I just got a call from someone at FTP Software informing me that our upgrade to
2.1 should ship in the next week or two. "Great!" says I -- I've been waiting
for some of the new features for a long time. But this is no mere notification,
this is to let me know that among the new nifties is a simple way of ensuring
my compliance with my site license! Was I *not* complying, I wonder? After all,
we've only got 8 or 10 PCs on the net, and the license is for a full twenty
(20) nodes -- seems like it's pretty easy to keep in line as things stand. Well,since this rep is so psyched about the new feature (she didn't even mention the
other improvements), I inquire further. Each copy of the new kernel is coded,
I'm told, and sends out its signature onto my Ethernet, so all of my PCs'
kernels can tell if they have been installed on more than one workstation.
Uh, hey (something begins to show its horrid self behind the rep's enthusiasm)
-- so this upgrade means that I have to keep track of which diskettes I used on
which PC, and make sure if I ever have to reinstall, that I use the right copy,
and even if I manage to keep them all straight so that all the kernels will
function, they're going to be taking up more precious memory on the PC and
generating more traffic on my net, all so *I* can ensure my compliance with the
site license? "That's correct!" she assures me.
Now if CliniCom had bought a single license, FTP'd have some meager amount of
justification; I'd guess it's pretty rare for a business to have one copy of
a networking package -- kind of pointless -- but we spent several thousand on
this license. I don't need some gleeful spokesperson calling up and informing
me that after finally getting a *much needed* upgrade to this software, they're
*throwing in* copy protection, unnecessary code and more traffic on my net, and
expecting me to be happy about it. It's not like some game you play once a
week, to which the only obstacle is a code wheel -- this is mucking around with
our resources, both on the PCs and the net. Either remove the crap and trust
customers who pay for site licenses *direct from your company*, or admit
you're bending us over for the specter of corporate software piracy.
Is anyone else torqued about this, or am I letting my bias against copy
protection cloud my judgment of a handy new network management feature? Any
suggestions for how FTP could protect their software *without* catching hell
from people like me? Just doesn't seem likely, given the nature of the product,
but I'd sure like the current policy to change....
--
John Hensley |
john@clinicom.com | "You think slower when you graze." -- Holling
