What is "shovelware"

n. 1 (context computing slang derogatory English) A haphazard collection of software assembled in terms of quantity rather than quality. 2 (context media slang English) Traditional media content, such as printed news reports, republished hastily on the Internet without considering the needs and capabilities of that medium.

Shovelware is a derogatory computer jargon term that refers to software bundles noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness.

The metaphor implies that the creators showed little care for the quality of the original software, as if the new compilation or version had been created by indiscriminately adding titles "by the shovel" in the same way someone would shovel bulk material into a pile. The term "shovelware" is coined by semantic analogy to phrases like shareware and freeware, which describe methods of software distribution. It first appeared in the mid-1990s when large amounts of public domain, open source and shareware demos and programs were copied onto CD-ROMs and advertised in magazines or sold at computer flea markets.