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New Dell Clickthrough Software License
Petrol writes "I just read that Dell is installing a new mandatory click-through software license at first boot. From the article, Dude, you're getting screwed:
'Kat and I just received the Dell Inspiron 5100 notebook we ordered from Dell Canada. We quickly ran across problems.'"
Dell have something similar to this already.. its an agreement that you have to accept which is part of their BIOS - first time you switch the machine on it comes up with a whole bunch of T&C's which you have to 'hit any key' to accept.. the machine then resets itself (removing that screen) and the system will boot through the BIOS as normal.
They have had this for at least the two years we have been buying their workstations & servers.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
Dell's Software License Policy
Dude, you're getting screwed
28 Aug 2003
Kat and I just received the Dell Inspiron 5100 notebook we ordered from Dell Canada. We quickly ran across problems.
I pushed the power button to turn on computer. I got the Dell POST screen, then a screen from Dell (Photo):
But there are no license agreements in the box that the computer came in. [There are some shrinkwrapped CD containers, but the "Terms and Conditions of Sale (CANADA)" that came with the invoice says:
I've never agreed to those Terms and Conditions, to my knowledge, but I assume they think they're enforceable, so I can't open up the shrinkwrap to see if the license agreements are in there, without automatically agreeing to them.]
So I called the only Dell number I could find on my documentation (1-800-847-4096) and spoke to a customer support representative. I told her what was on the screen, and told her I couldn't find the license agreements I'm required to read and agree to before pressing any key.
She put me on hold while she looked into where the license agreements might be, and eventually transferred me to technical support. The tech support agent told me her database was down, so she couldn't look up anything at all (I hadn't even told her what the problem was yet), and I'd have to call back in an hour.
I call back, and speak to a tech support woman. She says: "press Tab." I explain that I can't without saying I've read and agreed to documents I don't have. She says "press page down". Same problem. She says "scroll down". I explain it's not a Windows screen. She says "insert any Dell-shipped CD". I exlpain the problem of opening the CD packaging.
She insists I have to press a key. I ask her if she really means that I have to agree to the licenses before it's at all possible that i've read them. She says "yes". I explain that that's not acceptable, and ask for her supervisor.
Her supervisor insists it's a Customer Care issue, and not tech support, and that there's nothing he can do. He can't explain why they sent me to him. He enters my info into the call log databse, and I go to call back Customer Care.
So back into the hold queue I go.
I'm finally connected to a Customer Care representative. [Pretty much each sentence in the following was interspersed with long, long times on hold.]
She looked up the call log to get the background info. She insists she doesn't have copies of the agreements, and that I'm supposed to go online and look them up myself. (?!) She says to use a
Dell's Software License Policy
Dude, you're getting screwed.
28 Aug 2003
Kat and I just received the Dell Inspiron 5100 notebook we ordered from Dell Canada. We quickly ran across problems.
I pushed the power button to turn on computer. I got the Dell POST screen, then a screen from Dell (Photo):
SOFTWARE LICENSES
- Before using your computer, read all of the software license
agreements that came with each program that you ordered.
There may be several agreements to examine. To comply with
the terms and conditions of the software license agreements,
you must consider any CD or diskette set of Dell-installed software
as BACKUP copies of the software installed on your computer's
hard-disk drive.
- If you did not order Dell-installed software for this computer,
or if you do not accept all the terms of the licenses, please call
the customer assistance telephone number listed in your system
documentation.
Press any key on the keyboard to indicate that you have
read all of the software licenses and agree to their terms.
Be Direct TM
Dell TM
www.dell.com
But there are no license agreements in the box that the computer came in. [There are some shrinkwrapped CD containers, but the "Terms and Conditions of Sale (CANADA)" that came with the invoice says:
"7. Software. All software is provided subject to the license
agreement that is part of the package. Customer agrees that
it will be bound by the license agreement once the package is
opened or its seal is broken. Dell does not warrant any software
under this Agreement. Warranties, if any, for the software are
contained in the license agreement that governs its purchase
and use."
I've never agreed to those Terms and Conditions, to my knowledge, but I assume they think they're enforceable, so I can't open up the shrinkwrap to see if the license agreements are in there, without automatically agreeing to them.]
So I called the only Dell number I could find on my documentation (1-800-847-4096) and spoke to a customer support representative. I told her what was on the screen, and told her I couldn't find the license agreements I'm required to read and agree to before pressing any key.
She put me on hold while she looked into where the license agreements might be, and eventually transferred me to technical support. The tech support agent told me her database was down, so she couldn't look up anything at all (I hadn't even told her what the problem was yet), and I'd have to call back in an hour.
I call back, and speak to a tech support woman. She says: "press Tab." I explain that I can't without saying I've read and agreed to documents I don't have. She says "press page down". Same problem. She says "scroll down". I explain it's not a Windows screen. She says "insert any Dell-shipped CD". I exlpain the problem of opening the CD packaging.
She insists I have to press a key. I ask her if she really means that I have to agree to the licenses before it's at all possible that i've read them. She says "yes". I explain that that's not acceptable, and ask for her supervisor.
Her supervisor insists it's a Customer Care issue, and not tech support, and that there's nothing he can do. He can't explain why they sent me to him. He enters my info into the call log databse, and I go to call back Customer Care.
So back into the hold queue I go.
I'm finally connected to a Customer Care representative. [Pretty much each sentence in the following was interspersed with long, long times on hold.]
She looked up the call log to get the background info. She insists she doesn't have copies of the agreements, and that I'm supposed to go online and look them up myself. (?!) She says to use a public computer if I have to. I ask how to know what companies have software on m
If you actually read the article, you'd notice that is was a BIOS screen, not software.
With that said, changing some crap in the bios passed the screen (??@#$?) but it wasn't purely software.
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act" -- George Orwell
Here's the article text, because cypherpunks.ca does indeed seem to have found out the hard way that a Slashdot front-page feature is Considered Harmful. Not posting AC 'cause of problems with troll text mods.
- - - - -
Dell's Software License Policy
Dude, you're getting screwed.
28 Aug 2003
Kat and I just received the Dell Inspiron 5100 notebook we ordered from Dell Canada. We quickly ran across problems.
I pushed the power button to turn on computer. I got the Dell POST screen, then a screen from Dell (Photo):
SOFTWARE LICENSES
- Before using your computer, read all of the software license
agreements that came with each program that you ordered.
There may be several agreements to examine. To comply with
the terms and conditions of the software license agreements,
you must consider any CD or diskette set of Dell-installed software
as BACKUP copies of the software installed on your computer's
hard-disk drive.
- If you did not order Dell-installed software for this computer,
or if you do not accept all the terms of the licenses, please call
the customer assistance telephone number listed in your system
documentation.
Press any key on the keyboard to indicate that you have
read all of the software licenses and agree to their terms.
Be Direct TM
Dell TM
www.dell.com
But there are no license agreements in the box that the computer came in. [There are some shrinkwrapped CD containers, but the "Terms and Conditions of Sale (CANADA)" that came with the invoice says:
"7. Software. All software is provided subject to the license
agreement that is part of the package. Customer agrees that
it will be bound by the license agreement once the package is
opened or its seal is broken. Dell does not warrant any software
under this Agreement. Warranties, if any, for the software are
contained in the license agreement that governs its purchase
and use."
I've never agreed to those Terms and Conditions, to my knowledge, but I assume they think they're enforceable, so I can't open up the shrinkwrap to see if the license agreements are in there, without automatically agreeing to them.]
So I called the only Dell number I could find on my documentation (1-800-847-4096) and spoke to a customer support representative. I told her what was on the screen, and told her I couldn't find the license agreements I'm required to read and agree to before pressing any key.
She put me on hold while she looked into where the license agreements might be, and eventually transferred me to technical support. The tech support agent told me her database was down, so she couldn't look up anything at all (I hadn't even told her what the problem was yet), and I'd have to call back in an hour.
I call back, and speak to a tech support woman. She says: "press Tab." I explain that I can't without saying I've read and agreed to documents I don't have. She says "press page down". Same problem. She says "scroll down". I explain it's not a Windows screen. She says "insert any Dell-shipped CD". I exlpain the problem of opening the CD packaging.
She insists I have to press a key. I ask her if she really means that I have to agree to the licenses before it's at all possible that i've read them. She says "yes". I explain that that's not acceptable, and ask for her supervisor.
Her supervisor insists it's a Customer Care issue, and not tech support, and that there's nothing he can do. He can't explain why they sent me to him. He enters my info into the call log databse, and I go to call back Customer Care.
So back into the hold queue I go.
I'm finally connected to a Customer Care representative. [Pretty much each sentence in the following was interspersed with long, long times on hold.]
She lo
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Uhm, licenses you are forced to agree to before reading them are null and void! Under contract laws, these arrangements are illegal. A contract entered into under misleading or coerced circumstances is broken. Even severability clauses may not apply ( IE, if some part of this contract is found to break a law, then only that part of the contract is broken, and the rest of the terms are still binding ). Since you can't even read that clause if it existed, it doesn't exist.
Essentially, the defaults of copyright, customer service, and warranty laws would then apply.
Bad move for Dell, as whatever rights they want you to throw away, you can't! Since the 'License' is non-binding, well. MUHAHAHA!
Here.
He had to agree to the license in order to reach the point where the hard drive could be formatted. The EULA screen appeared when he attempted to boot from CD.
In case the site is slow, here is a mirror.
Martin Studio Slashdot Policy
My inspiron 2650 came with this feature almost a year ago. I called Dell and asked them "What if I don't agree with the license?" He said, "Boot off of your new OS CD and format the hard drive."
I was like OK. That was what I did. If you do format the hard drive, then you're not bound to the terms. If you never use that OS, then you are fine.
Okay maybe it wasn't a click-through process. But it said "Press the space bar to agree to the terms of the license agreement."
So, I don't see what the big deal is. You're not forced to agree. You're not agreeing by using the laptop, so what?
Having worked at Dell, I can tell you why.
They use an in-house software installation applet called RIATA (don't ask what it stands for, I never knew).
Here's how it works:
The systems are built using the same hardware. Each system is tracked by internal code name (laptops usually follow a cigar theme, desktops another, etc). Once a working profile is created for a particular line of hardware, its stored on the imaging server. Network-enabled DOS-based bootdisks are inserted into the systems and predefined scripts are run that will automatically install the OS and all bundles. If all is successful, the DOS window's background changes to green. Remove the disk, shutdown and move to the next one. If it fails, there's a warning buzz and the screen changes to red. Look at the logs and find out why, restart.
Now, this all sounds relatively easy, but searching for the latest available packages and drivers based on X, Y, Z hardware types and versions is a regular PITA. Fortunately, RIATA replaced FIDA (similar program, developed by the same group) which was a lot shittier.
I worked in a lab. We were CONSTANTLY having to build new RIATA packages for the laptop line.
They probably *do* have the production images updated on a semi-regular basis. Anyone who installs a system or gets a new PC needs to check for the avilability of updates regardless.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
I am happy to own an Apple Power Macintosh. Apple doesn't screw around with its users. Apple doesn't put all kinds of weird icons like AOL, MSN, EarthLink on my desktop. The computer comes out of the box with a blank desktop, no gimick license agreements, and best of all, everything works well all the time. Good God, why oh why do people WASTE their time with Wintel?
My boss just won the raffle for an old company laptop. He went out and purchased a wireless PC card. When he installed it and loaded the software, the software said to install the Windows 98 2nd Edition installation CD. Well, he didn't have one since it was a recently retired company laptop, and installation CDs at the company are VERBOTTEN except for the IT department. I told him if he had an Apple, everything would have worked from the beginning, and he still would not have had to install any additional software. He spent 5 hours playing around with installation CDs at home, calling the wireless PC card company to see if they could just email him the drivers, he's even contacted the company IT department and they haven't gotten back with him yet. By golly, that old laptop sure was a bargain. That's 5 hours he could have used for spending time with his family, having fun, or doing something truly productive. I guess it comes down to "What is your time worth in your life?" Personally, I don't have any time to waste and I need everything to work out of the box with no fuss.
Apple, it's the way to go for personal computing needs. All you can do with a PC is use it as a space heater, a door stop, or an enclosure for a fireworks event.
BUT bad people are trying to change all that. They've come up with a proposed law, called the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, or UCITA. UCITA would, among other things, explicitly make shrinkwrap licenses fully enforceable. This would be a very bad thing.
UCITA is already the law in Maryland and Virginia. If you live in those states, move!
For more information on why UCITA is bad, click here. Find your state representatives here. Tell them what you think.
Dude, those are both student licenses, not the licenses for the retail version. The first one says it in the URL (studentlicence?). The second one is to the MSDN-AA EULA, where MSDN-AA is MSDN Academic Alliance.
In VS 6, at least, the restriction only applies to making copies of the MS Office file format documentation.
http://opentech.leafe.com/viewtopic.php?t=259 (search for "spreadsheet")
There have been several instances where the courts have refused to enforce a contract because the user was unable to read or to understand the entirety of it. IANAL, and I do remember that there were very specific circumstances, but it has happened. Cases like that are one of the reasons that your Mortgage agent has to go through the whole bloody mortage agreement with you, clause by clause, before they'll even let you sign it.
Remember those "required patches"? When I installed them, there was a EULA. This one said, "You are not allowed to publish the results of benchmark testing of the .NET Framework." What the f*** does that have to do with installing a required security patch?
For what it's worth, Network Associates lost a lawsuit over this very issue (benchmark banning). Companies will write whatever they want into EULAs but that doesn't make them enforcable... the sad thing is that a lawsuit typically has to be involved.
filmcritic.com - Movie reviews on Internet time
This one is the closest to what I remember agreeing to. It's actually the license to use ODBC, which was a virtual requirement for accessing databases from Visual Basic in our environment at the time (apparently '96-'97).
Here's the salient paragraph (emphasis and examples mine):I found a number of references to the
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
Yes, because we have seen what happens to people when they make the people in power angry. That's why Slashdotters are sensitive to legal issues with whatever they do. They don't want to be locked away for 20 years because some scumbag found a technicality (he swapped the order of his PCI cards! That was forbidden by the EULA! DMCA!).
It is also important to raise people's awareness of EULAs before they become even more rediculous. The consumer already gets the short end of the stick with most EULAs, there's no reason to give even more power to the companies.
I read the internet for the articles.
IANAL, but i am a law student. if you purchase something, and clauses are presented to you after the purchase then they are unenforceable, full stop.
"Since you can't program on Windows without using the MSDN documentation, you're screwed." I've done it. Besides, that is for the installed version of MSDN, there is no license for using msdn.microsoft.com. And like the other poster pointed out, both of these are for Academic licenses. You're not allowed to do any commercial work with these.
-- Jason
Why don't you write a little adaptor that connects to the mysql db that your app connects to (without linking to it) and GPL that?
Reliable, Great Value Hosting: $7.95/mo 2.4G/120G
Not after he changed the BIOS to boot from CD first. Although, when he did, he had a Linux CD in the drive and the computer started booting windows. Nevertheless, the Dell EULA screen wsa bypassed.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
Yes, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a consumer was bound by a mandatory arbitration provision which was contained in a EULA that came with the computer.
Hill v. Gateway 2000, 105 F.3d 1147
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
This is precisely the reason I will not purchase a Dell product again. My experiences with my laptop have been horrendous to say the least. Two years ago I purchased an Inspiron 8000 laptop which worked great for about nine months. I then began to have problems with the display and the pointer stick embedded in the keyboard. One of the little plastic switches that holds the CD-RW drive in place also broke. Upon calling Dell they instructed me to send the laptop to one of their service centers and they would repair it. I did as they suggested and sent my laptop in for service. Nearly two weeks later I had to call them to get a status update. I learned that apparently there was a $1600 bill now attached to my laptop because there was evidence of "spill and drop damage." I immediately asked for a supervisor, of course one was not available so I hung up and promptly called back. I spent nearly three hours on the phone being transferred from one department to another when I finally got a tech who would at least return the laptop to me without repair. At this point I was quite furious. Upon receipt of my unrepaired, improperly functioning laptop I contacted my state Attorney General's office as well as the Better Business Bureau. A week after filing my complaints there was a message on my answering machine from a representative claiming to be from Michael Dell's office regarding my complaint to the BBB. I do not remember the actual substance of the conversation but to paraphrase the Dell representative stated that I had no right to complain to the BBB because I had dropped my laptop and spilled a "brown liquid" on it. Needless to say I did not return the call and a week later (this has been going on for over a month) I receive a call at my office from another Dell representative who wanted to know why I hadn't returned the call. At this point I was so angry that I lashed out and explained all of my disgust with the entire support process. The representative was kind enough to bring up the history of my complaints and again mentioned the spill and drop damage. I explained that the laptop spends the majority of its time on a desk and had it fallen I would have known about it. After a brief pause she offered to replace my 8000 with a refurbished 8100 albeit with no warranty (my existing warranty was due to expire in another three weeks.) I accepted her offer and quickly received a refurbished 8100 that even had a few small upgrades. During this entire process I was simply wanting my 8000 repaired. The problems were minor and the only reason I had even bothered calling Dell was that I figured why should I make the repairs myself when I can use my warranty? The replacement laptop did make things better but they did not "make it right." I have had the refurbished 8100 for a little over a year now and I am in the process of replacing it (not with another Dell.) The display adapter backlight flickers on and off because the video card is not making good contact somewhere. The case has also developed a few small cracks due to it being overly flexible. After reading this latest episode in the ongoing comedy of Dell errors I can only assume that Dell has lost sight of its original goals and is now driven by greed. First we have to deal with the Microsoft "tax" and now click through licensing and we can't even read what we are agreeing to. It's a shame really beacuse Dell does make some nice hardware.
Attempting to make a purchase into a license after the sale has taken place, just doesn't seem legally enforcable.
It isn't, but the highest US Court to consider the issue so far does not agree. Read the bile that is the ProCD opinion.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court hasn't ruled yet, so we have some hope that sanity will overcome. If a cooperative software vendor wanted to speed the case to a victorious conclusion, he could just modify 1% of his shrinkwrap EULAs to include an extra provision- something outlandish like an additional $1000 monthly fee as long as the product is installed. The ensuing lawsuit would clearly demonstrate the folly of the ProCD position.
If shrinkwrap/clickwrap is genuinely an opportunity to enter into an arbitrary contract, then such a clause would stand up (and IT departments would start hiring a lot more lawyers to install patches). But of course, intelligent judges will realize that a person engaged in opening/installing software is in no position to pore through legalese, and that contractual agreements cannot be a conventional part of such events.
a) There's no opportunity for argeement with an EULA, which is a commonly accepted characteristic of a contract
b) There is no consideration involved in an EULA, and consideration is a defining attribute of a contract.
c) Software purchases are presented as sales and have all the characteristics of a sale, thus they cannot be contractual obligations.
From the article I can't tell if it was in the bios or not:
"I call back, and speak to a tech support woman. She says: "press Tab." I explain that I can't without saying I've read and agreed to documents I don't have. She says "press page down". Same problem. She says "scroll down". **I explain it's not a Windows screen**. She says "insert any Dell-shipped CD". I exlpain the problem of opening the CD packaging."
Is this some kind of wierd bootloader or something? Anyone with a new Dell care to comment?
Jaysyn
There is a war going on for your mind.
That's not in BIOS. It's in a small hidden partition on the hard drive that is initially toggled bootable, which un-toggles itself after you accept.
If you fdisk the hard drive and completely reformat it, you will never see the clickthroughs.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
You're right that these license agreements are nothing new, but I think the real problem is that the company itself is putting a new agreement in place without the ability to read it (for the very few who want to). The lack on training of their employees to handle the situation and the inability to provide a hard copy of the agreements. I mean that's just silly.
I've setup numerous inspirons with ghost. If this is the screen i'm thinking of, then it's on its own partition (about 30 megs or so) right before the boot partition. I don't believe this is stored in the bios. However, hypothetically, if it was, then yes short of a bios flash there would be no way around it.
- it is an opinion piece, not law
- the conclusions sought run contrary to consumer protection legislation in many provinces that state that shrink-wrap contracts are void (you cannot agree to a contract of wich you don't know the contents of what you are agreeing to)
- that a contract is a negotiation, and where there is no possibility of negotiation, there is no contract, except in the most petty of cases
- (this is the most important part) that a contract is between 2 persons or bodies capable of contracting.
It is this last point that kills all click-thru EULAs. A contract requires 2 parties. My computer is not a party with whom I can enter into contract with, at least not in the legal sense. For one thing, as my property, it is not capable of taking an independent action. As my property, it also is not capable (in the legal sense) of representing the software manufacturer or other EULA author. It lacks all legal authority to represent, negotiate for, or act on behalf of another entity.Besides, a contract is not "perfected" - meaning, in force, until BOTH SIDES have a copy. Do you have a copy? Did the other side receive a duplicata of your copy (here I don't mean the original text from which they wrote the EULA, but an actual copy of the agreement YOU entered into with THEM). This might sound like nit-picking, but until both sides have a copy of the agreement that was presented to you, the consumer, there is no contract.
It's the old saying: 3 rules for agreements:
- get it in writing
- get it in writing
- get it in writing
This is aside from the whole issue of minors clicking on click-thrus, etc. There is not a click-thru EULA on the planet that can't be broken under the right circumstances.-
Has this happened to you? You plunk down a pretty penny for
the latest and greatest software, speed back to your computer,
tear open the box, shove the CD-ROM into the computer, click on
"install" and, after scrolling past a license agreement which
would take at least fifteen minutes to read, find yourself
staring at the following dialog box: "I agree." Do you click on
the box? You probably do not agree in your heart of hearts, but
you click anyway, not about to let some pesky legalese delay the
moment for which you've been waiting. Is that "clickwrap"
license agreement enforceable? Yes, at least in the case
described below.
There are some painful lines in that decision, such as "Money now, terms later" is a practical way to form contracts, especially with purchasers of software."decision by William C. Young, U.S. District Court Judge
Actually it's not a grey area at all. Any contract signed by an unemancipated youth is null and void if the youth decides that they don't want to be bound by it. In the case of child actors and such it is the primary caregiver or some other responsible agent that signs the contract and pledges that the child will work, not the youth.
Each state in the United States has their own versions of contract law, here's an example from California:
So yes, this would most likely get around any user agreement or contract that you have to "click-through". Just have your 5 year old kid press the key and click on the buttons and then you are home free to do whatever you want with the software. Of course if it came down to a court case you would have to convince a court that you truly never saw or agreed to the clauses.
Sapere aude!
Here's a U.S. Supreme Court Decision that does just that: InfoWorld article
I managed to get The startup splash screen image, and I've put it on my website.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Not to brag, but I submitted this story to slashdot three years ago.
Dell has been doing this for quite some time.
Which the Dell defaults to booting in its shipped state. After agreeing to the EULA (plus a small multimedia intro to your machine), the partition is never used again.
Apparently, the Inspiron 5100s have the default BIOS boot order set to boot the HD before the CD. (See a post near the end of this article's comments from a guy that mass-installed Linux on some 5100s where he worked. This was not the case with my 8200 from what I remember, which DID have this EULA.) Pressing F2 at bootup lets you change this to a more sensible order, after which you can insert your favorite OS install CD and nuke the EULA partition into oblivion without ever even booting it.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
SlashChick,
. html#TOCGP LAndPlugins
I think your frustration with mysql and the GPL is based on common misconceptions about free software and teh GPL. First off, "free software" is more like "Freedom" than "zero cost". Look in google for the old discussions about free software vs. free beer. They're not the same thing. Also read Stallman's musings about "software libre" and "software gratis".
Secondly, the GPL's requirements for redistribution are not as all-encompasing as you might think. A program that uses another program that is GPL does not need to be GPL. Consider that many vendors (i.e. Checkpoint, Tivo, Google, VMWare) use linux as a core part of a commercial software product. Some elements of those products, generally modifications to GPL source code, are required to be GPL. However the majority of the product is not at all GPL.
Because MySQL release the client software as a library, you may choose to structure your application so that those portions that directly access the GPL client software are distributed separately, and are released under GPL. The rest of the program would go through your client app to access the mysql cliet library to query the database.
Note that the FSF advises that passing data to & from a GPL program does not normally constitute a derivative work. You would be passing data in a way that is consistent with simply using the program.
see:http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq
Consider these examples,
1. I write a shell script that uses bash, I release that script as a commercial, non-free software product. This is an acceptable distributon of GPL software in conjunction with non-GPL software.
2. I write an extension to bash, that via changes to the bash source code, adds a new capability to bash. Distribution of this extension must be under the terms of the GPL.
Remember that by design, the GPL tries to protect the original rights of the developer, not to attempt to extend those rights onto to new programs not authored by the developer. Don't believ the MS hype about viral software, it's misinformation, and it harms both sides of the free software debate.
Oh we all wish. But it ain't so Joe.
We have a full line of bad cases out there that make them enforceable.
Fire up WestLaw/Lexis and read ProCD.p rocd.htm
ProCD, Inc. v. Zeidenberg, 86 F.3D 1447 (7th Cir., June 20, 1996)
Also, http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/
How does dealing with a local shop help? They can blow you off just as easily as a big company. In fact, it is easier for a small company to blow you off. An internet story complaining about Dell will get noticed, a story about LocalTech will not.
:-) I don't believe that any computer seller will provide support that is worth paying extra for. I have found that technical support can't answer any question that isn't in the documentation or help file. The only way to deal with computers (x86/Windows computers, that is :-) is to learn to fix them yourself, or to know someone who won't blow you off. The best thing to do is to get a local company to put a computer together out of good-quality parts and make sure you have documentation for everything in your computer.
The answer is to deal with a reputable seller, local or not.
The cynic in me prevents me from stopping there
-- Pot is safer than Beer
No, since you're not linking to the adaptor you do not have to GPL the program. You could open a pipe to it or open a socket to it. If the GPL can be interpreted to mean that this constitutes "linking" then just connecting to Linux would GPL your code, and MS would be right.
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most of the time, they play the good ol' "You didn't purchase the software, you purchased the media it resides on, the manual, and the package, as well as the right to use the software after agreeing to the EULA" card.
Error 666 - Satanic SCO code found in your Linux kernel.
This is not true. US Copyright law explicitly allows copies of software to be made if those copies are necessary for the operation of that software within a computer. US Code, Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 117, paragraph (a)(1).