kds@physics (Kevin Stokes) (05/03/91)
> >Personally, I neither cripple nor put reminders in the shareware I write. >And I get no registrations, either. Has anybody else out there had the >experience of an unregistered user writing email like "Your stuff is great, >I use it all the time. Do you suppose you could add feature X?" > I am shareware author, and I have a tried a system which is neither crippleware, or hassle-ware. My program requires the user to answer some configuration setup questions, and then installs itself while storing the date by modifying the .EXE. The user is informed that he/she can use the program for a week to decide whether or not the program is good. The program then behaves like a fully registered version until the week is up. When this occurs the user must reinstall the program. When they register, I send a command line option with a unique code which registers their copy, and then of course the program no longer keeps track of date, etc. (IE I don't sent out a floppy, I just return the code in a SASE) I left out alot of details in the above, but the method is safeguarded against easy tricks like modifying the system date, copying yesterday's exe, etc. Of course a real hacker could hack it in an hour, but I don't think any hacker would be interested, since my registration fee is only $5.00. Anyway, I'm very pleased with the response so far; I've received about 250 registrations. Of course, I still get letters from unregistered users "I will only register your program if you make the following changes: 1.) Remove the copyright notice: ( Actual requests ) 2.) Add flying toasters with wings: 3.) Make it run under Windows 3.0 ( Would require a entirely new program) 4.) And so on..." It amazes me how people think I would work day and night implementing their ideas so that I could get their five bucks. I just remembered another good one: "I am in the habit of registering shareware products which I find useful. Your program is NOT useful." Why did that guy bother to write me? -Kevin Stokes -- Kevin Stokes Duke University Dept. of Physics kds@phy.duke.edu Durham, N.C. 27706
coy@ssc-vax (Stephen B Coy) (05/03/91)
>Personally, I neither cripple nor put reminders in the shareware I write. >And I get no registrations, either. Has anybody else out there had the >experience of an unregistered user writing email like "Your stuff is great, >I use it all the time. Do you suppose you could add feature X?" How about "I love your program, best of its type, can you mail me the source?" BTW my shareware is neither crippled nor loaded with threats yet I've still had registrations. Not many, but enough to keep me optimistic about version 2. >James W. Birdsall WORK: jwbirdsa@amc.com {uunet,uw-coco}!amc-gw!jwbirdsa >HOME: {uunet,uw-coco}!amc-gw!picarefy!jwbirdsa OTHER: 71261.1731@compuserve.com Stephen Coy coy@ssc-vax.UUCP BDIF
jiro@shaman.com (Jiro Nakamura) (05/04/91)
In article <3939@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> coy@ssc-vax (Stephen B Coy) writes: > How about "I love your program, best of its type, can you mail me > the source?" BTW my shareware is neither crippled nor loaded with > threats yet I've still had registrations. Not many, but enough to > keep me optimistic about version 2. My ShareWare program has been out for the NeXT for the last 1.5 years. It's had 34 registrations for a total of $523 (you can't divide it out since I have staggered registrations, $5 for academic up to $100 for site license). This isn't terribly bad, but isn't terribly good. I never wrote Cassandra to make money and $500 doesn't even cover the 300+ hours I've put into Cassandra even at minimum wages. But we all know that ShareWare authors just write for the love of it, right? ;-) My favorite e-mail responses are: "Why is this feature x broken, when will you fix it, 'cos I'm not going to pay you until you do, but you also have to add y,z,z' or I still won't pay." - jiro nakamura jiro@shaman.com -- Jiro Nakamura jiro@shaman.com Shaman Consulting (607) 253-0687 VOICE "Bring your dead, dying shamans here!" (607) 253-7809 FAX/Modem
frisk@rhi.hi.is (Fridrik Skulason) (05/06/91)
>Personally, I neither cripple nor put reminders in the shareware I write. >And I get no registrations, either. Well, I am the author of a fairly successful anti-virus program (which was just posted on c.b.i.p.) and it not crippled or has any registration reminders other than a few lines in the documentation. In fact, the only difference between this program and the full version which is available in some countries is the lack of a printed manual and a lower level of support. Do I get registrations ? I sure do :-) but most of them turned out to be from various companies and institutions, so I simply made the package freeware for personal use. >Has anybody else out there had the >experience of an unregistered user writing email like "Your stuff is great, >I use it all the time. Do you suppose you could add feature X?" Yes, all the time. In fact, I even got mail from a virus writer once saying "Your program is very good, but I have found that it can be bypassed by...." Needless to say, I closed that loophole at once. If I get a request for a new feature, I evaluate it regardless of whether the person requesting it is registered or not, and even if he is not, I will send him an update if I add the feature. -frisk --- Fridrik Skulason Technical Editor of the Virus Bulletin (UK) (author of F-PROT) E-Mail: frisk@rhi.hi.is Fax: 354-1-28801