[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: OMG!

> Nonsense. At least Paul speaks up. Do you know how many hundreds
(thousands?)
> of readers attend this forum and NEVER express any opinion about these
issues
> at all? They are the reason this argument continues. If everyone who
wanted new
> software would stand up and demand that the pirates --get OUT-- , then
guess
> what? Maybe we would have some new software.

Guess what? For the Apple II, writing new software and attempting to sell it
on a commercial basis is pointless.

I won't stand up and demand that the pirates get out because the pirates
perform a valuable service in maintaining the availability of out-of-print
software. If an author won't write a new program of type X because an old
program of that genre is available through the services of pirates, it's not
the illegality that's at issue -- it's the market.

Even in an ideal world with no pirates, people will *still* not spend $20
for a program for a platform that has not been sold in 8 years. If the
pirates started charging money for the software they make available, and
start sending the appropriate royalty checks to the last known copyright
holder, they wouldn't get a red cent.

Projects like GNO/ME, Marinetti, and SIS are great technical
accomplishments! They show off the capabilities of systems long thought
obsolete -- but they're not commercially viable. Trying to sell them is not
realistic.

If there was ever a newsgroup that needed to pay attention to Richard
Stallman, it's this one. No, he does not advocate piracy. He *does* advocate
that all software should be free, but he does not subscribe to "by any means
necessary."

Folks, writing software for the Apple II is great! Please keep up the good
work! But be sensible and release your software as freeware, or at most,
donationware.