2 Jan
2011
2 Jan
'11
6:23 p.m.
On 01/01/11 18:42, Tony Duell wrote:
Yes, but remember a lot of software vendors (at last back when I was
buying software) used to have disclaimers which said the sftware may not
work correctlym and that the files on the enclosed media may differ from
thase advertised. I susect that supplying unreadable disks would actually
have met those terms...
At least one manufacturer
believed that disk interchanagability would lead to software piracy and
did various silly things to try to prevent it.
A lot of software vendors seem to think like that...
"OH NOES! If someone can read our discs then they can copy them!!!"
"But if they can't read them, they can't use the software."
"Yes but if they can READ them, they can COPY them!"
I've given up dealing with companies which insist on internet activation
and all that crap -- instead I try and find a competing product which
isn't similarly encumbered. Usually it's possible to find one which uses
I noramll manage to find an open-source program for anything I want to do
now. No such problems _at all_
a name-and-serial-number lockout (which is fine IMO, I
don't intend to
change my name any time soon), or a key-file (similar idea, the file is
effectively the serial number).
Serial number of what? If it erads some kind of unique ID from the
hardware 1[] then I have major problems with that. Hardware fails and
needs to be reparied or replaced. At wich point the serial numbr may well
not be the same any more...
[1] I have a systems with machine readable serial numbers for the CPU/IO
board, The memory/video board, and the cabinet. Fortunately I've not met
any software for this machine that makes use of said serial numbers.
I could mention some of the lovely "software
protection" schemes I've
dealt with, but really... there just isn't the space...
FWIW, I don't pirate. I beleive that authors deserve their payments. But
equally, unless I agree in adcance to a tiem-limited license (e.g. I can
run this program for 1 year only), then I expect to be able to keep
backups. I also expect to bne able to carry on running it on whatever
hardware I choose for as long as I want to.
-tony