I'm a contract programmer (i.e. I work on projects for 3-9 months for large companies), and yes I and everyone I know who does it (about 50 people) make ridiculously large amounts of money doing it.

I don't know about shareware etc. Never done that. Your mate who wants to give software away is welcome to his opinions, but where would you be if you repaired cars for free, or built houses for free or hey, lets give away beer for free! (actually I rather like the last idea). This is a good profession to be in.

SD (why use only 1 word when 100 will do!)