Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!mordor!sri-spam!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!fluke!kurt
From: kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.misc
Subject: Re: Finkware
Message-ID: <3009@fluke.COM>
Date: 29 Feb 88 19:42:00 GMT
References: <8055@g.ms.uky.edu> <174@piring.cwi.nl> <39450@sun.uucp> <8255@g.ms.uky.edu> <182@wsccs.UUCP> <1438@looking.UUCP>
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Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
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I think selling manuals is a wonderful way to participate in the software
business.  A bug in a manual doesn't crash the entire book, it's hard
to make perfect copies, and the legal protection is unambiguous.

I firmly believe that much of the market for books about dBase and 1-2-3, with
complete command-by-command explanations results from the desire of people who
have stolen a copy to get a manual.  Some of these books are better than the
original documentation.

When I sell my shareware, it will not be very usable without a manual.  It
will be priced modestly above the price for a manual alone.  As long as I
remain small enough to render the cost of a manual clone prohibitive, I am
fine, and if I get that big, I'm fine too.  Of course, this means my
shareware cannot be another game or another terminal emulator, so I guess I
will have to find an original contribution to make.  Hmmm...