From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.1 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FORGED_GMAIL_RCVD, FREEMAIL_FROM,PP_MIME_FAKE_ASCII_TEXT autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: a07f3367d7,e276c1ed16429c03 X-Google-Attributes: gida07f3367d7,public,usenet X-Google-NewGroupId: yes X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!news.glorb.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Warren Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada is getting more popular! Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:25:42 +0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Message-ID: References: <4cc4cb65$0$6985$9b4e6d93@newsspool4.arcor-online.net> <5086cc5e-cd51-4222-a977-06bdb4fb3430@u10g2000yqk.googlegroups.com> <14fkqzngmbae6.zhgzct559yc.dlg@40tude.net> <8732ea65-1c69-4160-9792-698c5a2e8615@g13g2000yqj.googlegroups.com> <4cc60705$0$23764$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> <4cc6753c$0$23756$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> <4cc71e08$0$23758$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> <4cc87d7a$0$23755$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> <4cc912e1$0$23761$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> <19rlit851kct1$.db26uwez2yg7$.dlg@40tude.net> Injection-Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:25:42 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: mx01.eternal-september.org; posting-host="9f8M0iN5t54V+4DF/iqO8g"; logging-data="19155"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18Nink+ekpRS/X4oqKHVkRSJi61YZL0ouQ=" User-Agent: Xnews/5.04.25 X-Face: &6@]C2>ZS=NM|HE-^zWuryN#Z/2_.s9E|G&~DRi|sav9{E}XQJb*\_>=a5"q]\%A;5}LKP][1mA{gZ,Q!j Cancel-Lock: sha1:Qlt+K4w3fKbvM6hzbG1GdlocWEQ= Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:14902 Date: 2010-10-28T17:25:42+00:00 List-Id: Dmitry A. Kazakov expounded in news:19rlit851kct1$.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