🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <833421339snz@tsys.demon.co.uk>
   Tom Wheeley <tomw@tsys.demon.co.uk> writes:
> 
> I probably wouldn't write shareware myself, perhaps mainly because of the
> amount of freeware I actually use myself (considering I also use Linux).

Me too (sic).

From ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/dos/apps/modem/askmodem.zip:

 -----8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-----

AskModem is released freely in recognition of those out there who have
released far greater works for free, and in the spirit of the Internet I would
like to give something back.

 -----8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-------8<-----

I tend to look at it and say: yes, it's useful, but it's much less so 
than (say) KA9Q which carries a 10UKP (or is it $10?) registration fee. 
I, therefore, can't really justify more than (say) a couple of quid, so 
there's no point bothering. I release things as Email-ware - an emailed 
registration is "required" so that I know who's using AskModem, but 
there's no cost involved. 

Even so, the majority of registrations I get are for versions which have 
been superceded (so it's reasonably safe to assume they got their version 
some time ago) and have a bug report or other problem with the 
registration. So even as "free" software, few people seem inclined to 
register unless and until they need support :-(

> I have also learnt a lot from reading the source code of freeware programs

Ditto. My stuff is released without source, as it is developed using in-
house libraries which I cannot release the code for, otherwise I would be 
happy to let the source be seen. In the AskModem documentation there is a 
credit to the SWAG (Pascal code) archives in recognition of the help 
they've been to me in the past.

> As such, I feel I have taken a great deal from the programming world in
> general, and writing my own freeware programs is my way of putting
> something back.  (And it's always nice when you get e-mails about your
> programs, although I am always slightly nervous of disastrous bug reports
> when I get mail to support@tsys... :)

All my utilities tend to be things I use myself. So, as I said to one 
user who apologised for finding all the bugs (well, mostly just 
limitations really) in my software for me: the more bugs you find for me, 
the more chance there is that it'll work when I need it, so keep going!

> I did once register some shareware, however, so not all hope is lost.  I would
> always consider favourably a free alternative to shareware, though, to the
> extent of quite a lot of loss of functionality :|

I've registered quite a few things (although not KA9Q - I'm still waiting 
on Demon for that - maybe it's time I did it myself?). There's also been 
a few things I've stopped using because the cost was much higher than the 
product justified. Tim's SmofList is one of those things I have 
registered, though, and it's worth every penny.


Oh, and if there are any unregistered AskModem users reading this, this 
week is AskModem Registration Amnesty, okay? Register now, no questions 
asked.... :-)

Mark.
-- 
int MeaningOfLife (void) { return 42; }   // mcr@holly.demon.co.uk
function MeaningOfLife :integer; begin MeaningOfLife := 6 * 9 end;