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New What if I have to break the EULA?
There's a guy I'm familiar with that runs video stores. He has about 10 of them scattered about two states. I went to one of them the other day with him and he was very proud as he showed me his lan. It's some sort of ptp network o/s like Lantastic only it isn't Lantastic. The company that made it went out of business about 10 years ago. The app he uses in all his stores is a DOS app and he runs exclusively DOS machines. Occasionally, one of his prehistoric boxes crashes and he builds another one. I'm almost certain that he "format /s"'s a floppy and re-installs on the new box. IIRC, MS licensed that stuff to 1 CPU (or am I wrong?). For the sake of argument, let's say what he's doing is illegal. I am unaware of any place you can still purchase MS-DOS 5.0 (although I haven't looked in quite some time). Still, is this guy "breaking the license agreement"? And if he is, and assuming MS-DOS 5.0 can no longer be purchased, what options does he have? FreeDOS? What if the app he uses to run his business "requires" MS-DOS?

The pat answer is "upgrade". But, as he says, "why should I? This stuff works. I've been using it for 10 years." I can't give him a reason to upgrade, but it strikes me as unjust to force him into a position where he has no option but to violate a license agreement or to pay for something he doesn't really need. I cannot think of any other industry being allowed to pull this.

Just a few wandering thoughts,
Mikem
New Why he should upgrade
If he can upgrade to FreeDOS running under Linux today, then he knows that his application is future proofed in case he has trouble getting reliable hardware.

If he can't upgrade today, then he knows to file a bug report so that when he needs it, FreeDOS will likely have it fixed.

Cheers,
Ben
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.
-- Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (1930-2002)
New and
If FreeDOS won't cut it for some reason, there is [link|http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=51919/ut=3fc39c7240236d8f|IBM PC DOS 2000].
--
Chris Altmann
New The EULA for MS-DOS 6.0 Upgrade sayeth:
"1. GRANT OF LICENSE: Microsoft grants you the right to use one copy of the enclosed Microsoft software program (the "SOFTWARE") on a single terminal connected to a single computer (i.e. with a single CPU). You may not network the SOFTWARE or otherwise use it on more than one computer or computer terminal at a time."
o o o

copyright and other stuff

o o o
"6. OTHER RESTRICTIONS: You may not rent or lease the SOFTWARE, but you may transfer your rights under the Microsoft License Agreement on a permanent basis provided transfer all copies of the SOFTWARE and all written materials, and the recipient agrees to the terms of this Agreement. You may not reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the SOFTWARE. Any transfer must include the most recent update and all prior versions."
The way I read that, there is no tie-in to a specific machine, so the guy is in good shape provided the number of machines <= number of licenses,

A copy of MS-DOS 5.0 (from OEM - Phoenix) and MS-DOS 6.0 Upgrade (from Microsoft) available for sale here! :)
Alex

"Resort is had to ridicule when reason is against us." -- Thomas Jefferson
     What if I have to break the EULA? - (mmoffitt) - (3)
         Why he should upgrade - (ben_tilly) - (1)
             and - (altmann)
         The EULA for MS-DOS 6.0 Upgrade sayeth: - (a6l6e6x)

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