Stiffing developers feels good?

March 30, 2004

Submit Response: Quicksilver vs. Launchbar

"But, that said, having replaced Photoshop with the Gimp and installed OpenOffice in place of Word some time ago, if I now ditch Launchbar I'm fairly sure my computer will be completely free of commercial software and shareware, either stolen or paid for; exclusively running bundled Apple applications, freeware, donationware and open source software instead.

Even for someone who isn't a raving open source evangelist, this feels pretty good."

Feels pretty good? Why? How can knowing you contribute essentially nothing (not even good intentions!) to the very people who make your computing experience a simple and pleasurable one (except for Apple) make you feel good?

I continue to register shareware programs that I use, and continue to feel good doing so. Funny that he mentions donationware as something different than shareware. ;-)

It's not a surprise that Jack is not a programmer, nor are the site's other contributers.

When I find Jack's art journalism work I'll remember to use it thoroughly but not support it in any material way. Obviously Jack will understand completely and feel good about it.

Oh, and for the record, I like Launchbar better. I'm guessing its developer likes me better too, considering I've paid for two licenses and referred more than I dare try to remember.