I find this all rather amusing about the software licenses. This obviously is more than just an M$ problem. This is still shaking out about rights and ownership of nebulous thoughts and programs. It will go on for some time because it is changing as I write this email. However, it reminds me of my former SE form HP who referred to the giant as 'Bill's Software of the Month Club'. He also called another organizations production as 'Novel Notware'. It was a lot easier to set up the rights, patents, and copyrights for distinct, new, and printed items. Now with the ease of copying, CD's, tapes, and proof of dates it is difficult to establish the finite differences in these items. The problem with OEM copies is they are part of the hardware distribution. You can not establish a distinct payment or ownership to them without the purchase of the hardware. These are critical to the copyrights and licenses of the item. At the point they leave the licensed hardware they are not legal. They are owned by the hardware owner as the purchaser. In reality this is not much different than the ownership of the OS application materials for a large Unix system where the license is tied to the hardware with a code and the serial number. It can be changed to a new system, but with a new code and serial number given by the hardware or software maufacturer. Remember, if you build, design, or create something it is your right to establish ownership of that creation whether it be a piece of furniture, a new rocket, or some unique written software to accomplish something that someone wants to be able to do. It is the American Way. Thanks, Tim Sinks ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Penney" <blots at visi.com> To: "TCLUG" <tclug-list at mn-linux.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 8:59 AM Subject: RE: Software licenses was Re: [TCLUG] [Somewhat OT] Good 1U Hardware for Linux _______________________________________________ TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota http://www.mn-linux.org tclug-list at mn-linux.org https://mailman.real-time.com/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list