Slashdot Mirror
Who Owns Source Code When a Company Folds?
pipeb0mb asks: "A few years ago, I worked for Chilliware, Inc. as the 'Technical Development Manager'. Some of you may remember us for the software iceSculptor, Mohawk and Mentor. Chilliware folded rather quickly and harshly back in May of 2001 due to money issues. Within days of the first layoff, everyone was gone, from the CEO and VP's to the receptionist. Now, years later, I've been digging through some old CDs, and am reminded that I still have the final production source code for the products we released in the retail channel. I've attempted to contact several folks over the past couple of years to gather information about the software and who owns it now. To no avail though. Either I get an 'I don't know' or 'No one' from the dis-interested parties. I feel like these programs are my children that never got a fair shot. I hate to see so much work wasted and lost to the ages. So, Slashdot: What do I do with this source code? It's a great deal of well commented and well written code, performed by over 100 developers in a former Soviet Republic (who formerly worked with Boomerang Software). Where do my binary children go now?" As things are now, if a company folds, the code is buried and forgotten unless someone buys the rights to it, before the source code is lost. This issue was discussed a long time ago and there didn't seem to be much in the way of answers. Have 3 years made any difference?
If you have a half a brain, the code is in an escrow. Of course, I dont know how you greasy pimply open sores sweathogs do it. Who the hell would want your bug-ridden code anyway?
Whoops, looks like somebody forgot to check "Post anonymously" .... heck, you even used your subscriber bonus ... LOL ... you are so stupid man ... there goes your +2 bonus ...
dickhead !!!!!!
Section 1 - Trolling techniques
There are techniques used by successful trolls to elicit the maximum amount of responses from unthinking /.ers. This section is dedicated to explaining
how to use these in the course of your trolls. Remember though, a great troll
can break any or all of these and still be successful...
* Timing
Because you're posting as an AC, your troll will generally be ignored in favour of posters using their accounts, and so getting in early is essential. A good guideline is to get into the first 20 posts, so that people reading the article will see the troll before it is swamped out. One way of increasing the speed with which you get your troll into play is to prepare them beforehand, and then quickly customise them for the current article. This is easier than it sounds since /. typically repeats stories with small variations and runs lots of similar
stories.
Note that this is why Jon Katz stories are pretty worthless as trolling material - by the time you've found the article and prepared a troll there's already 50+ posts on it, most of them flaming Jon Katz anyway :)
* Exposure
Once you've got your troll in, you need people to actually read it. You also want replies - /.ers are more likely to read your troll if it starts a large
thread. You also want to remember that some people have set their comment thresholds
to values higher than 0 - to get the attention of these you either want to get
your post moderated up (see Style, below) or get a reply which gets moderated
up to 4 or 5, in which case your troll becomes visible to all.
* Accounts
An alternative to the time-honoured tradition of AC trolling is that of creating a troll account. This gives you the advantage of posting at 1 rather than 0, and slashbots are more likely to take you seriously, especially if you at least sound reasonable. If you do this, try to avoid posting stuff where it is obvious you're a troll under the account - post it anoymously instead - some slightly more canny readers actually check your user info before they reply. Not many though :)
The ultimate goal of the troll account is to secure the +1 bonus, which is currently received once you hit 26 points of Karma. To get there, employ the techniques of karma whoring that we see every day on /. and watch the karma
roll in. And of course once you get the +1 bonus, the world is your oyster in
terms of /. Posts made at a default of 2 hit even those people with the threshold
of 2, are more likely to get moderated up even further if they are at all coherent,
and people tend to lose their critical thinking abilities in the face of the
+1 bonus. Milk it for all it's worth.
* Layout
To get people reading it a troll needs to be easily readable. Make sure you break it down into easily digestible paragraphs, use HTML tags where appropriate (but always make sure you close them properly) and use whitespace appropriately.
* Size
Generally a troll shouldn't be too short, otherwise it'll get lost in the crowd. A workable minimum is a couple of medium paragraphs. Conversely, it shouldn't be too long, or no-one will bother to read it. Keep it to a happy medium.
* Spelling
Whilst spelling is important if you want the troll to be taken seriously, key spelling mistakes can draw out the spelling zealots, especially if you mis-spell the name of a venerated /. hero, like Linus Torveldes or Richard Strawlman (thanks
dmg). Related to this is the use of the wrong word, explaining an acronym as
being something it isn't or making a word into an acronym even when it isn't.
* Subject
I wasnt trying to get first post, you lame wannabee trolls. Notice the lack of "First Post" in my subject, dubmass.
TrollKore is teh ghey
No buddy, it's Troll Tuesday! My name is mao che minh! I am a subscriber! HAHA! You fuck flap!
If it's from the Soviet Union, do whatever you want with it.
Sell it, give it away, start you own company..
Like no one there would care anyway, and there is no real government left and laws are no enforced anyway..
So, get rich or be a nice guy and a hero by giving it away.
Whatever you do, you have nothing to worry about..
I've heard you hosted pictures of your daughter groping a nine-inch sambo dildo on your personal webserver (along with numerous movies, programs, and other copyrighted content). Confirm/Deny?
+ Donald Gunth
+ Email: dgunth@quicktek.net
"Caffeine is the greatest lubricant ever created." -ESR