"User Example" wrote in message
. ..
So the purchasers of the software you write should obviously be writing
their own as they're paying for the business license of of your employer
as well as the secretary and your benefit and fringe package and the
machine and tools you're using to develop with. Right! NOW I get
it...

That's not the same. They are paying for a product and they are have to
pay for R&D. That goes for anything you buy off the shelf whether it is
software, a toilet valve, or an A/C. I am not complaining about the price
of building supplies, now.

I have done contract work where I had to go to the customer's site to
write software. But even then, we negotiated on a rate (time and
materials) and that's all I charged for. Granted my rate was very high
but they knew that going into the deal.

Your rate was high....for what? You have no materials, unless you print out
your code for reference purposes. If that's the case, what's a case of 500
sheets of paper? $25.00? Your expertise is worthless. Unless you print out
your code, you should work for free. Since it's nobody's business how much
money you need to pay your mortgage and other expenses, or what your
education cost, you're certainly not going to reveal that to them. So, you
have no way of justifying anything other than pro bono work.