Software Is for Sharing

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt

Free programs keep books, play games, imitate birdcalls

When Dennis Brothers bought his new Apple Macintosh computer, he knew it had a shortcoming. Apple did not provide the necessary instructions that would allow the machine to send messages to other computers by telephone. Worse still, the company had neglected to publish the technical information that would permit professional programmers to write their own software. That did not deter Brothers, an M.I.T.-trained electrical engineer who runs a computer consulting business in Wayland, Mass. He opened up the Mac, studied its circuitry and wrote a program called MacTEP that solved the problem.

Then Brothers did something that many inventors would never dream of doing: he gave away the program to friends, associates and anyone else who wanted it. Within days, CompuServe, a nationwide computer-services network, made MacTEP available to its 135,000 subscribers. Brothers started getting calls about his creation from as far away as Britain and the Dominican Republic. Says he: "It seemed such a simple little program at the time. It never occurred to me to sell it."

Brothers is one of hundreds of computer wizards who have forgone possible profits and given away the software they have invented. Such free public-domain programs--there are now about 35,000 of them--are a bonanza for computer users who balk at paying from $40 up to $500 for the bestselling commercial titles.

Computer networks like CompuServe and the Source, which give subscribers access to software by telephone, maintain large collections of public -domain pro grams. In addition, hundreds of individual computer enthusiasts and clubs have made free programs available on electronic bulletin boards that are reachable by telephone. Several books now tell computer owners where to find the freebies. The Computer Phone Book, by Mike Cane (New American Library; $9.95), lists the phone numbers of more than 400 bulletin boards and networks carrying programs for many brands of personal computers, including Apple, IBM, Tandy, Commodore and Atari. Free Software for the IBM PC, by Bertram Gader and Manuel Nodar (Warner Books; $8.95), shows readers how to track down more than 600 programs.

To be sure, much of the public-domain software is amateurish or trivial--for example, programs that imitate birdcalls or beep out the William Tell Overture. But there are free, first-rate programs that enable machines to edit documents or keep electronic ledger books for home businesses. Software abounds for such games as chess and blackjack. One program called A.T.C. simulates the challenge of being an air-traffic controller.

The profusion of free software is an outgrowth of the camaraderie that developed in the mid-'70s, when personal computers were new and commercial software was scarce. Pioneer users, sharing their breakthroughs and building on one an other's work, traded programs much as Little Leaguers swap baseball cards. One of the most popular titles was MODEM, a 1977 program that allowed personal-computer owners to send programming instructions to one another by telephone. Its author, IBM Engineer Ward Christensen, takes pride in never having profited from his labor of love. Says he: "People sometimes send me money out of the blue, but I always send it back."

Other programmers are not so altruistic. Andrew Fluegelman, editor in chief of PC World magazine, made more than $100,000 by giving away his software and asking satisfied users for contributions. John MacEvoy, a part-time programmer from Germantown, Md., seeks no payment for the personal-finance program he wrote, but he does make one request of those who use it. Instead of paying him, MacEvoy says, they should leave the computer keyboard for a while and take their long-suffering spouses out to dinner.

--By Philip Elmer-DeWitt. Reported by Lawrence Mondi/New York and John Prime/Shreveport

With reporting by Lawrence Mondi/New York, John Prime/Shreveport