"Here and there, FREEWARE!"
By Richard Bennett
Copyright (c) 1990 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
The are four methods of software distribution available. The first, is obviously commercial distribution. By paying an inflated Australian price for a product, you too can get virtually no after sales support, and a pain in the arse when upgrading.
The second is called shareware. Derived from the two words "share" and "ware", these programs usually contain a license which allows you to use the product free for a certain number of days. After that period, you either delete the program, or send a nominal fee of around US$20 to cover the author's "...cash flow problems, as I'm currently unemployed and trying to get through college to be a doctor and work in the third world for the good of all human beings and the planet in general...". They then mail you the latest version of their program on a disk with a pre-printed label, some usually rather sketchy documentation, and a specially printed envelope and letter head note saying "hello" and signed Joe Blow M.D. A.B.C. X.Y.Z., a nuclear physicist with the Environmental Destruction Agency. Well it's usually not that bad, but I'm sure you get the idea.
The third method is freeware. The only difference to shareware, is that you don't have to pay for it. However the original author, as in shareware, still holds the copyright on the program.
The fourth, is anything placed in the Public Domain, which includes anything which does not contain a copyright notice.
Now ask any shareware author if he gets much of a return on his wares, and you'll get an immediate response of "No. Why? Are you one of the filthy mongrels who hasn't paid?!". Return on minor commercial ventures can likewise question an author's interest in computers at all, and refuse to provide anything but modest amounts of pocket money.
Although offering your programs as freeware simply formalises the return on shareware as being absolutely nothing, it does offer a few things which no other method of distribution provides.
For starters, there is no reason why the user cannot write to the author. With shareware which you haven't paid for, it's probably a lot easier to simply live with the current version than having to get a money order and write away to someone. Then you have to try and explain how you haven't been using it for over six months, and you're not simply forking out the cash now because the latest system software doesn't work with the program. With freeware, you can be a candid as you like in your letter. Usually a token of appreciation is in order, and couple of disks with local wares on them will guarantee they write back with a new version. For example, "I've been using your fantastic program for years now, but I'm sick and tired of the xxx option, could you take it out and send me a new copy please."
One of my main reasons for writing freeware, is the assortment of mail I get from all around the world. With my shareware programs, I could have cashed in my Post Office box for good. But with freeware, I get a steady stream of mail from the US and Canada, and even from what was previously called West Germany. I receive disks full of programs, and even US bank notes (don't tell Oz Post), with thank you notes, and ideas for program improvements.
If a program is free, people are more likely to keep a copy of it, and thus give to other people with similar interests. In the case of the major US networks, such as Genie and America Online, most of the US can be aware of your program within a week or two of your releasing it. You could then include with it, an advertisement for shareware or commercial products.
If you're a shareware author, or even a commercially oriented one with a small utility you can't sell, consider freeware as a alternative. You'll get more mail than any other method, you'll get more honest opinions of your work, it will get distributed faster, it will help support the existence of Apple, and should help "sell" you and your other work.
Above all, because freeware takes away the financial interest in a program, the author and the user are free to enjoy the product and the response it gets. Then if some guilt ridden person does send you something of monetary value, you'll get a pleasant surprise!

THIS CONTENT COPYRIGHT © 2007, APPLE MACINTOSH USERS' GROUP, SYDNEY
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PLEASE CREDIT THE AUTHOR AND THE SOURCE: Applecations, publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia

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