The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 3 (of 5)

A FREEware like SnagIt

Is there a FREEware which come close
to TechSmith's SnagIt and which is totally free ?

PM on a tight budget
Thursday, October 2, 2003

So $40 too much??

Why are some programmers so willing to go out of their way to avoid paying for software??

Come on let's support each other!!!!

DJ
Thursday, October 2, 2003

"Come on let's support each other!!!!"

We are.

Specifically, we're making useful and powerful tools available for other developers who are also working on limited budgets.

We're also providing motivation for companies to actually provide more value for the money we do give them. Given the number of people who think their customers owe them a living, rather than thinking that they owe their customers valuable and useful services, this motivation will be quite important for keeping them competitive.

Alternatively, we could all quit the industry, ensuring that the few whiners who're left have no competition and thus can charge as much as they like. After all, once you start asking for a bit less competition, why not ask for no competition at all?

The frequent calls for a lawyer-operated software cartel that will prevent people from competing in non-approved ways always amuse me, though.

Does that help? :)

andrew m
Thursday, October 2, 2003

Are you saying I should invest a significant amount of time for free to help other programmers that is too cheap to fork over $40 so they can turn around and use all that donated time to possibly compete against me??

All I am saying is if all programmers expect tools and utilities to be free then the only people that will be left creating those tools will be script kiddies living in their parents' home.

There will be no market left for other programmers to make a living.

DJ
Thursday, October 2, 2003

Hey "andrew m.":

Just curious who pays your salary and what you do to earn it.

Enquiring minds want to know.

Mitch & Murray (from downtown)
Thursday, October 2, 2003

40 dollars is pocket change for US developers but for us in Asia it quite expensive.

thaksin
Thursday, October 2, 2003

The "Lotus Suite" Millenium Edition contains Lotus Screencam. I bought the Lotus Suite for about $15 (CD only) from an Ebay vendor a couple of years ago...

...
Thursday, October 2, 2003

Irfanview can do screen captures, and it's free.

Philo

Philo
Thursday, October 2, 2003

Lotus Suites has been declared to be discontinued and unsupported by Lotus/IBM, use ScreenCam at your own risk. You don't want a format that you can't convert to another AV standard sometimes down the line. I had SmartSuite 99 or something and ScreenCam came with it, but it wasn't very compatible with newer Microsoft OSes. If you do much better with the Millenium edition good for you, just buyer beware.

Li-fan Chen
Friday, October 3, 2003

So, let me get this straight: You think that I should always choose the most expensive piece of software for a given purpose, and not even consider using the one that provides the best value for money? How odd. Is that really what you do?

I'm perfectly happy to only use tools written by "script kiddies in their parents basement", especially when that's a synonym for Microsoft, IBM, SAP, and large numbers of highly qualified and intelligent developers who simply aren't being convienent for you, and the tools in question meet my actual needs. Kids in basements aren't my concern.

Furthermore, if I can't provide more value than a literal kid in a literal basement, why on earth do you suppose anyone will give me a job? Please, just answer this one question. You think you deserve to be given money, and to be able to earn money by programming. Why?

I would also like to know if you'll start complaining about cheap software, once all the free stuff is eliminated. If giving a tool away is unethical, what about selling it for a dollar? What about selling it for a dollar less than the one you wrote? What level of competition will you accept? Now that you've claimed people shouldn't give software away if it hurts you, why should they be selling at a price that hurts you?

I don't mind how you sell your software - I'm going to keep buying what gives me the best value, and expecting everyone else to do something similar.

andrew m
Friday, October 3, 2003

Microsoft's media encoder beats Screen Cam hands fown for file size (though for ease of use Screen Cam is hard to beat).

However Screen Cam does not support Win 2000 and above, and MS puts some very restrictive practises into its license for Media Encoder.

And don't pay any attention to the saddos who meet any request for free software with claims you are cheapskate and letting the side down because you want the best deal possible. Just tell them next time they want to know where the supermarket is that they are a load of freeloaders who ought to eat at the Waldorf and support the American economy like everyone else.

Stephen Jones
Friday, October 3, 2003

For 'us' in 'Asia'? Guizhou or Tokyo?

Friday, October 3, 2003

If you can find a better product, good for you.

Personally, I think SnagIT is a great product, and, when my company hemmed and hawed a bit, I bought a copy out of my own pocket.

These guys make good software, I wanted to support em.

JMHO ...

Matt H.
Friday, October 3, 2003

http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/

Chris
Friday, October 3, 2003

MWsnap is freeware and works for simple tasks.
http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

Guillermo
Saturday, October 4, 2003

Hold the phone...

How come when Microsoft gives away IE with every copy of Windows, they're an evil empire trying to kill innovation, but when someone else gives away software, it's a triumph of the free spirit?

Philo

Philo
Saturday, October 4, 2003

Beware of Geeks bearing gifts.

It's a question of bundling. MS was bundling the browser with the OS which you had to buy, in order to see off the competition. The purpose wasn't to ensure supremacy for IE, it was to see off Netscape so it couldn't be part of an alternative platform to Windows.

It's not a question of you shouldn't take sweets from strangers, more a question of you don't want to take sweets from the perv you know only too well.

Stephen Jones
Sunday, October 5, 2003

But the issue wasn't "what's MS going to do to you when you get in the van" - it was "if you're taking Microsoft's candy, then you're ignoring Netscape's candy, which is better*"

So how come open source doesn't get the same treatment? "If you're taking [x] because it's free, you're ignoring [y], which is better"

Philo

*No it wasn't.

Philo
Sunday, October 5, 2003

And, just in case anyone does not know, you can always hit the print screen button and your screen is captured into the paste buffer. You fire up your favorite paint program and whack ctrl-v and that will paste the screen.

If you hit alt-print screen, then only the active window is captured.

I use print screen button for all my screen captures...they seem just fine to me. Great for doing docs in word, and inserting screens for user manuals etc.

The print screen is free, and captures your screen for you.

Albert D. Kallal
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
kallal@msn.com
http://www.attcanada.net/~kallal.msn

Albert D. Kallal
Tuesday, October 7, 2003

Hey people!

would you pay for Windows Media Player just to listen to music? Or would you rather down load for free.

ummmmmm.....i wonder.

adios.

bluewiggy
Thursday, December 11, 2003