Jim Knopf: Difference between revisions
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How's my health? |
How's my health? |
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The heart attack was severe and did extensive damage. But that was 18 years ago and I'm doing quite well with a defibrillator/pacemaker installed. |
The heart attack was severe and did extensive damage. |
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But that was 18 years ago and I'm doing quite well with a defibrillator/pacemaker installed. |
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More problematic at present is the Crohn's disease which I somehow acquired four years ago. |
More problematic at present is the Crohn's disease which I somehow acquired four years ago. |
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I thought I would surely die before it was diagnosed. |
I thought I would surely die before it was diagnosed. |
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Revision as of 17:34, 17 November 2009
Jim Knopf, nicknamed Jim Button ("Knopf" meaning "button" in German), is considered by many to be one of the "fathers" of shareware (so named by fellow software veteran Peter Norton). As an IBM employee, he wrote a program to help with a local church congregation. When demand for his program consumed too much of his time, he quit IBM and created Buttonware. He released his first program, PC-File (a flat file database), in late 1982 as "user supported software". He has been quoted as saying this expression not only reflected the optional payment model, but also that comments from users drove the development of later releases.
He collaborated with PC-Talk (communications software) developer Andrew Fluegelman to adopt similar names (PC-File was originally "Easy-File"), and prices, for their initial shareware offerings; they also agreed to mention each other's products in their program's documentation. Fluegelman referred to this distribution method as "freeware".
A few months later (early 1983), Bob Wallace followed suit, coining the term "shareware" for his similarly marketed product, PC-Write, a word processor.
As of 2007[update], of the three founders of shareware, Knopf is the only one still alive, despite having a near-death experience in 1992, when his heart stopped beating briefly while experiencing a heart attack.[1] Shortly thereafter, he sold all his business assets and retired to the Pacific Northwest.
He currently enjoys photography and spending time with his family.
Updated November, 2009 by Jim Knopf Following are some answers to commonly asked questions.
How's my health?
The heart attack was severe and did extensive damage.
But that was 18 years ago and I'm doing quite well with a defibrillator/pacemaker installed.
More problematic at present is the Crohn's disease which I somehow acquired four years ago.
I thought I would surely die before it was diagnosed. When I get to the afterlife I will have two questions for my creator: (1)Did we have to have spiders, and (2)Why did you create Crohn's disease?
Where do I live?
I'm still comfortably retired in the hills east of Redmond, WA.
My family
My four children have given my wife Helen and me 14 superb grandchildren. I love them all completely.
Am I a member of the LDS church?
Yes sir, dyed in the wool, true blue, through and through.
Do I still write programs?
Call me a recreational programmer. I get an endorphin "high" from solving logic problems.
I write silly, useless programs in the "C" language just for the fun of it.
May we contact you?
I would definitely like to hear from you. Knopf dot James at gmail dot com
See also
References
External links
- The beginnings of shareware
- Interview with Jim "Button" Knopf
- An article by Jim Knopf
- Article about Jim "Button" Knopf, from Dr. Dobbs Journal
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