[Info-vax] DECnet for Solaris

[John Wallace]

On Oct 15, 8:28 pm, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
wrote:
> On 10/14/2011 6:19 PM, glen herrmannsfeldt wrote:
>
>
>
> > Richard B. Gilbert<rgilber... at comcast.net>  wrote:
>
> > (snip)
> >> Sharing software with others can have legal consequences!  Expensive
> >> ones.  Someday you might be required to provide "proof of license" for
> >> your software.
>
> >> It cost time and money to write that software and the author(s) feel
> >> that they are entitled to be paid for their efforts.  If you are caught
> >> using copyrighted software without a license, you can find yourself a
> >> party to an expensive legal action for which you may be required to pay!
> >> Not to mention the damages that might be awarded.
>
> > Solaris has been free, in some sense, for some years now.
>
> > I don't remember if at some point you needed a free license.
> > One I remember, you could download CDs, but were required to
> > put the appropriate label on them.  I had a laser printer but
> > no CD label stock...
>
> > Some versions were free for research and development use, but
> > at the time that was all we did.  As far as I know, you can
> > still download ISO files, make your own install disks, and
> > install it.
>
> > Now, it could be that DECnet was charged for, even when the
> > base system was not.
>
> > -- glen
>
> I believe that DEC/Compaq/H-P now owns the rights to DECnet.  The last
> time I heard, DECnet required a license that the user must pay for.  In
> many cases, purchase of a new computer system included the cost of
> software licenses.

I'm not sure that's quite right.

DECnet implementations may require licences from the vendor of the
implentation (e.g. DEC, Ki Research), but the majority of DECNet does
not need a licence before anyone starts to implement it and it is
(from memory) safe to give an implementation away with source (e.g.
DECnet for Linux).

LAT and maybe its relatives, LAD and LAST, have different rules. LAT
used to require a licence. Not sure of the situation these days (as if
it matters...).