Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!unixhub!ditka!zinn!kgg From: kgg@zinn.MV.COM (Kenn Goutal) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Publishers Message-ID: <1325@zinn.MV.COM> Date: 13 May 91 03:24:00 GMT References: <1991May10.185652.19983@lsuc.on.ca> <1991May11.211802.22320@wam.umd.edu> Sender: news@ditka.Chicago.COM (Pulitzer at ditka) Organization: (guest of) Zinn Computer Co., Litchfield NH Lines: 60 In article <1991May11.211802.22320@wam.umd.edu> dmb@wam.umd.edu (David M. Baggett) writes: >[I'm posting the following on behalf of Michal Jaegermann >, who gets c.s.a.st through a digest. - dmb] >From: Michal Jaegermann > >Jim Omura (lsuc!jimomura) posted recently in c.s.a.s. long diatribe >against different forms of software you can find on usenet, different >archives and bbs's. He is definitely against stuff where copyright >notice is included and somehow managed to convey a feeling that >nets are ripping him off. > > [details edited out --Kenn] > > Michal Jagermann > ntomczak@vm.ucs.ualberta.ca Oh, I didn't get that "feeling" at all. The message I got was that his impression is that he cannot expect to make a living (or even a part of one) by distributing products as shareware because of the preponderence of individuals who feel no compunctions about paying the author for the software they use and because of the preponderence of individuals who feel no compunctions about distributing shareware in ways that make it hard to tell what's shareware, what's freeware, and what's public domain. I gather that there are some authors who even today manages to defray a small part of their development costs from shareware revenues, but I also gather that that is less true today than it was for a while, and in any case that quite a different story from meeting costs and exceeding them enough to buy a sandwich or two. So, my impression accords with what I believe is his impression. This is not at all to say that "the nets are ripping [people] off". As long as one understands from the outset that the ground rules only allow for posting stuff pro bono, and posts stuff with that understanding, one is not being ripped off. One who does not understand that, well, is still not being ripped off, but is caught in a misconception. What's disconcerting to me that while I can understand that Usenet *cannot* be used as a vehicle for commercial enterprise, but *must* be maintained as a pro bono vehicle, there is no reason why this should be true of the commercial systems such as CIS, GEnie, etc, yet this seems to be the case. That is, there does *not* seem to be a commercial system which can be used as a vehicle for marketing and selling software products. (Jim's article and maybe one of the followups mentioned STart and a couple other systems. I know nothing about them. Maybe one or more of them fulfills this need.) -- Kenn Goutal CompuServe: 71117.2572 (PARTI handle: kenn) GEnie: K.GOUTAL Internet: kenn@zinn.MV.COM or kenn@rr.MV.COM [The] PO!NT: kenn Telepath: kenn UUCP: ...decvax!zinn!kenn or ...decvax!zinn!rr!kenn +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Ship and Travel Intermodally -- Commute Electronically! | +-----------------------------------------------------------+