I wasnt going to say anything but the bit about "shitware" crossed a line. So I'm going to play devil's advocate... and rant a bit.
So make yourselves comfortable, get a drink, while I go find my soapbox...
I find it wrong that we all seem to expect such high standards from little independent developers, not only expect it but demand it and consider it something we are owed. I know you didnt quite mean it like this, but I have seen it often enough in threads even here, and this thread is where I suddenly decide to make a bit of a rant
I understand it is frustrating when you take the time to make bug reports and improvement suggestion and get nothing back (I just got that from ebay after I pointed out some major problems with their new "bid assistant" feature and got nowhere), but to jump from there to complaining as if you were entitled to detailed responses etc. is probably a bit too far. The developer not answering email 2 years after you registered the software does not quite justify suggesting that the software should be listed as "shitware".
Most of these programs have one developer. Most likely doing it in their spare time as they still need a job to pay the bills. And maybe he is busy, or on holiday, or ill, or has any kind of problems. Maybe there are problems with his ISP. Maybe his computer has blown up, or his connection is down. Maybe the publicised mailbox gets such levels of spam it only gets checked once a month, or the spam filter has false positives. Or maybe he is just too busy to even notice, working, writing a new version, writing something else, with a new baby, with a sick relative... You just don't know.
I have written software, both desktop and web, in the past, and have always balked at releasing any of it even as freeware. Because as soon as you do there are dozens of people out there who will think it makes them entitled to demand changes, fixes, more documentation. Instead of grateful people - which there are but you never hear from them - you get people whining about everything. For every helpful email with useful detailed bug reports or polite and documented suggestions, you get 10 whines and "program X which costs $50 has feature Y why cant your free tool have it!!!". And people email you expecting responses within 2 days. As if you were somehow a business with paid customer service employees. Not to count the people who email you about problems totally unrelated to your software...
If you buy a kettle and it starts having a problem 18 months later, you just don't expect that you can email the kettle maker, or walk into the store where you originally bought it and have the customer service desk do anything about it. Neither do you expect any of the big software makers to support anything more than 12 months old for free.
Yet we routinely get shareware/donationware authors giving us support years after we registered their software (I still get total commander for free 11 YEARS after I registered it!!!). This is something we should cherish, rave about, be grateful about. It's not something we should take for granted and think we are entitled to. It is great that with many shareware, freeware, donationware programs you get developers who interact directly with their customers, listen to them and make improvements on demand. It is great when you registered something years ago and you still get support and upgrades for free years later.
It's something exceptional. We should thank them when we get that kind of service, and give them plenty of publicity.
I just don't think we should consider it our due and whine when a single author of a shareware doesn't react after 3 weeks...
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rant over