topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Thursday March 28, 2024, 11:37 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - chaiguy1337 [ switch to compact view ]

Pages: [1]
1
N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Intro
« on: December 17, 2008, 02:01 PM »
Thanks for clearing that up; I think I will sit-out the competition since really my program is of "commercial intent", and any attempts to disguise that would indeed probably be misleading--don't want to be a wolf in sheep's clothing. However, I like the site and will read more about it, and maybe will have something to submit next time. :)

Logan

2
N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Intro
« on: December 17, 2008, 01:45 PM »
Thanks, this is all very helpful.

It's too bad that donationware doesn't generate as much profit as the traditional models. I certainly don't dispute that there are other advantages to releasing software as donationware, some of which I have certainly considered. But as I mentioned money is top priority at this particular point in the game for me.

I noticed the following definition on that link: "A more useful definition for Donationware might be a program where the author requires a donation of some sort for full access to the program." It's good to know that requiring a donation still constitutes donationware, as I have considered that option too.

While a "free for personal use" model probably won't fit well for my current project, as I expect its largest audience to be home users, I'm glad you mentioned that because it may actually turn out to be a good model for my next project, which would be useful to both home and business users/organizations.

Anyhow, the current state of my program (that I'd like to submit) is that it's basically completely free in the sense that there are no limitations at all, even though it can be purchased an "unlocked" for $15, unlocking doesn't currently do anything except hide the "buy" button and stick their name on it as a licensed user. I was originally thinking of having a nag window when the program was quit, but if this would disqualify it, I can certainly remove that.

One final quick question--does the software that is submitted have to be free for the life of the product (including all future versions?) or would it be ok to submit a completely free VERSION of the program, for the competition, and then maybe introduce a more traditional model in future versions?

Thanks again and sorry to flood the post with all these questions.

Cheers

3
N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Intro
« on: December 17, 2008, 12:42 PM »
Personally i believe it's s matter of reasonableness.  If you pop up a big message every time the person uses the program saying they should pay that has to be clicked closed, then for me personally, that is going to bother me enough for me to say that its "nagware" and isn't really free.. The question is when does a program nag so much that it crosses the line from freeware to nagware.  That's something everyone has to decide for themselves.

That is a fair take on things. If we break it down, for instance, having a "please donate" button on the software could certainly not void its status, since users must have some obvious way to donate. I agree that imposing some dialog, especially one with a countdown would certain constitute nagware.

To be completely honest I haven't decided on a system yet, so let me ask you this. First and foremost I am writing this software to make a bit of money, because this is my full-time job and I need to support myself (i.e. it's not on the side). So in your opinion, can releasing something as donationware actually generate more funds than say a traditional pay-to-unlock model? Or is it merely kindness on the part of the developer because they can afford to? (I'd love to be generous, but simply cannot afford to cut profits at this point). Arguably, the publicity and word of mouth associated with free/donation software could outweigh forcing users to pay.

Now that said, here's a philosophical question for you: surely a "lite" version of a program that is completely free, but missing maybe some advanced features of a "pro" version, so long as it doesn't nag, would be considered free/donationware, correct? If so, does bundling two versions into the same installed product (in other words, upgrading to unlock certain features) also count as free/donationware, again so long as there is not any annoying nagging to upgrade? I ask this mainly because from a design standpoint it is much simpler to create a single product rather than two versions, one free and one pro.

My intention is not to start a debate--we can open up a new thread to discuss this if people want. I simply want to know where my options stand to release my product and still qualify for the competition. In all honesty I'm mostly interested in the publicity, not any prizes that may be won (if there even are any).

Thanks for the info and opinions.

4
N.A.N.Y. 2009 / Re: NANY 2009 Intro
« on: December 17, 2008, 11:39 AM »
I'm new here, but would like to apply. I'm just about to release a new app and I think I can wait until Jan 1 to make it official. Have a couple questions though.

Does it qualify as donationware if the donation price is fixed (at $10-15), so long as there aren't any limitations in the unregistered copy?

Does a "please donate/register" reminder void the donationware status?

Is it too late to register? :P

Logan

Pages: [1]