× The internal search function is temporarily non-functional. The current search engine is no longer viable and we are researching alternatives.
As a stop gap measure, we are using Google's custom search engine service.
If you know of an easy to use, open source, search engine ... please contact support@midrange.com.



Dave -

The success of your product as a shareware offerring will depend more on your own execution than anything else.

I can think of three recent shareware examples that were successful in the i space: WRKDBF, PowerLock Network Security, and Mochasoft.

I don't know if Bill Reger ever derived any revenue from WRKDBF, but he used to monitor this list so perhaps he can add his experience.

With PLNS, we gave away a useful portion (exit point auditing) of the product while holding a valuable part of the product (exit point security) back. This helped us get wide distribution on a young product while retaining the IP value. Licensing and keying were an essential part of getting this done right.

Mochasoft is another good example of shareware, or more accurately "Nagware". They consistently display a message stating that their product is unlicensed and thereby shame users into paying for what they use.

In short, there are successful shareware models out there, and you can be successful too. It is going to depend a lot on your licensing and execution.

jte

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

-----Original Message-----
From: "Dave" <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxx>

Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:39:07
To: <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Shareware on the i - Need some opinions....


Hi All,

I have created a tool that has proven very effective in reducing program dumps and help desk calls in our company. It also adds a couple of 'nice to have' features for users and programmers. I have spent some time the past couple of weeks turning it into something customizable enough to run in most any shop.

At this point, a lot of my personal time has gone into the program, and I have been considering releasing it as shareware. I have not seen a lot of shareware for the System i, and I do not know how well the market has received shareware in the past. I am considering a very inexpensive package - maybe a couple of dollars per user.

Definitely not going to make me rich, but maybe help get some return on my time investment. My logic is that if it saves even one or two help desk calls per year, then the program more than pays for itself. I want near instant ROI. And I also do not really have time to consider rolling out a full-blown commercial product -- although I did consider letting someone else distribute it...

Has anyone in the group ventured into shareware for the I?

One area I wonder about is piracy. I have never used hacked/stolen software on the I, nor do I know of any company that has done so, or even of any software vendor who had their products illegally distributed. Just debating how much time I should put into licensing/anti-piracy... Would it be ridiculous to expect people to be honest about their usage?

Anyhow, thanks for letting me think aloud. If anyone has any feedback I would like to hear it.

Thanks,
Dave

=================
www.openDave.com

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This thread ...

Follow-Ups:
Replies:

Follow On AppleNews
Return to Archive home page | Return to MIDRANGE.COM home page

This mailing list archive is Copyright 1997-2024 by midrange.com and David Gibbs as a compilation work. Use of the archive is restricted to research of a business or technical nature. Any other uses are prohibited. Full details are available on our policy page. If you have questions about this, please contact [javascript protected email address].

Operating expenses for this site are earned using the Amazon Associate program and Google Adsense.