People like you are the ones who make it hard for me to make a living. Please excuse me for trying to make a living. Yes I develop software. Yes I feel that I should be paid for it. As far as paying for trying... you are so wrong. Demos are out there and if a package doesn't have a demo then I suggest looking else where.
As far as activation / phone-home... talk to M$. They are setting the stardard. Look at XP. Look at Win2K3. Look as MS TS. Even look futher and see why developers are doing it. You tell me how many priated copies of software are out on the net?
Tell you what. When YOU decide to work for FREE, I'll consider it too.
Besides there are TONS of freeware / open source software for the PPC. Instead of ranting, learn to use google.com.
A few suggestions and there are MANY more:
http://sourceforge.net/
http://www.pocketpcsoft.net/php/freeware.php
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/2001-...ml?tag=stbc.gp
/end of rant.