CompuServe Messages

Let me first re-state my positon so everyone knows from the start what it is…I am in FULL agreement that those who use a shareware program should send in a donation to the author. I am in FULL agreement with your posting of the message about UEdit and requesting those who use it to send Rick some money for his hard work and excellent program. Now, with that said…I have to agree with John. Depending on shareware to make a living just doesn't cut it. It's hard enough to make a living with a commercially published and advertised program, let alone a shareware program. Shareware should be a "spare time" task done for pleasure, to demonstrate your programming skills or to interest a publisher in your work. It shouldn't be done as a full time occupation….cuz the pay just isn't there. Even if everyone who downloaded UEdit from here paid Rick, it wouldn't be enought to pay for more that a month or two's worth of rent (there have been 125 downloads of it to date). Sure, there are other places it's posted, and other ways of getting it…but of those 125 downloads, how many are using it? The history of shareware is that very few folks send in their "share" and the rest don't. That's the "facts" whether we agree with them or not. Things like this thread may prompt a few more to send in their money, and I really hope it does raise the level of awareness (and return for the author) of what goes into a program, and why we should pay for what we use. But until such time as human nature takes a dramatic turn, and everyone decides to pay for what they use (can we call that "universal honesty"?)…it should be depended on only for "pocket change" and not for day to day living expenses.