12/13 SHARE THAT SHAREWARE AND PAY FOR IT, TOO!
This is International Shareware Day, a day to celebrate
and also to reward the efforts of thousands of computer
programmers who trust that if we try their programs and
like them, we will pay for them.
Sound like a quaint idea? Well, it's one way to make sure
their efforts aren't stifled.
So, the way to celebrate International Shareware Day is to
inventory our shareware and then, in the holiday spirit, to
write payment checks to the authors of any we use and
haven't yet acknowledged.
(Might be nice to include a note of appreciation, too, don't
you think? Still in the holiday spirit, you know. . .)
This idea comes from David Lawrence's "Online Today":
http://online-today.com/later_today.html
\_does this mean we have to pay for xv now?
\_ I don't support shareware that much anymore. These days what
passes for shareware is actually more like a trial-version of
a commercial program. For example, many "shareware" programs
stop working after a time, or have certain features disabled.
What's the difference between that and a commercial program
that you can download and try for 30 days?
\_ uh, shareware is commercial software that you can download
and try for a period of time. That's the definition.
Many traditional commercial software companies are now
using a shareware/demo model; that doesn't somehow make
the model invalid. -tom
\_ That's apparently the definition now. Originally,
shareware was freeware that included a message
asking you to send the author some money if you
liked the program. I find that much easier to
support.
\_ That's bullshit. I've been using and paying for
shareware for over 10 years, and the definition
never included "freeware". Freeware is free
software. Shareware is commercial software. -tom
\_ This seems to be a bigger trend on the Windows side of
the market (makes sense too, what with the bigger
numbers). As a Mac user, I still see a lot of kickass
best of breed indie shareware, e.g. Anarchie, DragThing,
FinderPop, Kaleidoscope, YA-Newswatcher, Netpresenz
(none of which are crippled, though the authors do
encourage paid registrations). Peter Lewis' Stairways
Software (makers of Anarchie and Netpresenz) is
particularly cool--they trust users with a simple, and
intentionally unprotected, "I paid" checkbox to turn off
shareware reminders.
\_ Somebody explain to me why I should ever trust something I don't
have full source code for. The only two programs I use regularly
that take the system down (when used in combination) are
Navigator 4.5 and AcceleratedX. Granted, neither are shareware,
but my point is that virtually all (xv is the only exception
I know of) shareware is closed-source, and usually unrefined
and unreliable. I don't think I've ever used a shareware
program I've found useful and reliable enough to purchase.
I also regretted purchasing most of the commercial software
I've bought over the years, usually finding it to be limited
in useful functionality, barely debugged, and slow as shit
rolling uphill.
\_ if you don't want to use software without the source code
available, why the fuck are you using Windows? -tom
\_ I'm not, you fuckwit, and I use AccelX only because
XF86 barfs at my video card. You won't catch me
running anything that I don't have source for
unless there's no workable alternative.
\_ there's no workable alternative for Netscape 4.5?
what's wrong with mozilla? -tom
\_ There is much anger in this one.
\_ Microsoft and this whole closed-source mentality have set
computing back at least a decade. |
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