Re: Ada is getting more popular!

[Warren <ve3wwg@gmail.com>]

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Dmitry A. Kazakov expounded in news:19rlit851kct1$.db26uwez2yg7$.dlg@
40tude.net:

> On Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:06:25 +0200, Thomas L�cke wrote:
> 
>> If I buy a car, I can change it as I see fit.
> 
> You cannot, there are serious limitations on what you allowed to do, at
> least in Germany.

At a practical level, this is becoming much more 
difficult than it use to be.  Now, much is buried
in some MCU which has its fuses burnt to prevent
any reverse engineering of EPROM.

But as to the original point in relation to software, 
I fully agree.

>> I can take it apart and see how it works.
> 
> This also may be forbidden. I believe taking apart a DVD player is
> punishable under the DMCA. 

I think if you check into it (anyone?) it is only verboten 
if you publish what you find out or produce a product that
makes it possible to defeat it.

No one is going to get punished by opening their DVD player
and running tests on it in their home. Even if you invited an
inspector into your home to watch, I seriously doubt that
any charges can be filed at this point (with the testing
excluding actual viewing/listening).

As to whether or not it is verboten to break the DMCA in 
the privacy of your own home for your private 
listening/viewing is debatable. In law, it probably is, 
but you'd have to invite someone in to see you doing so.

>> But when buying software, I'm usually kept in the dark. No tinkering,
>> no learning, no self-maintenance, no nothing. It's a black box.
> 
> No, the problem is that the black box is sold with no warranty. 

The warranty is meaningless if the changes/fixes you need
will not be supported by the vendor. Or perhaps the extra
fees involved or timelines are not suitable.

With open sourced software, if you yourself can't make
the enhancement/fix, you are able to hire anyone you
please to do so.

So you can pay for a black box with or without support, 
or you can pay someone to support your free software. 

It is simply a buyer's choice.

Warren