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I'm looking for a word that describes the way software is released. It could be freeware, shareware, donationware, commercial, etc.

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Licence. (general reference...) – EnergyNumbers Feb 6 '12 at 15:40
License is with an 's' – Jef Feb 6 '12 at 15:46
Excuse me, I didn't know that. – Jef Feb 6 '12 at 15:57
1  
Demn dem Yankees! – FumbleFingers Feb 6 '12 at 16:02

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These are all "License Terms" or "License Types". Sometimes I see these terms used to indicate "Release Type", maybe when the same piece of software has multiple versions, where the Freeware version has fewer features and no support when compared to the Commercial version.

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up vote -2 down vote

As far as I know there is no such umbrella term yet - with syntactic or semantic implication of "how a software licensed, distributed or shared".

The closest term to what you are looking for might be "proprietary software". But, this term implies "ownership", not the way it is released. But still covers freeware, shareware, abandonware e.t.c

Please check Proprietary software

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Did I misunderstand question? OP asks "a word" that describes the way software is released. – Mustafa Feb 6 '12 at 17:13

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