Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!agate!ziploc!eps From: eps@toaster.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Think of it as NeXT evangelism Summary: There's a place for free software and commercial products Message-ID: <1009@toaster.SFSU.EDU> Date: 9 Nov 90 01:21:20 GMT References: <10397@ubc-cs.UUCP> Reply-To: eps@cs.SFSU.EDU (Eric P. Scott) Organization: San Francisco State University Lines: 79 Nice guys write lousy software. So? I think shareware is a great concept, but in practice it's failed. There are too many people without the integrity or the expertise to exploit it effectively--so much so that shareware has earned a bad name. It was a wonderful idea--be in business for yourself, be your own boss, set your own hours, reap the profits of your work. Low cost up front, low overhead, etc. What went wrong? What went wrong was that most shareware promoters saw it as a way to make a quick buck, with callous disregard for their market. The quality just isn't there. There are a few notable exceptions, but not many. It's the same reason I won't buy anything made in Taiwan. I've been burned too many times. So now I won't give the benefit of the doubt to shareware. And products like iwscript only serve to reinforce my growing belief that All Shareware Is Crap. And it's too bad, because there are people who don't have sponsorship, and don't want to slave away for a conventional employer, and perhaps can't afford to produce software "for free." But I also suspect that shareware authors are like stage actors: very few make enough to survive on their earnings. The people that "got rich quick" off shareware weren't authors--they're the ones who set up mass duplicating services and charge a couple bucks per disk--creating the very middleman that the shareware concept was ostensibly envisioned to sidestep. The best software in the world is either freeware or reasonably priced commercial work. The former is sort of an open secret-- popular magazines rarely mention the former, because they don't generate advertising revenue. I was just reading one with a special feature on virus checkers. Nowhere in there did they talk about what's probably the best program for the Macintosh-- Disinfectant. It's free software. So I've just turned out a better mousetrap at a more attractive price. That's capitalism too. I'll even tell you how it works. Would you buy a car whose hood you couldn't open? Even if you always plan on taking it to the dealer for maintenance, aren't you ever curious what's going on inside? I give you that. You can learn something. If you want to become a dependent consumer, that's fine. But if you can stand on my shoulders and reach even farther, I would be honored. I didn't get to do that with iwscript. I had to start from scratch, and work a lot harder than I "should have." If iwscript didn't exist, I still would have written iwf, and you'd all think it was neat and original. But I wouldn't have wasted my time with something that promised something it didn't deliver. Last December I came up with an idea for a really hot "interpersonal computing" tool. Something that would be seen as original. Something I was going to write and contribute to NeXT in the hope that it would go in /NextDeveloper/Apps. I got as far as prototyping it in IB in January, and didn't have the time or resources to finish on my own. Next week, Adamation is demonstrating a new program called Live Wire, independently developed, whose description is nearly identical to mine. Now mine will never be written. But you'll have the functionality, and no doubt better support than I could provide. That's the benefit of commercial software. Far from complaining, I'm now free to devote my efforts to other things. I want to see the NeXT succeed, and become the BEST workstation platform out there. Greed isn't going to accomplish that. Promoting a savvy developer base is. There are a lot of talented students out there that can't afford, what is it now, $1000? for NeXT's Developer Camp. I learned a lot from /NextDeveloper/Examples, from NextAnswers and TechSupportNotes, and from things other people have done. Now I'm paying back. If just one person benefits from my work, then I consider it a success. There are a lot of Mac bigots (and whatnot) who are so insecure that they will do anything to discredit Steve Jobs and NeXT Computer Inc. and the user community. Perhaps they should be scared. We have the potential. Let's make it happen. -=EPS=-