They seem to exist everywhere, and in every walk of life. Makers, takers and fakers. For example, I’m sure you’ve heard of “vaporware” – that software that is highly publicized and advertised, but never seems to actually appear. It’s always just about to come out, but only needs one or two more things before it’s actually released. And no one actually sees anything, not even a pre-alpha release of the software. The people promoting such software are fakers. There were enough of them during the DOT COM era, and you see where it got such fakers. They went bust.

Then there are those pieces of software that one has to buy again and again and again. I first came across it in relation to anti-virus software. One purchased the program, then kept having to repurchase updates to the virus recognition file. Subscription, they called it. Extortion, I called it. There comes a point when one wonders whether or not the product is worth it, if on has to keep purchasing it. And this method of extortion isn’t limited to anti-virus software. There seems to be a great deal of software that operates on that principle, costing hundreds of dollars to purchase, only to have to spend anywhere from half the price to the full price AGAIN a year later for minor updates. And like lambs to slaughter, we line up at the stores to buy these intentionally defective products. Oh, not all software is that way. There are products that really DO add new value, and charge a reasonable price for upgrading to the new version. They are the exceptions, though, or at least that’s the way it appears to me. No, by and large, the people that create software that operates on the “buy it now, and keep buying it every year” scenario are simply takers. They’re out to take whatever they can manage to gouge out of you. And they will use any means at their disposal to do so, often bordering on being illegal, or even stepping across the line into criminal activity.

And then there are the makers. These are the people that really provide a good product, polished as highly as human ability can do. Nor do they charge an exorbitant price for either the base product or the eventual upgrades. In face, some of this software is actually free. Free to use, and free to modify for your own use. And, if the modifications you make are of value to others, they can be welcomed back into the main product thus providing it with improvement and you with that warm feeling of accomplishment. And at this point, I can name names (something I wouldn’t do in the above two definitions, due to the possibility of being sued for defamation of character, or some such drivel). GIMP is an example. Likewise OpenOffice.org, Gnome, KDE, and, of course, Linux. Many more, of course. Those were just examples. Ubuntu is an example of a distribution that embodies the philosophy of “make it the best you can, then improve it”. Sure, there are others. But Ubuntu is the distribution with which I am most familiar. The people who are of this type are the makers. The ones with the creative spark and the knowledge of how to make that spark work. Some of these makers are involved in commercial ventures, and it’s to their credit that, commercially, they don’t try to take advantage of the people that purchase their products. So, when examining a product, whether it be a piece of software or some other product, it’s wise to try to determine which category it falls in, and what type of people are producing it.