[degif]

The statement "Not that you asked my opinion, but $23/year for screendimming software--its no wonder people crack this." does not make any sense. If this is an application that only dimms the screen (which you can do multiple ways without any application) why would anyone make an effort of creating and distributing it and why would anyone make an effort on searching for a cracked version of given application? Surely there is some added value to it.

Also "if you can detect that someone is cracking your software or doesn't have a valid license, put a donation link in the shape of a coffee cup in the corner of your software. At least people have the option to support you." I have no data to back this up, but I really doubt that the people that are money-limited or just don't want to pay 20$ for an application will suddenly support a developer voluntarily.

[alin23]

I couldn't have said it better myself :)

In the first 4 years, Lunar was actually completely free and supported by donations on BuyMeACoffee.

I made a total of $5k in those 4 years from donations, probably even less after PayPal took their huge cut.

[MAGZine]

ah, see, you've applied logic where there is none. Am I really going to open a philosophical debate with myself when I visit a product's webpage? I scrolled through, I saw different scheduling types, some other features. But as a whole, the software's purpose is "make screen brighter or dimmer" and that's something I just don't have big use for.

And on your second point. I also don't have data. But if people crck software that costs $23, maybe they're willing to pay some fraction that isn't $23. Isn't that reasonable? Or in your mind, are there two groups of people: one that will pay anything, and the other that will pay nothing?