Should I add a "Micro" PDP11/73 to the Herd?

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
Date: Thu Jun 22 14:16:09 2000

> Well, as long as the machine comes with a complete version of the
> software installed, then there's no problem. The whole licensing
> issue is pure lunacy. Someone initially paid a vast quantity of money
> to Some Random Computer Manufacturer for the machine, then, got
> charged another large sum of money for the software - the OS - needed
> to use the machine. Both were products that have already been paid
> for. Let's say you bought one of those newfangled automobiles that's
> infested with lots of electronic circuitry, including computers with
> firmware. Now, let's say you sell the car. If that firmware was
> licensed like computer software, the person who bought the car from
> you wouldn't be able to use it without being bilked out of a licencing
> fee from the auto's manufacturer. What if books were treated like
> software? This is just a way of extorting money from people; it
> amounts to no more than legalized theft.

Together, democracy and free enterprise constituted
a severe paradigm shift for the robber barons, but
eventually, they figured it out.

So, if they're going to stand behind every tree on
the highway, ready to exact from us a toll for any
thing we want to do, then we have to figure out how
to travel without using that highway, rendering their
strong-arm tactics moot.

-doug q
Received on Thu Jun 22 2000 - 14:16:09 BST