ref>

Paul Lutus's<ref>{{cite web
| url         = http://arachnoid.com/administration
| title       = Paul Lutus
| accessdate  = 2013-02-16
| date        = 2013-02-15
}}</ref> careware idea involves no monetary exchange - instead it involves a request for the user to "stop complaining for a while and make the world a better place."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arachnoid.com/careware/index.html |title=The CareWare Idea |date=18 October 1998 |accessdate=11 January 2010}} Date information retrieved from included metadata of Microsoft Word 7 version of the article.</ref>

For example, the [[vim (text editor)|vim]] text editor is [[free software]] but includes a request from its author, [[Bram Moolenaar]], that users donate to [[ICCF Holland]] for work to help [[AIDS]] victims in [[Uganda]]. Vim's [http://www.vim.org/about.php Charityware license] has been declared by [[Richard Stallman]] to be [[GPL]]-compatible.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/uganda.html#license |title=VIM license}}</ref> Another current example is [[MJ's CD Archiver]], a file archiver for [[Microsoft Windows]]/[[Linux]]/[[Mac OS X]]. The suggested charity is NACEF, a US-registered charity for [[China]]'s [[Project Hope]].

A close variation of careware is [[donationware]], which has a narrower definition than careware.

==Examples==
===Non-commercial examples===
*[[FireFTP]]
*[[KiXtart]]
*[[Peazip]]
*[[Vim (text editor)]]
*[[Windows Live Messenger]] (through [[Windows Live Messenger#"i'm" initiative|"i'm" initiative]])

===Commercial examples===
*[[Product Red]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{software distribution}}

[[Category:Software licensing]]
[[Category:Information technology charities]]