▁However , ▁Wal lace ▁acknowled ged ▁that ▁he ▁got ▁the ▁term ▁from ▁an ▁Info World ▁magazine ▁column ▁by ▁that ▁name ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁and ▁that ▁he ▁considered ▁the ▁name ▁to ▁be ▁generic , ▁so ▁its ▁use ▁became ▁established ▁over ▁fre ew are ▁and ▁user - supported ▁software . ▁ ▁Fl u eg el man , ▁Kn opf , ▁and ▁Wal lace ▁clearly ▁established ▁share ware ▁as ▁a ▁vi able ▁software ▁market ing ▁method . ▁Via ▁the ▁share ware ▁model , ▁Button , ▁Fl u eg el man ▁and ▁Wal lace ▁became ▁million aires . ▁ ▁Prior ▁to ▁the ▁popular ity ▁of ▁the ▁World ▁W ide ▁Web ▁and ▁w ides p read ▁Internet ▁access , ▁share ware ▁was ▁often ▁the ▁only ▁econom ical ▁way ▁for ▁independent ▁software ▁authors ▁to ▁get ▁their ▁product ▁onto ▁users ' ▁des kt ops . ▁Those ▁with ▁Internet ▁or ▁B BS ▁access ▁could ▁download ▁software ▁and ▁dist ribute ▁it ▁amongst ▁their ▁friends ▁or ▁user ▁groups , ▁who ▁would ▁then ▁be ▁encourag ed ▁to ▁send ▁the ▁registration ▁fee ▁to ▁the ▁author , ▁usually ▁via ▁postal ▁mail . ▁During ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁and ▁early ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁share ware ▁software ▁was ▁widely ▁distributed ▁over ▁online ▁services , ▁bullet in ▁board ▁systems ▁and ▁on ▁disk ettes . ▁Con tr ary ▁to ▁commercial ▁developers ▁who ▁spent ▁millions ▁of ▁dollars ▁ur ging ▁users ▁" Don ' t ▁Copy ▁That ▁Flo ppy ", ▁share ware ▁developers ▁encourag ed ▁users ▁to ▁upload