piracy and oss

[Marcel Kunath]

>
> Then there's Windows Commander, a shareware file manager (for MS
> Windows) that I used for years and finally paid $30 or whatever it
> was to register my copy.  This is an example where I'm getting a
> real bargain for my money.  I feel that Windows Commander is worth
> far more than most of the games I've purchased. [1]  It's usually
> the first piece of software I think of installing on a new Windows
> box, before MS Office, before any games, before WinAmp, before even
> trying to install most drivers off CD.  Ahh, if only half of the
> money I wasted on bad games were to find its way into the hands of
> the guy who wrote WC, I'd jump for joy knowing I'm encouraging
> someone who actually writes good software instead of the dimwits
> who created some of those games...

This paragraph again proves an economic concept.

When a company tries to sell a product it takes into account the cost of
development, the willingness of users to pay for this product and sees if this
dissolves into a profitable business. If it does not the product will not be
funded and if it does the product will be created, sold and hopefully the
equation resolves.

So the company of Windows Commander had a business model. They knew they had
the idea of a great product. They knew it takes man power to create and this
man power must be funded. They knew they needed to set a price in form of
licenses. They also knew many users do not want to purchase products up front
without trying and decided on shareware limited to 30 days of use.  All of this
is taken into account and we then come up with a equation if we can create this
product, have users try it, have users buy it after 30 days and then be
profitable.

AND NOW COMES THE FLAW. Ed, with all respect, has used this product for years
and not just 30 days. This basically destroys any financial calculations the
company has done prior to creating the product. It throws off the supply-demand
relation and the revenue stream. Not only did they not get the money after the
30 days of use, Ed claims to have had, but they also lose the interest of $30.00
over the years they could have had from Ed's money.

I am not accusing Ed of cheating a company. I am trying to explain the laws of
economics and finance and how a simply act of license breaking can have vast
impact on the bottom line and it is mostly not perceived by the general user as
such. I think this can be read out of the wording Ed used above and I consider
Ed a rather normal person which means others act just like him and all of this
can have enormous effects on a business and tilt it into the red.

I agree with the fact that hundreds of factors apply to the use of software but
all can be converted into monetary terms. By these monetary terms one can find
out if people are willing to buy a product and at what price. If people then do
not act upon their meant to be behavior and break laws they alter the equation
and set off ill in the generation of software. On the other hand if companies
ignore good practice and overcharge for a product this will as well shift the
point where goods clear on the market.

Oh well I am just saying many things influence people but as Mike said for me
its the money and even if it is not the money then all other factors can be
converted into a monetary unit (time, effort, stress, new technology vs old
technology).

People sometimes get annoyed by me and my habits. Everything I do has a price.
It's most likely my frugal German upbringing. I got this finance tick.

 ok and i have gone completely off target now.......

 mk