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1991-09-24
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NOTES ON LOOSEWARE
Matt Roberts
3 Cedar St., #8
Montpelier, Vt 05602-3006
07-25-91
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Hi. I'd like to introduce a somewhat looser concept in shareware, which I
therefore call looseware.
Essentially, looseware can be broken down into the following rules:
1- You are not obligated to do anything but credit the author for his/her
work. In other words, you can't substitute your name for that of the author
and claim it as your own original work. Looseware may be copyrighted, in
order to protect that right.
2- The author can request donations. However, the user is not obligated to
pay, and a decision not to pay does not violate any of the author's rights.
The author may, however, offer additional services (such as a printed manual,
telephone support, automatic updates, newsletters, etc.) for those who send a
minimum donation. If you choose not to send a donation, or send less than the
minimum amount, the author is not obligated in any way to offer those extra
services.
3- Any and all documentation must be included (unless impossible), and the
program must not be disabled in any manner whatsoever. The reason for the
caveat "unless impossible" is that I found a utility on a friend's disk,
PRINT.EXE, which I use. This utility has no documentation, no source code,
and no clue whatsoever as to who the author is. I suspect it's a public
domain utility, since it isn't much fancier than using the DOS command, "COPY
filename.ext PRN". It's not a print spooler, but I don't know any more about
it than that. Because of some vagaries in a compiler I'm using, this is the
only printing utility I can use when calling DOS. When I get something better
(i.e, with documentation and hopefully source code) I'll switch, but the point
is I've come face to face with a situation where absolutely requiring
documentation may not be possible.
4- Whenever possible, source code must be provided. I've learned as much from
looking at others' programs as by other methods, and I want to keep that
avenue open for future programmers. In addition, it makes it possible to
correct bugs in the program, or to customize it for your specific needs with
the source.
5- Unlike commercial and shareware programs, you own the looseware once you
purchase it from the shareware distributor. If you choose not to make
donations to the author, you run the risk that this method of distribution
will never catch on, but that's up to you.
If you have any comments, suggestions, or criticisms, you may reach me at the
above address. I'd like to know what you think, even if you think I'm being
insufferably pompous, dictatorial, rude, or whatever. Sorry, no phone calls
please; I'm kind of busy, and I almost never have time to chat. Thanks for
being tolerant.