Shareware History...

Shareware started many years ago.  PC-TALK, PC-Write, and PC-FILE
were among some of the very first.  As with any program, they all
came out of the need for a specific type of program.  The authors
all tried the shareware concept, and found it very successful.

The basic idea was to tell people they could copy and distribute
the programs to others.  Many suggested donations, registration
fees, and some even had a special serial number, and the more 
you distributed, the greater the chance you'd get a commission.

