🚀 go-pugleaf

In <1gm1j5INN1dsn@rs1.rrz.Uni-Koeln.DE>, Jan T. Kim writes:
>In <1685@tekgen.bv.tek.com> boblu@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Robert Luneski) writes:
[... edited ...]
>>You tell that to my son when I can't buy him shoes because software sales are
>>down and then I get calls for product support from three times the number of
>>users than can be accounted for by legal sales.  You would be surprised how
>>many unique stories people come up with for why they don't know there
>>registration number AND never sent in their card AND can't find their manual 
>>AND lost their orginal disk.
>
>shoes had you recognized that this situation  you  describe  does
>indeed  most  strongly  encourage  to  switch  from  charging for
>copyrights to charging for  support.  If  the  number  of  people
>calling  for  support is already three times the number of people
>who bought that software, imagine how many more must  already  be
>out  there,  illegally  using  it and not daring to call you. And
>then, imagine how that number could yet be increased by  actually
>allowing  people  to  freely  copy  that  stuff,  i.e.  making it
>copylefted. 

I would like to renforce jan's point about charging for support.  when you 
talk to a person using your software, you are loosing money.  A single
long winded person (like me) can drain your time (and therefore money)
away from developing new products and improving the old.  It may sound 
hard hearted but I believe you should sell your support time like a lawyer
or a doctor sells theirs.  with every product sale, sell X hours of suport.  
if a person calls with an unregistered product, start the clock right away.  
be polite but firm about selling your time.

any coder can clone your product (sooner or later) so protect your items 
of real value (e.g. your time and knowledge)

I would like to make another point about decieding to purchase software.
I never buy anything without living with it first.  you can correctly 
conclude that I have "pirated" software.  but be aware that if I find 
the sw useful, I buy it.  as a result, I use mostly shareware and very 
little commerical sw.  

For example, when I chose a backup utility, I ended up buying one called 
"GOOD backup utility".  I chose it because I was able to live with it for 
a while and find out if its limitations were something I could put up with.

--- eric
-- 
HOME: esj@harvee.billerica.ma.us  HAM  ka1eec
WORK: 617.630.4687 (w)   esj@ruby.polaroid.com
source of the public's fear of the unknown since 1956