As ridiculous as this may sound, I have made a name change for two reasons:
- Due to my miscommunication, some people thought Free meant Freeware in every sense of the word -- meaning every possible feature enabled in the Free version and NO nags. Please note, I removed the timer from the nags, but there still is a nag at startup. I've never been one to place really annoying nags around, but that is one mechanism I use to convert actual buyers. Also, many advanced features are not available there. Therefore, it is Semi-Free. NOTE: Process Lasso has been publicly classified as Shareware for years now, despite our continuing liberal use policy. So, it is not 100% free, though ProBalance and other popular functions do keep working forever.
- Paying customers were confused in some cases and thought v4 had become free (a rumor that got started probably because the change log lists removal of the timed nags). It is NOT free. It is Shareware. You get many more features and no nags,. amongst other things. I definitely appreciate your support above all ;). You make Process Lasso possible for all of us.
For a list of changes between Process Lasso Semi-Free and Process Lasso Pro/Server, see here: http://www.bitsum.com/howfree.php . I call our licensing model FreeShareware (yes, absurd or not).
- To me its honesty is almost humorous, as honesty is seldom found in marketing
The
Server Edition is actually a time limited trial (30 days), after which it won't function. So, it is more 'classic' shareware.
Good idea? Bad idea? Probably good. I don't want there to be surprises.
I think you could name it Process Lasso Many-Important-Features-Free-But-A-Few-Others-Not-Please-Don't-Slam-Me-And-My-Software-I-Don't-Have-To-Make-Anything-Free-At-All-If-You-Think-About-It and you'd still get an army of whiners with an exaggerated sense of entitlement. But as my avatar points out, I may not be quite stable.
Process Lasso Lite ? ;)
Process Lasso Nag
Process Lasso Nag Edition
...?
Can't be more honest than that.
I decided to quit joking around and go back to 'Free' ;). Some people can gripe if they want, but the core functionality never expires, the nag is a single dialog show once at startup. So, it is free enough to where I can honestly call it free.
That said, to avoid the wrath of the freeware purists in the world, I shall continue to market as Shareware (which hurts me considerably, but..)
QuoteThat said, to avoid the wrath of the freeware purists in the world, I shall continue to market as Shareware (which hurts me considerably, but..)
"(..you've gotta do what you've gotta do..)"
;)