Great sentiment, x_bruce!x_bruce wrote: ...
And I hope SE based VSTi developers are reading this because the idea of paying for your labor isn't at issue for me or for the corporation that is my band, the issue is whether you are in it for the long haul and if you charge anything for your labor, I don't care whether it's $1.00, at that point you are doing business and as such should be expected to work just like rgcAudio or reFex, or LinPlug, Big Tick or any of the other shareware developers.
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What it comes down to is not only whether it's ok to sell. If Jeff has no problem with it then it's none of our business what designers do. But the minute they decide they want money they, at least for me, have to accept responsibilities for bugs, customer service - the whole works. For me the developer that puts something up for sale is expected to have quality and be able to prove it with freeware or track history especially since you can not make a demo VST as far as I know in SynthEdit.
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If someone feels their work is worth payment they have a right to charge, but we as consumers have a right to quality service, distribution of the VSTi and accountability.
However, I have to say that while I find your approach superb, I can't see the whole world lining up behind you.
The truth of the matter is, at least in the Western world quality and customer care have long ago lost the battle to economies of scope and scale - and to "low, LOW prices!" Most of us will go and buy our hardware not where the sales staff is the most knowledgeable and courteous, but where we can shave off the most from the prices. We live in a disposable society. We don't expect our VCR or DVD to last beyond 3-4 years, and even if they did, in 3-4 years they get woefully outdated and incapable of handling the new standards - whatever those might be. It appears e.g. that the DVD's you have today will not even play in the machines due out in a couple of years...
Let's face it: just how MUCH support can you realistically demand for U$19, when your U$400 DVD Player has a ONE YEAR WARRANTY? And how long do you want an author to support a VSTi that may not even run on your next PC or in your next host? And how long do you exactly want to use an instrument that's hi-tech today but may well become a quaint reminder of the passage of time tomorrow? And how long do you expect an individual to stand behind their product in a market where huge companies can emagically stop casting their spells, and close the Gates on their OS within 5 years of its introduction?
As a matter of fact, the entire software market of the world is based on f**king the customer, for heaven's sake!
Your average EULA states exactly that much: no warranty of any kind, no responsibility for damages, no recourse, no refund, no exchange, no ownership, NOTHING. I've watched here a hundred threads on piracy lighting up within the last year or so (and I do take an anti-piracy stance, in case someone wants to threadjack this discussion by twisting my words); your message is the FIRST I've seen that concerned itself with establishing merchant responsibility. We have anti-piracy legislation galore, and many cases are pursued in court; I have yet to see a straightforward decision againts a software developer or company. And please don't mention that farce of a judgement against Microsoft... I'm not trying to silence your call to arms, but I have to be honest: if someone offered me a VSTi for U$15 that did the same thing as its U$400 competitor, I'd buy it and rather put up with its bugs and inconsistencies, even if I knew that the author will disappear as soon as my creditcard cleared...
Especially since I know that whatever happens, I will not be in a legal position to fight back, whether I paid one dollar or a hundred.
