| IDL Shareware [message #18571] |
Thu, 13 January 2000 00:00  |
ronn
Messages: 123
Registered: April 1999
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Senior Member |
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All,
I would like to voice my support to David Fanning's post on the idea of
shareware. I have had a few programs available on my site for awhile,
but no one has bought any. Plus, I notice that no one has replied to
David's post.
I am curious as to why.
As David correctly points out, shareware programs would be high quality,
useful items for a VERY reasonable price. Just think about it, $30.00
for a program that took 100 hours to write? From my point of view,
shareware exists to provide a service to the IDL community while
providing some recompense for those whose livelihood depends upon IDL
programming like David and I.
Anyway, I would appreciate opinions on why getting this shareware idea
off the ground is do difficult.
-Ronn
--
Ronn Kling
Ronn Kling Consulting
email: ronn@rlkling.com
Application Delvelopment with IDL book at : http://www.rlkling.com
Shareware and Freeware at: http://www.rlkling.com/
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
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| Re: IDL Shareware [message #18573 is a reply to message #18571] |
Wed, 12 January 2000 00:00  |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Ronn Kling (ronn@rlkling.com) writes:
> Anyway, I would appreciate opinions on why getting this shareware idea
> off the ground is do difficult.
I think it is partly because the idea of cross-platform
compatibility, when it comes to IDL programs having anything
but the most basic functionality, is a cruel myth. :-(
To take just one painful example, the recent program I
offered this week, runs like a champ on my machines
(Windows NT and Windows 98), but I don't think it has
run at all on most other machines. It is either too big
to fit on the screen, starts up with Floating Divide by
Zero errors (!!!), produces phantom events, doesn't
look like mine (bad OpenGL implementations in the
graphics cards, usually), or simple window resizing
causes complete and utter havoc. In a word, it looks
like shit. Who would pay for it?
I'm so discouraged I'm thinking about going back to
writing books. At least there you only have to have
theoretical expertise. :-)
Cheers,
David
P.S. Let's just say that if becoming an expert involves
running into and overcoming problems, that I have made
a hell of a lot of head-way this week.
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
Phone: 970-221-0438 E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Toll-Free IDL Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
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| Re: IDL Shareware [message #18611 is a reply to message #18571] |
Tue, 18 January 2000 00:00 |
John-David T. Smith
Messages: 384
Registered: January 2000
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Senior Member |
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Ronn Kling wrote:
>
> All,
>
> I would like to voice my support to David Fanning's post on the idea of
> shareware. I have had a few programs available on my site for awhile,
> but no one has bought any. Plus, I notice that no one has replied to
> David's post.
>
A fly in the ointment of this shareware idea: Most IDL programs that I know
about are produced by researchers supported by government grants, or corporate
expenditure. Certainly some IDL users have their own companies, or do IDL work
at home, and in private, but the vast majority of contributed IDL libraries
(e.g. the excellent NASA lib) would not be permitted to be sold, as they are
technically the intellectual property of the government or corporate agency in
question. Now, seldom is this attitude enforced for code which is given away,
since this represents a purely altruistic offering, but if an individual wanted
to make money on programs he had developed while under the employ of a
government agency (including under grant) or corporation, that might raise some
eyebrows.
JD
--
J.D. Smith |*| WORK: (607) 255-5842
Cornell University Dept. of Astronomy |*| (607) 255-6263
304 Space Sciences Bldg. |*| FAX: (607) 255-5875
Ithaca, NY 14853 |*|
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| Re: IDL Shareware [message #18656 is a reply to message #18571] |
Sun, 23 January 2000 00:00 |
gross
Messages: 3
Registered: December 1999
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Junior Member |
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Hi...
I do some small amount of IDL work, all of it related to medical
imaging. One of the problems is that I write a lot of "one-off"
solutions to solve particular (peculiar ?) problems...so most if not
all of my stuff would be of no use, and of no interest, to anyone
else.
Since IDL is primarily used for algorithmic prototyping, my guess is
that a lot of IDL coders are in the same group...highly specialized
programs that don't travel well.....
On Tue, 18 Jan 2000 12:48:09 -0500, "J.D. Smith"
<jdsmith@astro.cornell.edu> wrote:
> Ronn Kling wrote:
>>
>> All,
>>
>> I would like to voice my support to David Fanning's post on the idea of
>> shareware. I have had a few programs available on my site for awhile,
>> but no one has bought any. Plus, I notice that no one has replied to
>> David's post.
>>
>
> A fly in the ointment of this shareware idea: Most IDL programs that I know
> about are produced by researchers supported by government grants, or corporate
> expenditure. Certainly some IDL users have their own companies, or do IDL work
> at home, and in private, but the vast majority of contributed IDL libraries
> (e.g. the excellent NASA lib) would not be permitted to be sold, as they are
> technically the intellectual property of the government or corporate agency in
> question. Now, seldom is this attitude enforced for code which is given away,
> since this represents a purely altruistic offering, but if an individual wanted
> to make money on programs he had developed while under the employ of a
> government agency (including under grant) or corporation, that might raise some
> eyebrows.
>
> JD
>
> --
> J.D. Smith |*| WORK: (607) 255-5842
> Cornell University Dept. of Astronomy |*| (607) 255-6263
> 304 Space Sciences Bldg. |*| FAX: (607) 255-5875
> Ithaca, NY 14853 |*|
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