STETNERD@UREGINA1.BITNET ("Douglas G. Stetner") (02/02/88)
One point that some people are forgeting, what about the $ I spend in long distance costs downloading some file that I think is PD??? Doug
CRONEJP@UREGINA1.BITNET (Jonathan Crone) (05/20/88)
Hi all.... I was talking yesterday to the author of Handshake (the terminal program that does the near perfect emulation of vt102 class devices....) and i received one hell of a shock..... he has been distributing the program through shareware for at least a year. He has received about 40 registrations. Now COME ON NOW PEOPLE... that thing went out on Comp. binaries.amiga to the entire net.... and even assuming that just 10% of the people that get comp.binaries.amiga decided to use it , that must be around 500-600 people right???? (if my estimates seem F***ed.. please correct me) and maybe half of them decided to use it regularly..... thats around 250 to 300 people. so why is Eric Habenfuiler sitting there with only 40 registrations???? Come on now (gee i've said that twice now..) SUPPORT YOUR SHAREWARE AUTHORS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eric only wants $25 bucks.... and for a program as good as Handshake, thats chicken feed..... (Oh yes... lest people flame me.... I forked over $35..... simply because i have not been able to find a better terminal package in ANY way shape or form.)( well, ok... it doesn't have macros) I have my force fields raised.... phaser me if you wish... but it just sort of grinds on my nerves... we have some fantastic software on the shareware scene for the amiga, but no one seems to support the authors of it.... (OH yes... I DO know that no one in their right mind can expect to LIVE off the procedes from shareware, but it is nice occasionally to get a check in the mail once in a while) JpC -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan P. Crone Vice President, AURA, (Amiga Users of Regina Associated.) (Regina, Sask. Canada ) (eh???) CRONEJP@UREGINA1.BITNET ..........uunet!mcl!cronejp come on now.... does ANYONE give a damn about what i have to say? --------------------------------------------------------------------
jma@bud.cis.ufl.edu (John Adams) (05/21/88)
Plus...isn't it true that if Erik gets enough registrations that he will incorporate VT240 graphics into the program? That's worth the small cost (verses Diga!) to me...
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (05/21/88)
>He has received about 40 registrations. >must be around 500-600 people right???? >thats around 250 to 300 people. >so why is Eric Habenfuiler sitting there with only 40 registrations???? I doubt half the 'interested' net uses the program.... 5-10% would be a better bet. And getting 40 registrations is pretty good for a shareware program.... puts it in the top 10% easy. >(Oh yes... lest people flame me.... I forked over $35..... simply because >i have not been able to find a better terminal package in ANY way shape or >form.)( well, ok... it doesn't have macros) Good for you. Just recently someone gave me $10 for Dmouse, and DMouse isn't even shareware! It's freeware! I always stick my address in the docs just in case .... -Matt
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (05/21/88)
In article <8805201655.AA26232@jade.berkeley.edu> (Jonathan Crone) writes: > Hi all.... > I was talking yesterday to the author of Handshake, and i received one > hell of a shock..... he has been distributing the program through > shareware for at least a year. > > He has received about 40 registrations. He has actually done pretty well for himself. When I was investigating the shareware concept I talked to a *lot* of shareware authors and the average number of registrations seems to be about 12. Shareware is not an option for those people who wish to make enough money to eat or pay the rent. It may get get you dinner now and then but don't count on it. I have speculated at length with some of those authors about why this is, and while no one knows for sure, I personally think that people aren't conditioned to pay for something they already have. From the first time we get a nickel to put into the bubble-gum machine until we work 80 hour weeks to keep the bank from repossesing the house we are constantly giving people money in exchange for some immediate benefit. Most shareware programs don't use this model, you already have the program why give up the money? I don't think many people conciously think that way but it is ingrained in their subconcious "If I give some money to this person, they will give me something I want." When they aren't going to give you anything (except maybe a registration number) then you don't trigger the spend reflex. > so why is Eric Habenfuiler sitting there with only 40 registrations???? I don't use Handshake so I don't know what the $25 gets you, I suspect it doesn't get you anything (except peace of mind which most people learn to manufacture through subtle selfhypnosis by the age of 6). > We have some fantastic software on the shareware scene for the amiga, > but no one seems to support the authors of it.... Allan Hastings, Wolfgang Von Reichart, Dan Silva, Bill Hawes, Charlie Heath, there are more. I think everyone on the net knows my feelings on shareware, the authors listed all have commercial packages out and are making money from their creations. If you went to the average publisher and gave them your typical 'shareware' (not all of them of course) package, they could turn it into a product and sell it. They would have to do a lot of work and would probably agree to something like giving you 3% royalties or maybe $3-$5 a disk. > (OH yes... I DO know that no one in their right mind can expect to > LIVE off the procedes from shareware, but it is nice occasionally > to get a check in the mail once in a while) If it were a perfect world such would be possible. As a shareware author one has to treat each registration as a sign that another fifty to a hundred people are using your program and accept it. If you spend your time worrying about the 49 to 99 people who aren't paying you for it then you just aggravate your own stress level. Don't expect any money from shareware, then when you get some you can be pleasantly suprised. NOTE: This being a philosophical discussion I have completely glossed over the techniques one can use to enhance shareware revenue, these include the PC-Pyramid scheme, missing docs scheme, bug fix scheme, etc. We will leave those for a different time. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
CRONEJP%UREGINA1.BITNET@cornellc.ccs.cornell.edu (Jonathan Crone) (05/21/88)
>Plus...isn't it true that if Erik gets enough registrations that he >will incorporate VT240 graphics into the program? > >That's worth the small cost (verses Diga!) to me... Well, Eric didn't say anything to me about the possibility of the graphics included. But it would certainly be a wonderful thing to see. Jonathan Crone -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan P. Crone Vice President, AURA, (Amiga Users of Regina Associated.) (Regina, Sask. Canada ) (eh???) CRONEJP@UREGINA1.BITNET ....rutgers!mimsy!uunet!mcl!cronejp come on now.... does ANYONE give a damn about what i have to say? --------------------------------------------------------------------
mriley@well.UUCP (Mark Riley) (05/22/88)
I tried the ShareWare scheme for PLAY on a whim. I thought it involved
more effort than a freebie but wasn't robust enough to be a seperate
product PLUS I wanted to get it into a lot of people's hands to
promote Sonix and it's revisions in an indirect way. I've had almost
a hundred responses between it and PAK which at $10 each... Anyhoo,
you can see that I haven't quite made a grand with it, but I never
expected to make much anyways. How it (ShareWare) has paid off is
by giving additional publicity to Sonix and the licensable Sonix
driver routines. I also enjoy all the comments and suggestions from
these honest people who support ShareWare, and I'm listening if any
of you'se out there have contributed. All in all, I'm happy I
went the ShareWare route.
-Mark-
P.S. Please excuse any breach of etiquette in this posting as this is
only my econd posting to Usenet (the other one was in "sci.astro")ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab) (05/22/88)
In article <54010@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes: >Allan Hastings, Wolfgang Von Reichart, Dan Silva, Bill Hawes, Charlie > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Heath, there are more. [ ... ] No no no, it's Reichart Von Wolfsheild (producer of FirePower). And I know, because I work for him. [ Actually, it's *Baron* Reichart Von Wolfsheild, so there! :-) ] _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape ihnp4!pacbell -\ \_ -_ Recumbent Bikes: dual ---> !{well,unicom}!ewhac O----^o The Only Way To Fly. hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack") "Work FOR? I don't work FOR anybody! I'm just having fun." -- The Doctor
jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) (05/23/88)
In article <8805201655.AA26232@jade.berkeley.edu> CRONEJP@UREGINA1.BITNET (Jonathan Crone) writes: >I was talking yesterday to the author of Handshake >(the terminal program that does the near perfect emulation of >vt102 class devices....) It is REALLY close to a perfect emulation. I mean so close it's frightening. >He has received about 40 registrations. I paid my fee at Devcon (I'd been meaning to for months). The fee does get you things: I gave him a list of improvements/bugs that he said he'd be working on. Also, I should be getting a more recent version, when it's ready. >SUPPORT YOUR SHAREWARE AUTHORS!!!!!!!!!!!!! >Eric only wants $25 bucks.... and for a program as good as Handshake, >thats chicken feed..... Seconded. It's real easy to just not get around to it, but please do, you'll like the results. (both from him and for your conscience) Randell Jesup {uunet|ihnp4|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup
suh@cunixc.columbia.edu (Kenneth Suh) (05/27/88)
I hope this doesn't start that stupid shareware garbage thread... I might just send out the old messages to send everyone time :-) In article <8805201655.AA26232@jade.berkeley.edu> CRONEJP@UREGINA1.BITNET (Jonathan Crone) writes: > >I was talking yesterday to the author of Handshake >(the terminal program that does the near perfect emulation of >vt102 class devices....) >and i received one hell of a shock..... >he has been distributing the program through shareware for at least a >year. > >He has received about 40 registrations. > >Now COME ON NOW PEOPLE... that thing went out on Comp. binaries.amiga to >the entire net.... and even assuming that just 10% of the people that >get comp.binaries.amiga decided to use it , that >must be around 500-600 people right???? I tried it out and decided to stick with VT100. Shareware isn't like commercial software. I don't have to send money to try it out. >(if my estimates seem F***ed.. please correct me) > >and maybe half of them decided to use it regularly..... >thats around 250 to 300 people. I might be wrong, but I hardly ever hear of anyone using Handshake (except for you) >Eric only wants $25 bucks.... and for a program as good as Handshake, >thats chicken feed..... The first time, I read the above I read it as: Handshake, thats chicken feed... I laughed at that one. >(Oh yes... lest people flame me.... I forked over $35..... simply because >i have not been able to find a better terminal package in ANY way shape or >form.)( well, ok... it doesn't have macros) If you need near perfect vt100 emulation(like double sized characters), I prefer to have other features(like macros). >Jonathan P. Crone /ken -- Kenneth Suh PATH: suh@CUNIXC.COLUMBIA.EDU 41-57 Bowne Street SY.SUH@CU20B.BITNET Flushing, NY 11355 ..!rutgers!columbia!cunixc!suh
maloff@calgary.UUCP (Sheldon Maloff) (06/10/88)
In article <1849@hubcap.UUCP>, disd@hubcap.UUCP (Gary Heffelfinger) writes: > From article <608@myrias.UUCP>, by cg@myrias.UUCP (Chris Gray): > > Oh yes, there is a new version of the Draco compiler coming. I'm busily > > improving the code quality. It now has a peephole optimizer, register > > variables, "remembering", etc. With the equivalent program (in terms of > > size of integers, registerization, etc.) the Draco version of the standard > > Sieve of Eratosthenes benchmark is slightly faster than the Lattice 4.0 > > version (about 1 second out of 33 for a 100 iteration run). I won't know > > about total object size until I recompile the libraries so that not so much > > is included, which I won't do until the compiler itself is stabler. > > > I have not sent in a contribution for Draco, so feel free to ignore this > reply, but I'd like to supply some measure of encouragement to continue I haven't either, but I've got reasons... > I'd almost like to suggest that you make a commercial product out of > Draco II, but I suspect that you wouldn't have the time to do so. A As a broke student who just graduated I be glad if it stayed PD for a while, but, PD or commercial, we learned a little bit in our computer courses, very few people enjoy typing words backwards. Thats my beef, I don't like typing corp, or tnemmoc, or fi, or fidne, or ... I'd much rather type endproc, or endcomment, or endif. If you could change the language specs to include *READABLE* terminations, just then I might think Draco to be serious. Unfortunately as it stands, I won't use any language that forces me to learn how to spell backwards. Perhaps if I learned the alphabet backwards, that would help :-) > > -- > > Chris Gray Myrias Research, Edmonton +1 403 428 1616 > > {uunet!mnetor,ubc-vision,watmath,vax135}!alberta!myrias!cg > > > > -- > Gary Heffelfinger --- Employed by, but not the mouthpiece of > Clemson University. > ---=== Amiga. The computer for the best of us. ===--- || Sheldon ----========== \\ -----======|| || maloff@calgary.UUCP -----====== // Calgary, Alberta || || {ihnp4!alberta}!calgary!maloff -----== \\ Past Host of the || || .. eventually, we'll all be scaled by zero and ---= // '88 Winter Games || || converge upon the origin ... then we'll party! -= \\ ---==||
jeff@hpctdkz.HP.COM (Jeff Hughes) (04/25/89)
Hello,
I am trying to find out how to obtain a "shareware" catalog. I know
there is a company in Sunnyvale, California called PC-SIG Inc. that
distributes shareware and also puts out a monthly magazine. Does anyone
know who I should write to in order to subscribe? How about any other
shareware catalogs?