Freeware or payware?

[Pauli]

I've stated some opinions in this sector, mainly because I think opinions and values have gone a bit haywire. We seem to have brought forth a seemingly strong "socialist" value system, surprisingly growing from US, with a demand of free software, free everything... and blaah-blaah...

I had a minor wrestling with a program called DriverMax; I had their Pro license for one year, it expired... I doubted if I would pay for a renewed license, or just simply be satisfied with the free version. But then the lightning struck: I understood how much these people had helped me, and it would be pure ungratefulness to ignore it.

Business, business, business. But there's also the human part.

 

[Mike]

The forums are offered as free, but we have to keep it in operation somehow. Unfortunately, this is through advertising. But I see your point. As for this software you mention, never tried it, and would not endorse it unless I did. If it did well for you, you might as well pay for it. As for socialism, well, I think there is a different definition of what that is in predominantly nationalist countries, and that is always the danger. But all politics aside, if it works, consumers (i.e. people) should be the one with the purchasing power and decide what they will and will not buy - can and cannot afford. It also depends on the true efficacy of the software and whether or not it truly does anything. There is a tremendous amount of software out there that actually does absolutely nothing to improve the condition of most systems. However, seeing that all systems break down with time, maintenance is required.

 

[ussnorway]

There is no come back on free software… the old adage of you get what you pay for does still apply. The recent heartbled fiasco shows it best imo because until that point Windows was seen as an evil company bending (often breaking) the rules of commerce to their own gain… and they so are but at least they also take steps to quality control their products.