Free stuff for everyone!

I release my work as Freeware for a number of different reasons. Firstly, with the Windows Mobile software - most of it is based on Star Trek, which is owned by Paramount Pictures. While I release those applications as Freeware they have no grounds on which they can sue me, as I credit Paramount with ownership of the franchise and intellectual property, and I'm not profiting off it. Secondly, most of the applications I'm creating for desktop/laptop computers are 'tools' more than programs. Most of them already exist elsewhere in one form or another, and even if they didn't, the functionality of each application hardly warrants even a couple of pounds when you consider that you can buy full 3D games for five pounds now.

	Donationware: Would you buy me a coffee for my efforts?

I'm tempted to move across to 'Donationware', where I provide a Paypal link and suggest that if the user likes the software and finds it useful - they "buy me a coffee" by sending me a pound or two. It's something which really seems to be taking off in the Windows Mobile community due to the lack of a centralised 'store' of a kind similar to the App Store managed by Apple. (Hmmm... maybe an opening there?!). I'm currently wrangling with whether or not that'd be annoying to my users, but will probably make a decision one way or another as I release the next couple of projects I'm working on.

Kate, why don't you develop for iPhone?

There are two main reasons why I have not yet developed anything for the iPhone, and probably won't for the forseeable future. Firstly - I don't have one! Most ideas I have for applications come about because I identify a personal need for a tool, so I make it for me, then release it if others might find it useful. I have two Windows Mobile devices (an HP iPAQ 2790 running WM2003, and an HTC Touch Diamond/XDA Ignito running WM6.1) so I code for those. Secondly - although the iPhone development kit itself is free, in order to be able to upload an application to a real iPhone (as opposed to the emulator) or the iStore, I would have to pay $99 (about ’60 at the moment) for a developer's licence, which brings me back to my first point. I'm not paying for a licence to release software I can't even use myself, until I've made something which might be saleable enough to recoup the fee!

Show me the free stuff!

Desktop/Laptop		Windows Mobile

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