🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1991Apr08.233541.1300846@locus.com> geoff@ITcorp.com (Geoff Kuenning) writes:

   In article <902@sibyl.eleceng.ua.OZ> ian@sibyl.OZ (Ian Dall) writes:

   > Companies go broke, even those that stay in business stop supporting
   > products. Have you tried to run any TOPS 10 programs lately?).

   It is quite common for small software companies to place their sources
   in escrow against the possibility of bankruptcy or the death of critical
   founders, so that licensees have recourse in case of disaster.  It's
   obviously inferior to do your own support instead of having somebody
   else do it, but at least it protects you.

Why does a company have to go bankrupt for this problem to occur.  I
have an AT&T 3b1 that I acquired recently.  I called AT&T to find out
about technical information, new software releases, etc.  They said,
"3b what????   Who is this?"  Now I would like to have the source -- as
it is I am stuck with an old OS with no chance of improvement....
Unless, of course, the FSF can come through on their promise of a
brave new world with source code in every garage!


Ed Luke                         lush@erc.msstate.edu
Engineering Research Center for Computational Field Simulation
Mississippi State University