Your friend has Microsoft Word on their laptop. Can you copy it onto yours for free? What about LibreOffice, or Scratch? The answers are different, and the reason is the software’s licence.
In this post:
- What a software licence is
- Seven kinds of licence, with real examples
- Common mix-ups (even some notes get these wrong!)
- Legal and ethical issues when using software
- Two activities and a quiz
What is a software licence?
When you install a program, you usually click “I agree”. You are agreeing to its licence: the rules that say what you may and may not do with it. For bought software this is often called an EULA (End User Licence Agreement). When you pay for software, you are usually buying the right to use it, not the program itself.
Seven kinds of licence
| Licence type | What it means | Can you share copies? | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary (closed source) | Owned by a company. You usually pay, you cannot see or change the code, and the licence limits how many computers you may install it on. | No | Microsoft Office, Windows, Adobe Photoshop |
| Freeware (“free” software) | Free of charge, but the code is still closed and the owner keeps control. | Only if the licence allows it | Google Chrome, Adobe Acrobat Reader |
| Open source | The source code is published. Anyone may use, study, change and share it, following the licence (for example GPL or MIT). | Yes | Linux, LibreOffice, GIMP, Firefox, Scratch |
| Freely redistributable | You may give copies to other people, usually free of charge, as long as you follow the licence’s conditions. | Yes | Most open-source programs, such as VLC media player; some freeware |
| Beerware | A joke licence: do what you like with the code, as long as you keep the author’s notice. If you ever meet the author and think it was worth it, you can buy them a drink. | Yes | Some code by Poul-Henning Kamp, used in FreeBSD |
| Floating licence | An organisation buys a set number of licences that are shared on a network. A licence server lets only that many people use the program at the same time. | Only within the organisation | A school buys 25 floating licences: the 26th student must wait until someone closes the program |
| Public domain | No copyright at all. Anyone may use, change, copy or sell it for any purpose. | Yes | SQLite (a database used in phones and browsers) |
Image source: File:Tux.svg (Wikimedia Commons)
Watch out for these mix-ups
- “Free” has two meanings. Freeware is free of charge but closed. Open-source (sometimes called “free software”) is about freedom to see, change and share the code. Many open-source programs are also free of charge, but some freeware is not open source.
- Open source is not the same as public domain. GCC and Emacs, for example, are open source under the GPL licence: they still have copyright, and the GPL’s rules must be followed. Public-domain software has no copyright at all.
- A floating licence does limit users. It limits how many people use the program at the same time, not which computers it is installed on.
Open source: good points and drawbacks
| Good points | Drawbacks |
|---|---|
| Usually free of charge | Help may come from online communities rather than a company helpline |
| Anyone can check the code for problems, and improve it | Some programs look or work differently from the ones people are used to |
| You can share it legally with classmates | Files may not always open perfectly in other programs |
Legal and ethical issues
Using software the right way is both legal (following the law) and ethical (doing what is fair and honest). It is wrong to:
- Install paid software on more computers than the licence allows
- Share or post licence keys or product codes
- Download “cracked” versions of paid programs or games
- Use proprietary software at home that your school licensed only for school use
Breaking a licence can lead to fines or court action, and it takes money from the people who made the program. Cracked software also often hides viruses and other malware. If money is a problem, look for a free, legal alternative: LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office, GIMP or Paint instead of Photoshop.
Watch: open source vs closed source
This short video compares open-source and closed-source (proprietary) software. Note one advantage of each.
Video: Open Source vs. Closed Source Software – LearnFree – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q91vTvc7YE
Activity: name the licence
Try it: which kind of licence?
Choose the licence type that best fits each description.
| Microsoft Office, which you pay for and may install only on a set number of devices | |
| A free web browser whose code you cannot see | |
| LibreOffice, whose code anyone can study, change and share | |
| Code you may use freely as long as you keep a note offering the author a drink | |
| A school’s design program that only 25 students can use at the same time | |
| SQLite, which has no copyright at all | |
| A program whose licence says you may give copies to anyone |
Activity: allowed or not?
Try it: is it allowed?
Drag each action into the right box (or tap the card, then tap the box).
Allowed ✔
Not allowed ✘
Self-check quiz
Click the best answer. You get feedback straight away; only your first click counts towards your score.
1. What is a software licence?
2. Which kind of software lets anyone see and change its code?
3. Freeware is…
4. A floating licence…
5. GCC and Emacs are licensed under the GPL. That means they are…
6. Why is using cracked software a bad idea?
Related posts on islandclass.org
There is no older Form 1 post on this topic yet, so this is the main lesson.
Next: Copyright, Plagiarism, Piracy and Hacking
Syllabus link: Forms 1–3 ICT curriculum, Module 6, Objective 6.4 – describe legal and ethical issues in relation to usage of software.
Attributions to media used in this post:
- Tux.svg – Larry Ewing (lewing@isc.tamu.edu), Simon Budig and Garrett LeSage, created with The GIMP – Attribution (free to use if the creators are acknowledged) (via Wikimedia Commons)
- Video: Open Source vs. Closed Source Software – LearnFree (YouTube)
Updates
2026/10/21
– Fixed the activity code so its buttons keep working.
© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.