CompuServe Messages

Bushwah! 🙂 Magazines that report 'what's available' in any given arena have a responsibility to cover all the reasonable bases. If any major Amiga mag were doing an article on telecommunications, to not mention Backtalk, Access, Term and others in the same breath as BaudBandit and other *commercial* programs, would be a crime. Not only a crime, but it would be a total waste of time. To exclude PD software simply based on the idea that it would be biting the hand that feeds them is ludicrous. The hand that feeds the magazine publishers in large part, is the hand of the reader. Therefore, the reader being the customer, should get the best service possible. To exclude PD software that is clearly the best or one of the best solutions available for any given application is simply negligence. I'm not suggesting that when a new product comes out (say, xyz paint program) that a complete listing of PD equivalents be included with the review. I am speaking mainly of when magazines decide to showcase or feature a specific area of application, and then fail to mention PD or Shareware contenders.