Freely redistributable software (FRS) issoftware that anyone is free to redistribute. The term has been used to mean two types of free-to-redistribute software, distinguished by the legal modifiability and limitations on the purpose of use of the software. FRS which can be legally modified and used for any purpose is the same asfree software. Non-legally modifiable FRS isfreeware,shareware, or similar.
The non-modifiable FRS generally comes in the form ofexecutablebinaries.Proprietary software companies and authors often use it to showcase their work or encourage users to buy full products from them (in the case ofshareware,demo, or trial versions). Freeware that is not restricted to be obtained from a specific distributor is also FRS.[clarification needed]
In cases offirmware ormicrocode, it is acceptable for major open-source projects likeOpenBSD to include a binary firmware of a device within the distribution,[1] as long as said firmware runs only on the external device in question and not on the main CPU where the operating system itself is running. However, for such inclusion to be in place, the binary firmware must be distributed under an adequate license,[1] likeISC orBSD, and must not require a discriminatory contract to be in place.[2] A lack of such a license is why wireless devices fromIntel Corporation do not work out of the box in almost all open-source distributions, whereasRalink wireless cards work just fine.[2][1]
These firmware files are not free because Intel refuses to grant distribution rights without contractual obligations. As a result, even though OpenBSD includes the driver, the firmware files cannot be included and users have to find these files on their own.See also:ipw,iwi,wpi andiwn.