🚀 go-pugleaf

Date sent:  26-JAN-1993 17:07:03

Tom Otoole commented:
>
>I'm curious if anyone has explored the license implications of this. By way of
>concrete example, suppose Wingra Inc. wants to squeeze 3000$ out of me, plus an
>extra 450$/yr. maintenance, because I add another CPU to a 6400 box. In a way
>it seems reasonable that if I bind the software to one CPU, that I am still in
>keeping with my original single CPU license.

Putting on my hacker hat:
        I can create any license for any product, or get around
        any vendor's schemes to prevent me from running the software.

Putting on my user's hat:
        Why do they charge me #*$)*)#$ much to run the SAME #&*(#$
        thing on my 6640 instead of the piddly amount they charge
        me to run it on my 2000???  It makes no sense!

Putting on my developer's hat:
        Really if someone uses my product, I'd like to charge them
        more if it's used more.  I figure on a 6640 they'll get
        more than two orders of magnitured more transactions in
        a year than they will on my VAX 11/725.  However, there's
        no reasonable way to account for how many transactions
        they really will do.  Plus, if the number turned out small,
        they might cancel... so...

        *blink*

        Idea!  We'll charge by CPU size, regardless of how much
        they really run the product!

Answer: Your particular license covers the machine you run the software
        on, NOT the possible configuration your machine COULD have if
        you (effectively) disable a CPU or two or three.  Thusly, you
        buy licenses based on the hardware.

Putting on my legal hat:
        I am not a lawywer, and this is not legal advice, and you should
        check everything you do very carefully before you do it, and
        sometimes after.  Your mileage may vary, lower in California,
        and my employer owns his opinions, not mine.

>Tom O'Toole - ecf_stbo@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu - JHUVMS system programmer


Ehud

--
Ehud Gavron        (EG76)
Sunquest Network Manager
gavron@sunquest.com