Article View: comp.sys.mac
Article #46743Re: Morality of creating crippleware
From: John T. Nelson
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1990 19:00
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1990 19:00
29 lines
1770 bytes
1770 bytes
I have only a few qualms with crippleware: 1) Unless it's advertised as such, crippleware can confuse the machine's administrator and user when his or her machine crashes unexpectedly. Oh... gee it must be this shareware thing I got off the net. Or MAYBE it's a virus. Or maybe the disk drive has gone bad. How can we tell? If it IS advertised as such well then caveat emptor. 2) Crippleware discourages the distribution of freeware/shareware. When enough people become frustrated with crippleware they will begin boycotting the good stuff (freeware/shareware). Distributing crippleware seems like a good way to insure your development time however it can also have the effect of discouraging the use of network derived software. 3) Gee did *I* REALLY destroy your file system? If the crippleware programmer makes a mistake in the code that either disabels or destroys itself, and ends up wiping away your file system then you can expect to see some pretty heated flames coming your way. Crippleware that inadvertently destroys a user's data is tantamount to a trojan horse. Worse, a programmer who DELIBERATLY tries to distribute trojan horses/viruses could hide behind the claim that "oh it was just crippleware.... so sorry hee hee." That's my $0.2.
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<8388@potomac.ads.com>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sundc!potomac!jtnReferences:
<4300@helios.TAMU.EDU>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sundc!potomac!jtn From: jtn@potomac.ads.com (John T. Nelson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Morality of creating crippleware Summary: crippleware Keywords: Cripple hypercard Message-ID: <8388@potomac.ads.com> Date: 22 Feb 90 19:00:17 GMT References: <4300@helios.TAMU.EDU> Distribution: comp.sys.mac.hypercard Organization: Advanced Decision Systems, Arlington VA Lines: 29