The Fate of Free Software as Shareware
Author: Ken Douglas
Dated: 2024-12-06
Much of what supported the free software industry has either faded or been killed off.
Having been in the software industry for more than two decades I have noticed a huge decline in outlets suitable to promote free software.
Free software, as opposed to commercial (paid) software, earns no revenue so advertising is not feasible, and the services available for promoting free software (known as shareware) have almost all dried up. This website (addmine.com) is one of the few surviving shareware listing sites that is still online.
But where did all of the other shareware services go?
For many years the Association of Software Professionals (ASP) provided a program known as PAD which software authors could use to create XML files that were ideal for sharing product information. The PAD files included all relevant info including publisher details, software details and download links. having all of the relevant info neatly packaged into a single XML file, those PAD files could be sent to software publishers for review and inclusion on what was known as Shareware sites.
Submitting PAD files by simply uploading the XML via a web form made software publishing easy. In fact soon after software applications became available that listed all known shareware sites (sites registered with the ASP) enabling authors to update existing listings or promote a new product at a click of a button.
With PAD submission software one could select a PAD file and then nominate which sites (select from 600+ different types of software sites) and let the software automate the process and provide a report at the end.
But those days are gone because the ASP has folded, and so have the PAD submission services. Of the hundreds of shareware sites that could be found worldwide, most of those have disappeared too. The only other shareware sites still running are mostly collections owned by the same entity and driven by a single database. But they too are disappearing because the means of paying their rent was via paid advertising, and paid ads are no longer profitable.
And it gets worse because thanks to Google and their battle against those trying to exploit their search ranking criteria, shareware sites are now seen to be detrimental and referred to as toxic links, almost as bad a rating as the many paid listings sites.
Consequently the big software sites like Tucows and ZdNet got out early. I mean what use is it to provide a service that the Goose of search engines will go out of its way to exclude?
For more info see related reference at The Fate of Free Software as Shareware
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