At 8:38 AM -0500 9/6/01, Tim wrote:
>Regarding software support and licenses. Lou Forlini made the comment
>about leaving an unprotected car on the street. Nothing personal Lou,
>but let's get this back into focus. First of all, it's not about
>pirating something, it's about support. The federal law requires the
>auto makers to support ALL makes and models of cars, even the flops and
>special edition (short-runs and limited production) models for seven,
>count-em, seven years.
Well that's the point, isn't it? There's no such law for software products.
>Either support the product or cut it loose. Stop riding the fence. This
>goes for Apple and every other software company that only lays claim to
>abandoned software when they see someone else showing interest.
This is your opinion of how a copyright holder should act. You're
certainly entitled to it. But if I'm a copyright holder, the
software is *my* property. I'm the final arbiter in deciding what I
want to do with the software. It may be that I don't have the
resources, or that I'm developing a replacement, or whatever. If
Disney wants "Snow White" to sit in a vault for 20 years to build up
demand, they have every right to do it (and they have done so in the
past).
In the case of software where there is still a legal copyright
owner, these are your alternatives, as I see them:
1. Convince the copyright holder to release the rights, or at
least release codes or whatever you need to get the software to work.
2. Use a different software product, if one exists.
3. Write your own, or pay for someone to write it.
4. Go without.
5. Pirate it. This is illegal, period.
>These tittybaby
>software developers remind me of a brat who throws a toy away only to
>come back and cry about it when some other kid picks it up. It's as
>simple as this, they can't have it both ways.
Why don't you try this experiment. Download the Newton
Development stuff from Apple. Learn to program your Newton. Write
some shareware or commercial-level software. Learn to support it and
enhance it. Watch people advocate pirating your stuff because they
don't like your policy on refugees in Mongolia, or whatever.
Congratulations, you're now a "tittybaby" software developer.
Regards,
- Lou Forlini
Software Engineer
System Support Products, Inc.
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