kenny@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU (06/25/86)
I have on several occasions bought ``freeware'' from Workman & Associates.
While Workman has been accused of profiteering on the labours of others, I
see him as providing a real service, for which I am willing to pay. For
example he is providing
o Configuration management. He has consistent, documented versions
of the programs he sells. The source matches the object. Both
are of the same version as the documentation.
o Selection. There is a whale of a lot of public software out there.
Most of it is trash. Some of it is invaluable. I'm willing to
pay someone else to find out which is which.
o Packaging. I can get a version which is configured for my machine
and written in my disc format.
o Testing. I can get a version which (usually) works. I have
some confidence that it is free of Trojan horses.
o Integration. I'm reasonably sure that the software won't break
anything else when it's installed.
Anyone who has used a lot of PD software and shareware has run into problems
with all of these points. You can spend many hours tracking them down. I
have better things to do with my time.
Of course, there will always be people who flame useful services for being
operated to make a profit. Sorry. Welcome to the real world. If they
weren't profitable, people would do something else. [Of course, there are
profits other than money. I have released some public domain software for
limited distribution; my primary motive was that my name would be recognized
in the community in which that software circulated. It was almost worth the
maintenance headaches that I suffered.]
/* Flame off. Thank you. */
Kevin Kenny
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UUCP: {ihnp4,pur-ee,convex}!uiucdcs!kenny
CSNET: kenny@UIUC.CSNET
ARPA: kenny@B.CS.UIUC.EDU (kenny@UIUC.ARPA)
"Yes, understanding today's complex world is a bit like having bees live in
your head, but there they are."ddrex@gorgo.UUCP (06/27/86)
Re: selling shareware/pd software... > I bring the community's attention to the advertisement in the lower > left-hand corner of page 372 of the June issue of "PC World" magazine, > in which a company calling itself Soft/Plus Research (operating out of > a P.O. box in California) is selling (?) for $6 *each* such popular > shareware/freeware as PC-Write, PC-File III, QModem, PC-Calc, > DeskMates, and various and sundry PC games. "All orders please > include $3 shipping & handling." They accept Visa and MasterCard and > even have a toll-free order line. They also advertise such quantity > deals as 6 programs for $34.95 and 10 programs for $49.95. > > Any comments as to the legality/ethicality of this venture? If the copyright notice in those packages forbids it, the authors should have plenty of recourse, and I hope they take those jerks to the cleaners. Unfortunately, there are an awful lot of people out there who don't know about freeware/shareware/public-domain, nor bulletin boards where they can obtain those for the price of a phone call. Many users groups will copy those for just the cost of the disk.