> So I learned early on that people unreasonably expect support for no additional cost. Which is fine for some types of software, of course, but probably not as often as users expect support. Any one-time-up-front price means it's abandonware. A constant flow of additional money has to come in the door to pay a team to do the actual support.ĪFAICT, the only feasible models for supported software seem to be subscription, microtransaction or advertising.

Or they believe the amount they paid is for support in the future, not work done in the past. So I learned early on that people unreasonably expect support for no additional cost. (Of course, not only had I moved on to other projects, but I had long sold the type of computer the shareware was created for!) They demanded support in return for their one payment. I recently visited my friend from our programming club who saved these letters and was reminded a couple people wrote additional angry letters years after paying for the shareware. (That amount was less than minimum wage, if I took the time to implement those features for them and release the software.) And occasionally they'd tack on whatever extra they thought those features were worth to them.

Sometimes people requested more features in return for paying the requested amount.

Lots of nice people from all over the planet sent in some money, and sometimes with letters. When I was 18, I wrote some shareware and asked for $10 from those who used and liked the program.

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