How about the 'making perl in an executable binary' idea that I used to hear bantied about a lot? Wouldn't that (admittedly kind of pain in the butt) idea work?

Now...a word about open sourcing this...yes, he could. He would make no money, and to be honest - unless he has created a killer app and gets very lucky - he will be ignored and used and abused for it. I've been through that, so have other people I know. The far majority of users of open source software are A) incredibly cheap, B) downright rude and C) not interested in helping the project improve. It's a small core of people who do the real work, reap no benefits, and make the world a better place.

So...this guy wants to make a few bucks on shareware, all the power to him. Until we can figure out a decent micropayment structure for software, it's the best he can do to feel that his work has paid off.

Kickstart (the disillusioned)