Subject: Re: Piracy was Re: HH drives

From: chris <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Apr 13 19:38:00 2003

>Pirating is not something that should be condoned on this list.

I don't want to start a battle, so I'm not going to comment beyond this 
email...

but... shouldn't "pirating" be something that IS condoned on this list? 
At least under the idea of "abandonware". After all, without some degree 
of software piracy, it is highly unlikely that a good chunk of the 
hardware this list is interested in would have any useful software 
available to it.

I very much support the idea of abondonware, and I would think that idea 
is very much in this list's interest. However, it is in many cases still 
piracy.

-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>

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From: "R. D. Davis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Apr 13 21:34:00 2003

> At least under the idea of "abandonware". After all, without some degree 

Definitely!  If software is needed and no longer available from the
manufacturer or other "legal" sources, then, why should it be
considered wrong to duplicate it for others who need it?  To not
make such software available, in many cases, would mean that many
classic computers would become unusable and we couldn't preserve
them properly.

> hardware this list is interested in would have any useful software 

Which is further proof that you're correct in asking your original
question and should not be flamed.

> is very much in this list's interest. However, it is in many cases still 

I like the position that DEC, and some other companies, took on
computers being used by hobbyists who had illegal posession of
unlicenced operating systems, etc.: "just look the other way... those
hobbyists, who aren't costing us anything, and who can't afford our
software now, may grow to like our products even more and turn out to
be paying customers some day when they work for, or have, a business
that can buy our software and hardware."

-- 
Copyright (C) 2002 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: 
All Rights Reserved            an unnatural belief that we're above Nature & 
[email-masked]  410-744-4900  her other creatures, using dogma to justify such
http://www.rddavis.org         beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

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From: Marvin Johnston <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun Apr 13 22:17:00 2003

Good grief, talk about changing the subject. My comment was based on
making SpinRite available to listmembers at no charge. I doubt anyone
here is stupid enough to think that SpinRite is not a readily available
commercial product.