Podcast #32 ๏ฟฝ Blog โ€“ Stack Exchange:

Joel gives an overview of Fog Creekโ€™s attitude towards software piracy and licensing. At its root, we believe that buying your software has to be easier than stealing it. Stop thinking of it as fighting an enemy and think of it as simily being better than the alternative.

I've long believed that's why the iTunes Music Store works.  At some point, I'd rather pay a dollar to find a single track quickly than to scour to steal what might end up being a very poor quality version of it.

(And by "I", I mean the nurse's "I"; I painfully don't steal music, and certainly not when bt.etree.org exists.)

But yes, you have to provide value over the alternative to sell your software for more than nothing.  The various app stores are making that much easier, but it's not because they're walled as much as because they provide value for their ecosystems.

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