Re: OMG!

["J.Q.P." <jqp@hotmail.com>]

Kelli Halliburton wrote:

> The reality is, in these days of 0 effective market, what is at best a
> hobbyist interest, and the existence of the FSF and the GPL, the Apple II
> platform simply cannot economically sustain any new development.

Phooey.   The Apple II platform is as able to sustain as much
development as any other ground-zero platform -- such as a non-Palm/
WinCE PDA, or a non-Sony/Nintendo/Sega/Xbox off-brand console
game (as, for example, the Indrema would have been).   Most people
dont care what's in the box, only what it can do for them.

If you can come up with something new and compelling, people
will buy it.

The II is only in it's current state because of hardware stagnation,
and (if someone thought it was worth the risk) that is easily remedied.

> Those
> authors who have continued their efforts to provide the community with new
> applications, utilities, operating systems, and games are to be commended
> for their loyalty and enthusiasm,

Agreed.

> but to be chided for expecting monetary
> compensation for their efforts.

Not at all agreed.  The market will bear what it can bear.  If they're
getting enough out of it to make it worth their while, more power to
them

I use Linux exclusively on my PC -- I believe in and respect the FSF
as an organization and the GPL licence, but if someone wants to be
paid for their work -- I'll respect that too.    If they think they
can make some pocket change out of it, more power to 'em.

I dont presently own a GS, but if I did, I'd pay for Spectrum, or
pay shareware fees for Marinetti  (even though it's a good thing
that _THAT_ bit of software is free and widely propagated), or Arachnid.

Piracy is never justifiable.  If a company like Broderbund or Origin
or EA had objected to their programs being put on a FTP site, they
would have had legal recourse.  Copyrights dont expire becuase a
computer system falls from popularity.

> I'm not saying they should expect piracy, or
> give in to it -- I'm saying they were foolhardy to attempt any sort of
> commercial release, even including shareware, and expect to reap any revenue
> from it, much less actually turn a profit.

Who decides that the market is dead?   I dont know what kind of
volume Allelec or SHH is getting, but apparently they dont agree with
you.

At this point, a few authors are (apparently) getting enough
shareware fees for their programs that they continue to make new
releases...then the market isnt dead.  Pirating their programs
only discourages them from further development.

The GPL is a great and wonderful thing, but you cant force that
on people.  You certainly cant "assume" public-licence/public
domain status for a program just becuase you think the market is
dead...and you want something to run on your emulator.

"I think the market's dead, so it's okay to steal" is not morally
or legally defensible.

--
jqp
'78 Apple II (integer rom/old monitor rom)
'82 Apple /// 256k
Once and future GS owner

I, for one, -WILL- pay for continued Apple II hardware
and software development.