Making Sense of Software EULAs

Brian E. writes "An informal Clearware.org poll indicates that 67% of the 66 respondants never or rarely completely read end-user license agreements (EULAs). Clearware.org aims to make sense of software by proposing guidelines for vendors to characterize end-user license agreements. Defined characteristics include terms and conditions found in existing EULAs that impact control over the user's experience, privacy and system security. The guideline extends on the idea of Creative Commons' commons deed and RDF/XML metadata formats. This simplifies EULA terms in a consumer friendly way similar to care labels on clothing, nutrition facts on food and warnings on hazardous materials."

Comments

Open Letter to Zonk

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, Zonk, have you ever considered retirement? I mean, a perfectly competent /.er is sitting around and needs a job, or at least a better one than the admin job he has. He would make an excellent editor: he spends enough time here, and he always tends to point out dupes. He goes by the username TripMaster Monkey.

Also, have you got the message? The Slashdot community doesn't want you. They don't like articles comparing games to female orgasms. They don't like seeing the same story twice while their own interesting and original submissions are rejected. They don't like typos. They don't like links to articles from The Onion. They don't like a lack of respect for Nintendo at the GDC. You can tell this in the majority of comments to your posts.

A Slashdot analogy: the /. effect is to a DDoS attack as a Zonkism is to a crapflood.

Is there any wonder why "bonk the Zonk" is now a widely-used phrase? I'm not puzzled. You're a troll disguised as an editor. Either that, or you're secretly working for Antislash.

You should resign before you hurt your reputation further.

And to everyone else, feel free to copy this comment and FP it to other articles. Also feel free to reply with suggestions for future posts of this letter. With many slashdotters behind this movement, we can clean out the incompetency here. I mean, give a job that pays >$200,000k just to approve/reject story submissions to someone who knows what they're doing.

And if TMM is an editor, that means he'll only post in the discussions once every few years. No more ^_^ smileys and ascii art sigs!

--
Bonk the Zonk! TMM for editor! Serenity NOW!!!
Trolling all trolls since 2001.

Re:Open Letter to Zonk

[TripMaster Monkey]

Oh Whiney, you're just acting out because I pointed out your errors in a post you made two stories ago. ^_^

Re:Open Letter to Zonk

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

You are so right, I attacked everyone else who responded to that thread!

Gosh it must be hard being as insightful and informative as you are.

Anyway, I've lurked on /. for some time & have noticed your irritating tangentially ontopic comments appearing close to the top of the comments for some time.

As you seem to have no apparant agenda, I presume its because you're unemployed & bored that you post so often to slashdot, including anonymous (with a shallow attempt to cover your writing style) appeals to get yourself employed as an editor (deny it all you like, noone can really confirm or deny an anonymous post)

Lastly, I note the link you provided is currently modded -1 flamebait. I see at least some of the slashdot community agree with me that you're a whiney windows fanboy :-)

(smiley added so you have a chance to grab the joke as it wooshes over your head)

Re:Open Letter to Zonk

[TripMaster Monkey]

You are so right, I attacked everyone else who responded to that thread!

No, you attacked me because a) I pointed out that you don't seem to know what commas are for, and b) I made a typo in my reply, giving you the opportunity to hit back in the only way you seem to know how.

There were several other posts pointing out some of the ontopic issues I addressed in my post...the fact that you didn't respond to them, and still haven't responded to me regarding the topic, makes the fact that you singled me out an indictment on your part, not on mine.

Gosh it must be hard being as insightful and informative as you are.

Discounting for just a moment that you just proved me right again regarding the comma issue, actually it's not hard at all, as the post of yours that started all this nonsense well illustrates. Completely uninformative, misleading, and just plain wrong...but for holding to the Slashdot groupthink ("Linux is not the problem here."), you get an automatic +5 insightful.

Masterful karma whoring, Whiney, and I'm sure many will agree that coming from me, that's no small compliment.

Anyway, I've lurked on /. for some time & have noticed your irritating tangentially ontopic comments appearing close to the top of the comments for some time.

"Irritating tangentially ontopic comments"? Do you even read what you type?

As you seem to have no apparant [sic] agenda, I presume its because you're unemployed & bored that you post so often to slashdot, including anonymous (with a shallow attempt to cover your writing style) appeals to get yourself employed as an editor (deny it all you like, noone can really confirm or deny an anonymous post)

All your presumptions don't change the facts, as much as you'd like them to. As for my alleged anonymous appeals to get myself employed as an editor, assert it all you like...after all, no one can really confirm or deny an anonymous post, can they?

Lastly, I note the link you provided is currently modded -1 flamebait.

Gee...mabye it is hard to be so insightful and informative...but actually, it's back up to +1 now, pretty much invalidating your argument.

I see at least some of the slashdot community agree with me that you're a whiney windows fanboy

Now I know you're new here. Read back through some of my previous posts to see just how much of a 'windows fanboy' I really am. Sheesh.

(smiley added so you have a chance to grab the joke as it wooshes over your head)

Ironic, considering that it's your inability to grasp a joke that's landed you in this mess.

Re:Open Letter to Zonk

[Whiney Mac Fanboy]

Gee...mabye it is hard to be so insightful and informative...but actually, it's back up to +1 now, pretty much invalidating your argument.

Well, its -1 now, pretty much invalidating your argument.

You know - you'd think someone using the handle "trip master monkey" wouldn't take themselves so seriously :-)

FIRST POST!!

[n3m3sis]

first post

Where's the Accept button...

[__aaclcg7560]

I was reading the article but I couldn't find the "Accept" button. It's bad enough that you have to read the article but then they play hide-and-seek with the "Accept" button. Communists! :P

LOL

[Anonymous Coward]

YOU FAIL IT!!!

Context matters

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

If 66 people tell you that you're drunk then hand over your car keys.

Re:HOLY CRAP!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I got TMM himself to post in my thread!!!

Why are you surprised? He's in your room, using your computer. You're probably sucking his withered cock right this minute, aren't you?

shiOt

[Anonymous Coward]

for Atrolls'

Re:I thought these were unenforceable

[anthony_dipierro]

What does that mean? Mexican birth rates are already declining, and they're currently about equal to US birth rates. If the Earth loses a significant amount of habitable land, this trend will most likely continue.