Careware

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title: "Careware" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["software-licensing", "information-technology-charities"] description: "Software licensed in a way that benefits a charity" topic_path: "general/software-licensing" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careware" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 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 charity. Some careware is 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 careware, on the other hand, includes a levy for charity on top of the distribution charge. 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. 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."

Paul Lutus's{{cite web | url = http://arachnoid.com/administration | title = Paul Lutus | accessdate = 2013-02-16 | date = 2013-02-15

For example, the 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 Charityware license has been declared by Richard Stallman to be GPL-compatible. 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
• Kye (video game)
• Peazip
• Vim (text editor)
• Windows Live Messenger (through "i'm" initiative)

Commercial examples

• Product Red

References

References

1. {{FOLDOC. Careware
2. "What is a charityware?". charityware.info.
3. (1988). "A Solution to Viruses". 2600 Magazine.
4. Stevens, Al. (1 August 1991). "C Programming". Dr. Dobb's Journal.
5. (18 October 1998). "The CareWare Idea".
6. "VIM license".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::