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1985-01-23
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William HT Bailey
P.O. Box 29723
Elkins Park, PA 19117-0923
215-924-0771 (Evenings)
CompuServe: 74145,1046
HOST-III/HOSTCALL
Librarian: Philadelphia Area IBM Users Group
January 19, 1985
I also have found the results of my Shareware venture disappointing. I had
hoped for approximately 100 contributions in the year that my package has been
circulating. Instead, I have received approximately 30 contributions.
Although I have no intention of dropping activity in the public domain and
Shareware, these results do make me cautious about giving away too much of my
time and effort. I had planned to develop version 2.0 of my package as a major
overhaul. Instead, I am just making those enhancements that require only a
couple of hours of my time and that do not require documentation rewrites. I
have a program in the public domain named FORMGEN which allows free form
output of PC-FILE data with text integration. Now that Jim Button has changed
the pointers in his index file from a 4-byte ASCII format to a 2-byte integer
format, I am expecting calls from people requesting updates. Rather than just
toss into the public domain the update that will recognize either type of
index file format, I intend to request a payment for the update.
Distributing a program through Shareware does have the positive effect of
widely advertising the expertise that an author can offer. I was contacted by
a company that provides services to banks. They paid me to write a customized
version of my package for them.
I compare participation in the public domain and Shareware to being a
responsible person in a social or community organization. The responsible
person feels that in order for any benefits to be reaped, an effort must be
made. This is in spite of the fact that those who do nothing will also reap
the benefits. If my programs were circulated only among program authors, whose
work has been invaluable for me, then I would feel that I have been paid back
many times over. However, there are those who are taking advantage of our
efforts and that bothers me.
If the problem with Shareware is marketing and image, and if we are
communicating to address these problems, then in my opinion a Marketing Co-op
would be much more meaningful than a SIG. The Co-op should establish strict
standards. It should strive for the reputation of a provider of reliable
products.