Not everybody means the same thing when they tag some piece of software as âfreewareâ. You will often see something labeled freeware when it really isnât. In this article, I will describe various kinds of software that are often called freeware and try to clear up some of the confusion.
The phrase is thought to have originated in World War I, with the Toffee Apple trench mortar used by British troops. These mortars were later rendered obsolete by the Stokes mortar, which used a more modern bullet-shaped shell. How do you like them apples, UsingEnglish.com. Accessed 14 January 2007.
Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Dutch appel, Old Norse eple, Old High German apful, German Apfel), from PIE *ab(e)l apple (cf. Gaulish avallo fruit; Old Irish ubull, Lithuanian obuolys, Old Church Slavonic jabloko apple), but the exact relation and original sense of these is uncertain (cf. melon).