Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!bobmon
From: bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Commercial software in comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Message-ID: <18756@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: 21 Mar 89 21:47:43 GMT
Reply-To: bobmon@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu (RAMontante)
Organization: malkaryotic
Lines: 22

-*> It should be posted if net readers and admins benefit more than the cost
-*> of posting it.   How much the author of the software benefits, from 0
-*> to a megabuck, is not important.  Do net people want it -- that is the
-*> only question to ask.
-
-The moderator should assess the utility of the software, and post it
-accordingly, in conformance with the copyright.

I think I agree with these sentiments; but given the number of variant (read
"buggy"?) CRC programs around, I shudder to think of the effort that will be
required to get an algorithm for whether a package is worth posting or not.

Just what is crippleware?  Clearly LIST isn't; clearly a text editor that
cannot write a file is.  What about a "demo" terminal emulator that offers
to enable data rates greater than 1200bps if you register it?  People who
only have 1200bps modems may be delighted to use this thing for free; an
archive site with a 9600bps link probably thinks it's fatally crippled.

Since I think Rahul's idea will be technically difficult to implement, I
feel that philosophically any criteria should err on the side of
distribution; we're often too willing to say "This thing is worthless to ME,
so it should be denied to EVERYBODY."