I am also a professional software engineer and do agree in most points with marcel. I try to release everything as good as possible if there is no reasonable financial interest anymore. I do however respect the copyright of each and every program. In my opinion there is no way to offer downloads of any software when the author hasn't given explicit permission. I have great respect in what rich has achieved in this point. Tracking down the copyright holders and getting permission to offer it freely is hard work that cannot be paid enough.
kind regards Paul > Am 06.07.2016 um 12:02 schrieb Marcel Kilgus <[email protected]>: > > Rich Mellor wrote: >> I shall however, not get involved in software piracy. > > Really no disrespect to you or your work. But, as a creator of > software and probably of the most commercially successful QL software > of the last 15 years, I find this whole piracy debate in the QL scene > pretty laughable. This is mostly software that hasn't been touched, > supported or updated in 30 years. Why would anybody care what happens > to it? The decent thing to do for the authors is making the stuff > freely available (sans copy protection if possible) once you're > leaving for greener pastures. That's what I do with my stuff. > > The creators have abandoned the software, so what's the harm in > having it freely available? Who in their right mind would actually go > to court over some MDV image of software they haven't touched in 30 > years? > > So far I've kept quiet in the debate out of respect for you and your > work. But all this is against my common sense. I can't imagine that > this whole commercial re-releasing of ancient software is in any way > worth it. It's a bit of a shame, too, I would like to try some of the > old QL games, sure, but I would never spend a single cent on them, > ever. I would probably only play them a few minutes each, just for the > fun of it, and that's that then. And I guess I'm not alone in this > respect. > > The QL is dying (dead?) and keeping stuff commercial is not really > helping in this respect. I released EasyPtr for free recently because > I was asked how one could obtain a copy and I found it really too > embarrassing to still ask for any money for this old stuff. > > Marcel > > > > > _______________________________________________ > QL-Users Mailing List _______________________________________________ QL-Users Mailing List
