🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2643@husc6.UUCP>, fry@huma1.HARVARD.EDU (David Fry) writes:
>> [quote concerning get info being in the creator resource] 
> Take a look inside Red Ryder 9.4's creator resource to see
> what John Q. Bussinessman will be looking at when he selects
> Get Info.  It's childishness like that holds back shareware.
> 

Who (other than people who play with ResEdit) sees these resources anyway?
(I will admit that I went and peeked at it just out of curiousity)
Granted, it's not overly professional, but Scott Watson isn't a
businessman, he's a programmer.  Also, John Q. Bussinessman wouldn't
buy shareware, since he'd rather spend lots of money on some mainline
product because some magazine said it was easy to use.  
Still, it's true than if creator resources get used as the GetInfo
information, many programs may need some modifications.  Lots of
programs DON'T use this resource to store version information.

Well, I'll tell you what I think holds back shareware.  People who
don't pay for it.  I got out of the shareware business after
getting countless calls concerning support for my shareware
programs from people who were not registered.

Some would say the quality of the software doesn't warrent paying
for it.  Okay fine, then it doesn't merit using it either.
And you had sure better not expect SUPPORT of it!
At the time, I was still in school and for a student, money is money
is money, and support over the phone can get expensive when people
expect you to call them back.

Now it is true, there are ALOT of honest people out there.  I had
a small utility net me some $15 odd dollars (which I was pleased with).
More interesting to me than the money was the fact that these people
had bothered to write me (and sometimes call me) from distant and
interesting places to tell me what they thought of my package.
(Someone once called me from Hobart Tasmania!)
I really appreciate it when people call about even my public domain
programs, or write nice letters telling me how I might improve it a
bit.  I try to make it a point to always answer them.

What really burns me though is when people refer to a shareware
product as "PUBLIC DOMAIN" (esp in magazines).  Worse still are
the lot who SELL disks with shareware on it, then the people who
get them think that they have rights to the program.  Well, *I*
sure didn't see any money from it!

Scott Watson has recently gotten out of the shareware game with
red ryder 10.0.  Now, I'm not going to try to defend this move on
the part of one of sharewares biggest success stories, I'm sure he
had his own reasons for doing what he did.  But if he decided he
had enough...
(I will not get into a discussion of the merits of Red Ryder or
other such things)

Something in me just made me HAVE to get this off of my chest:

  Tom Dowdy                 CSNET:    dowdy@apple.CSNET
  Apple Computer MS:27Y     AppleLink:DOWDY1
  20525 Mariani Ave         UUCP:     {sun,voder,amdahl,decwrl}!apple!dowdy
  Cupertino, CA 95014       
  "Plus ca change, Plus c'est la meme chose."