Re: apple.cabi.net and the A2-Delphi forum-- time to share?

[CUTjefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Mon, 29 Mar 1999 16:35:57 -0600, Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
wrote:

>Jeff Blakeney writes ...
>> 
>> Except that I, as a paying member who does not use the web side, never
>> see those little advertisements.  I guess it is just another of those
>> nice "extras" you get by paying for an account along with access to
>> the file databases and the ability to use an offline reader.
>
>     There is no disagreement about Delphi's right to charge for services. If a
>user wants to get onto the net with his/her Apple II, then, a paid Delphi account
>may be a really good idea.     

I don't use Delphi to acess the internet.  I use my ISP for that.
What we are talking about here is an online service that has to be
able to pay people's salaries and maintain equipment and such.  I pay
to use the part of their service that I want to use because paying for
it allows me to access that service in an easy and convenient way and
also gives me full access to the service.


>> >     If the idea behind having and maintaining the archive is service to the
>> >Apple II community, why not move the stuff to free sites? The costs of having
>> >the archive on Delphi evaporate and all users will have access.
>> 
>> Most, if not all the stuff that is on Delphi, and Genie for that
>> matter, that has no distribution restrictions saying it can't be made
>> available on any other service is probably already available elsewhere
>> and if it isn't, it is usually pretty easy to get.
>
>     Why should it be difficult to get at all? What is wrong with moving the stuff
>to an open free archive where everyone will have access?

There is nothing wrong with moving the stuff that have no restrictions
to an "open free archive" but it seems to me that most of the stuff
that is available on Delphi is already available on "open free
archives".  This is what I said in my last post but you only replied
to the part about files being pretty easy to get if they aren't
already available online.

There isn't some huge stock pile of software on Delphi that isn't
available elsewhere.  There are a few programs that were released as
Delphiware but I believe most of them are available through Shareware
Solutions II and Juiced.GS.  Also, the author can be contacted to see
if it can be distributed elsewhere as well but neither Delphi or the
Apple II file managers on Delphi have any control over that.

You do realize that with the exception of the programs that have
distribution restrictions on them, the files in the Apple II forum on
Delphi can be downloaded by anyone with a paid account and uploaded to
other ftp sites, web sites, online services and BBS'.  Don't ask me to
do this though because I just don't have the time.

If I did have the time I'd be trying to help get the files from Genie
over to Delphi.

>> I don't see what the big deal is.  Besides, you can't get much closer
>> to free than $35/year.  That is $2.91/month or $0.68/week or $0.10/day
>> roughly.
>
>     Again, a paid Delphi account may be a good idea for some. That is not at
>issue.

Umm, I thought that was your whole point.  I thought you were trying
to get the files out of the Delphi database onto a free archive
because you don't want to pay for a Delphi account?  All I was saying
is that you can't get a whole lot closer to free than $0.10/day.  :)

>     The problem is that A2 software which could be easily available to all users
>is buried in a place which requires memberships and payments. It does not need to
>be this way; so, why is it?

No it doesn't need to be this way and it isn't this way as far as I
can see.  If you want, I can get a list of the files that are
currently available on Delphi and tell you how many I can find on the
current FTP sites.  I'm sure that most of them will be available on
the net already.

>> By the way, have you ever heard the saying "You get what you pay for"?
>> In my experience this statement is very true.  :-)
>> 
>> +---------------------------------------+------------------------------+
>> | My news server is spotty so you might | Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the  |
>> | want to e-mail me a copy of any reply | Apple II University in A2Pro |
>> | to be sure I see it. 
> ....
>
>     Like they say: "You get what you pay for"!

LOL!  You got me there.  That should teach me to go for the lowest
priced ISP in town.  :)

+---------------------------------------+------------------------------+
| My news server is spotty so you might | Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the  |
| want to e-mail me a copy of any reply | Apple II University in A2Pro |
| to be sure I see it.  CUT the obvious | on the Delphi online service.|
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