Software categories

Software categories are groups of software. They allow software to be understood in terms of those categories instead of the particularities of each package.No universally agreed upon categories exist, while different classification schemes consider different aspects.

Computer software can be put into categories based on common function, type, or field of use. There are three broad classifications:

The GNU Project categorizes software by copyright status: free software, open source software, public domain software, copylefted software, noncopylefted free software, lax permissive licensed software, GPL-covered software, the GNU operating system, GNU programs, GNU software, FSF-copyrighted GNU software, nonfree software, proprietary software, freeware, shareware, private software and commercial software.

Free software is software that comes with permission for anyone to use, copy and/or distribute, either verbatim or with modifications, either gratis or for a fee. In particular, this means that source code must be available. "If it's not source, it's not software." If a program is free, then it can potentially be included in a free operating system such as GNU, or free versions of the Linux system.

Free software in the sense of copyright license (and the GNU project) is a matter of freedom, not price. But proprietary software companies typically use the term "free software" to refer to price. Sometimes this means a binary copy can be obtained at no charge; sometimes this means a copy is bundled with a computer for sale at no additional charge.

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