TODAYonline: "the freeware bonus
There's no direct revenue but free software, like non-profit bodies, can add to the nation's economy and profile
Ken Xie
The thinking that 'if it is free, there must be a catch' may be quite right in the general business market — but not necessarily so when it comes to free software, that is, freeware.
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Take the anti-spyware Ad-Aware, firewall ZoneAlarm and anti-virus AVG, which are all free for personal use. Without their protection, all kinds of trojans, worms and viruses might flood your PC from the Internet and cripple it.
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Apart from such familiar freeware for personal use, one might also be surprised to learn that enterprise software is also available for free, and for commercial use too, without any obligations.
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Take e-learning software otherwise known as LMS (learning management system) used to create online classrooms over the Internet. While developers of top commercial LMSes are said to charge some universities US$100,000 ($162,000) or more annually, more end-users are turning to free LMSes — a Unesco website lists more than a dozen of these.
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