25 Years Ago: Free, Easy, Software Begins

“Twenty-five years ago, a writer named Andrew Fluegelman became
the editor of a new magazine–this one. He was already something of
a celebrity in the wider world of personal computing as the father
of ‘freeware,’ a concept that he had popularized, starting in late
1982, with the release of his trailblazing communications program,
called PC-Talk.

“When I heard about plans for this anniversary issue, it
occurred to me that Fluegelman’s influence, and his program’s,
amounted to far more than we realized at the time. PC-Talk was
clearly a pioneer in helping PCs do something easily that initially
was addressed as a clunky afterthought: communicate across vast
distances…”

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