Re: German CD-ROM (Was: Re: Addressing home-made adapter cards)

[gtaylor@sr.hp.com (Glenn Taylor)]

Richard J Wifall (rwifall@nmsu.edu) wrote:

 |	I don't like other people making money off my work.  Plain and
 |simple.  People are less likely to put out money for a program when
 |they feel they already have "bought" it.  (When in fact they haven't)
 |This means I'm less likely to get a shareware fee.  (And seeing how
 |scarce shareware fee's are in the GS world, it makes a big difference
 |to me.)

You still don't get it, do you?  If you distribute software using the
shareware distribution channel, then you shouldn't care how many people
get a copy of your program.  The idea of shareware is to get it into
as many hands as possible and then let users decide if they want to
register.  If your software is worth registering, many users will send
in the registration fee.  True, there are people out there who do not
register software that they use, but shareware authors usually know this
going in.  (There are a lot of people using illegal copies of commercial
software too!)
 
If you truely believe in the shareware distribution channel, then you
have to accept the bad with the good.  With shareware, the goal is mass
distribution into the hands of as many users (potential customers) as
possible.  When you start putting restictions on the distribution, (such
as limiting which types of media are acceptable for the distribution of
your software), then you in effect disable one of the prime advantages
for using the shareware distribution channel.

CD-ROM is quickly becoming the prefered method for publishing/distributing
software, if it hasn't already become the standard.

A shareware author who doesn't want his/her work distributed using this
medium is going to limit the acceptance of their work, and as a result
registrations will be limited.

In the old days, shareware authors used to plaster messages all over the
opening screens saying in effect "COPY THIS PROGRAM... AND GIVE IT TO A
FRIEND!"

If the shareware marketing philosophy of freely redistributing software 
programs makes you nervous, then perhaps you should sell your software
using the normal software publisher / retail channel.

- Glenn