Open source programs are quite popular, since we do not have to pay to use these programs. But, within the software, a new type of license has begun to appear. We are talking about Prayerware , a type of license that asks us to pray in order to use the software in question.
All computer software has some type of license for its use. The most common are the owner, who forces you to pay to use it, such as Photoshop. Then we have the Open Sources that have several categories, depending on whether we can edit the code or not. But a new type of license is emerging, to say the least, curious.
Prayerware, pray to be able to use a computer program
This type of license is not particularly common, but its operation is quite curious. It has its origin within the Protestant Christian religion. Whoever develops this software does not seek financial compensation, but a spiritual “compensation” . The end user simply prays for the program’s developer and thus gets “authorization” to use the program.
Oddly enough, software developed under this type of license is on the rise . It is rightly listed as one of many types of software licenses out there.
We are really talking about a kind of hybrid between proprietary license and freeware . We can download the program in question and use it without major problems and without an economic cost. The user will simply have to make a prayer or pray to obtain the approval of the developer. Mostly, the programs with this license come from the context of the Protestant Christian faith.
Prayerware is categorized within the “Otherware” category which refers to alternative license types. The current large software groups are:
- Owner: payment for using the program in question
- Freeware: I can use the software for free, but it has copyright restrictions
- Shareware: We are allowed to use software freely, but with limitations. Windows 10 would be an example, since we can download and install it free of charge, but some functions are not accessible if we do not acquire a license
- Open Source: any software that is distributed free of charge and whose code we can modify. Basically most Linux distributions
The term Otherware is used for software that is free, but requires some action to be taken to use it. The Prayerware license allows us to use the program simply by praying.
It is not the only extravagant license that we can find
Although this software license is quite strange, there are other types of licenses that do not fall short. We are going to highlight the funniest:
- Beerware: This type of license requires the user to buy a beer from the author or in some cases, the user to drink a beer in honor of the author
- Careware: The user is asked to support or make a donation to the charity that the user wants (occasionally, the developer of the software indicates the charity to make the donation to)
- Catware: For this type of license we simply have to have a cat as a pet
- Postcardware: Here the user must send a postcard when developing the software
- Sisterware: This is one of the most bizarre and is that the user must introduce his sister to the software developer
Tell us in comments if you knew about these crazy software licenses and which ones you would like to try.
