Reasons to write freeware? Is it really so different from
anything else? I think that one needs to be careful about
mixing up the facts of the current commercial software
landscape with how one would like that landscape to look.
Reasons that I can think of to write freeware, offhand:
1) People who just do it for fun, because they like to program
and enjoy some recognition.
2) For many of the Open Source people it's a political
and/or quasi-religious activity.
3) Loss leaders for commercial software.
4) An act of generosity, because someone sees a need and
just decides to take on the job of filling it.
5) Perhaps one of the greatest motivators: Pride.
People accomplish all sorts of things with only the
simple motivation that they think the public, their lover,
their mother, or even themselves, will be impressed....
the "I could be somebody!" motive.
6) There are a vast number of people who accomplish
useful things because they've been blessed with wealth
and don't need to worry about making money.
For instance, the fact that Jimmy Carter volunteers for
Habitat for Humanity doesn't imply that he's an amateur
carpenter. He's not. His work has been published in
Fine Woodworking. He's just volunteering where he can be
useful.
I use a lot of freeware and I expect that most people do.
It's just too expensive to spend $20-$80 for every minor
utility. In fact, most of what I use is freeware:
* Power Archiver for zip (the earlier, free version) and 7-Zip.
* IrfanView for image viewing. (I sent Irfan Skildjan the
requested $10 but it's donation-ware.)
* Regmon and FileMon.
* A hex editor that came with a programming book.
* Firefox.
* Outlook Express.
* CoffeeCup FTP.
* ZoneAlarm.
* OpenOffice.
* Notepad (the program I use more than any other.)
* B's Recorder Gold that came with my CDR.
* Shalom Help Maker
* HttTrack website downloader.
Those were all free and most are among the best
in their category. The software I've paid for is only
the software that has specific functionality that's worth
the cost to me:
AtGuard firewall. (before Symantec bought it and ruined it.)
CleanSweep (before Symantec bought it and ruined it.)
Partition Magic. (before Symantec bought it...and will probably ruin it.)
Drive Image. (before Symantec bought it, but it was already
ruined when they bought it.)
Windows (98SE version, before Microsoft ruined it.)
Visual Studio (before Microsoft .Netted it.)
Norton System Works (before product activation.)
Paint Shop Pro
[ Come to think of it, I wouldn't buy most of those programs today
because of product activation, spyware functions, restricted
functionality, etc. I guess I'd look for freeware alternatives.
]
The best example of good freeware that I can think of
is at sysinternals.com. The authors there are experts and their
software is very solid. They may write it partially as loss-leader
stuff for their own business, but it appears to me that their main
motive is probably just love of programming and common
decency.
