Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!unisoft!gethen!farren
From: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc
Subject: Re: enforcement of Sharewar
Message-ID: <707@gethen.UUCP>
Date: 25 Feb 88 07:54:10 GMT
References: <8055@g.ms.uky.edu> <174@piring.cwi.nl> <39450@sun.uucp> <121@ritcv.UUCP> <1012@sask.UUCP> <204@ritcv.UUCP> <2506@tekig4.TEK.COM>
Reply-To: farren@gethen.UUCP (Michael J. Farren)
Organization: There's Unix there in Oakland
Lines: 49

In article <2506@tekig4.TEK.COM> bradn@tekig4.UUCP writes:
>"DemoWare"
>"ShareWare"
>"ThugWare"
>"Free"
>"Public Domain"

In all of this discussion, I've seen nobody mention the original piece
of "FreeWare", PC-TALK.  "FreeWare", rather than "Shareware", because
Andy Fleugelman, when he thought up the whole concept, defined it in
considerably different terms:

  - You are not required to pay for this program.
  - The program and documentation are complete, and workable.  There
    is no crippling of the software - what you get is the actual, final,
    and complete working version of the program, along with ALL of the
    documentation for it.
  - You may make copies of the program if you wish.  You may distribute
    it via any public medium you wish.  You can even send me blank disks,
    and I will copy it onto those disks FOR you.
  - You are under no obligation to send money.  If you wish to send money,
    because you think the program is useful and you intend to use it, then
    you can send the money to xxxxxx.  The suggested donation is $YY, but
    you are not obligated to send this, or any other amount.  If you want
    to use the software and not pay, you are free to, with no stigma
    attached.  If you want to pay less than the suggested amount, you are
    free to.  If you want to pay more than the suggested amount, you are
    free to.  The decision is solely up to you.
  - The only restriction on distribution of this program is that you must
    include all of this information with any copy you distribute, and you
    must distribute only full versions of the program, with all program
    files and documentation as the original version.

It's always struck me that this was (and is) a remarkably honest and
straightforward means of software distribution.  It's sad that so many
people have forgotten Andy's basic stance, "You don't have to pay if you
don't want to", and concentrated on going for the bucks.  PC-TALK is an
admirable example to hold up:  most copies were not paid for, it wasn't
a particularly GOOD communications program, and yet it made Andy Fleugelman
a LOT of money, all without any sort of coercion.  More power to anyone
who has guts enough to lay it out on the line - more often than you would
think, you WILL be rewarded.  Treat other people like people, and not
pirates, and you may well find that they respond better than you would
have ever thought.

-- 
Michael J. Farren             | "INVESTIGATE your point of view, don't just 
{ucbvax, uunet, hoptoad}!     | dogmatize it!  Reflect on it and re-evaluate
        unisoft!gethen!farren | it.  You may want to change your mind someday."
gethen!farren@lll-winken.llnl.gov ----- Tom Reingold, from alt.flame