In article <[log in to unmask]>, Ken Kirby
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Hi Art,
>
>Ok, I expected this. I got similar arguments here as we discussed this
>in one of our impromptu hallway staff meetings. Remember, the rule here
>is: I should only pay for one copy of the software per machine running
>that software.
>
I bought this drill the other day for my toolkit. I say 'bought', but I
didn't really buy it. They just let me pay for it, and have it, and take
it away, and use it, but it isn't mine at all, apparently.

And we had this funny conversation, too. The seller wanted to know where
I was going to use the drill, and how many people were in that place.
Only then could he work out the price to charge me.

Not how many people were going to use it, mind, but how many people were
there on a regular basis, and so might benefit from the drill? I did try
to figure out for him how much drilling I might do in, say, a year, but
he didn't seem interested in that.

So I took the drill back away with me, and used it, and it was a good
drill, but one day, the day after Don started working for us as it
happened, the drill just refused to go at all.

So I rang the supplier, and we went through his checklist, and yes it
was plugged in, and no, it hadn't been modified, and yes, we had a new
employee...... And that was it of course. So I gave him my Mastercard
details, and he took a small slice out of my bank balance, and gave me a
new authorisation number, and off went the drill again!

Then Fred called from his place down the road, and said he had some
drilling needed doing, and would I go over and do it? He thought I'd
make a better job of it than him, and anyway, he hadn't time. He'd pay,
naturally.

Now, Fred had a drill of his own, but I knew it was old and slow, so I
took my new one. And guess what? Yep, it wouldn't run again. So I called
the supplier, and he explained that it was okay if Fred bought a drill
like mine, for me to use there, but it wasn't okay to take mine over.

Fortunately, Fred wanted the drilling done in something that was nice
and portable, and not fixed down anywhere, so I judged the best thing
was to haul it back to my place and drill it there, rather than use his
old drill in situ.

I thought that maybe the drill would notice that this wasn't my stuff,
even at my place, but it didn't, so I was able to get Fred's drilling
done for him, and earn my crust, with only minor inconvenience.

.....

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But if the 'drill' were the 'drill-down' in an
EIS, that's just how it would be.

While the 'Don detection' might be a bit exaggerated, one piece of
software we used (no names, no pack drill) refused to run when I added a
new disc drive to the PC it was on, claiming it was now 'on a different
computer'. Of course, we weren't charged for a new authorisation
code(!), but other than that, the story's not entirely fantastical....


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