From: heathh@cco.caltech.edu (Heath Ian Hunnicutt)
Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.apps,comp.os.ms-windows.misc
Subject: Re: WINDOCK & Brian Capson?
Date: 19 Aug 92 04:45:28 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

dszpiro@student.business.uwo.ca (Daniel A. Szpiro) writes:

>Back in May I sent a $15 cheque off to Brian Capson to register my
>copy of WinDock. I was hoping that if I rceived a registration number
>then the nag screen for WinDock at boot-up would disappear. Well, my
>cheque was cashed right away, but I never heard from Capson. I have
>since mailed him two paper-mail letters and a couple of e-mail
>messages without any response.
	Well, if I were you, I would mail root at his address,
asking if they have a forwarding address, or whatever is
appropriate.  Furthermore, many people have set up their accounts
so that a remote finger will give you their phone numbers.

>I know that $15 is not a lot of money, but its experiences like this
>that make me doubt whether I should bother ever registering shareware
>again in the future. If a comment like that upsets shareware
>developers who consider themselves responsible, then they too should
>try to get people like Capson to act responsibly.
	Well, while I sympathize with your situation, I have to take
issue with your response.  How does it make sense to respond to being
ripped off by ripping off independent parties?  Forgive the cliche,
but 2 wrongs do not make a right.  The other shareware authors that 
you would "punish" by not registering their shareware had nothing to
do with Mr. Capson's alleged failure to fulfill his part of your
contract.  Mr. Capson failed you, not the shareware concept itself.

	Also, he may have shipped the product, then gone on vacation
for the summer, so that he is away from his paper mail and email.  The
product could then have been returned for insufficient postage,
whatever, but it was too late for him to know.  I'm not saying this is
likely, but you can't prove that he deliberately ripped you off, so
you really shouldn't imply it.

	Should you register shareware? YES!  Wihtout registrations, there
would be no shareware at all.  I personally believe that shareware 
products are often better buys than retail products.  USUALLY, the
support and responsiveness you get from a shareware author are
much greater than what you get from a commercial outfit.  Finally,
if you don't register shareware, then stop using it.  While any
shareware author would prefer that you just register it, if you refuse,
then you have absolutely no right to take advantage of the programmer
who put the time and effort into developing the product.  If you 
think the product isn't that useful, then don't use it.  If you think
it's over-priced, find a cheaper alternative.  If you think the
shareware product was easy to write, then YOU write a "clone."
But do not ripoff shareware authors, for no other reason than
that it is not fair to them.  They are trying to help out you and
themselves by allowing you to try before you buy, and them to
avoid marketing costs.

	Before anybody flames me, yes, I have registered every
shareware product I use.  Well, except the ones I wrote.

>Maybe we need a conference just for posting experiences with
>shareware.
	I agree.  alt.shareware, anybody?

See ya,
Heath


>dszpiro@student.business.uwo.ca (Daniel A. Szpiro)
>Western Business School  --  London, Ontario
-- 
On Saturday, April 18, 1992, this .sig became self-aware.
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