🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug19.180643.24274@PA.dec.com>
reisert@sttng.mlo.dec.com (Jim Reisert) writes:

:Several times a week, someone posts an article to a newsgroup asking
:something like, "What's the best PD/shareware program to do XYZZY?"
:Why don't they just ask, "What's the best program to do XYZZY?"  Why
:is PD/shareware specifically requested?  Is it:

PD/shareware is specifically requested because not everyone has the
luxury of being able to spend cash on a particular product.  With
shareware, I've noticed, licensing comes after extensive use and an
overall feeling of guilt or fear with someone who is authorized to
purchase software.  Also, with PD/shareware, one tends to get "da
source" rather than "vendor support" which in some circles is A Good
Thing (tm).

:Personally, I want the best software for the job, whether it's
:shareware, freeware, commercial software, or something I have to sit
:down and write myself.  My gut feeling (call me cynical) is that it's
:tempting to obtain shareware to perform a task, and not register it.
:After all, the hardware itself isn't a real money sink, it's the software.

I could make a slam here regarding DEC's hardware and software pricing
right about now, but I'm biting my tongue.  (Ken Olson's on Ford's
board of directors, and even though this post doesn't represent anyone
else besides myself, I still want to be tactful.)  Typically, people
whose job it is to make miracles happen with software and hardware are
NOT the same people that have much of a say in what gets purchased.  


						...Mike
-- 
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