[Info-vax] DEC product licencing, was: Re: VSI has a new CEO

[Simon Clubley]

On 2021-08-06, Dave Froble <davef at tsoft-inc.com> wrote:
> On 8/6/2021 1:28 PM, Phillip Helbig (undress to reply) wrote:
>> In article <53ebbf60-eee2-4c77-8c76-4b8e781dc475n at googlegroups.com>,
>> abrsvc <dansabrservices at yahoo.com> writes:
>>
>>> IRRC The license allowed you to use the software.  A support contract
>>> entitled you to patches and future versions.
>>
>> Right, though IIRC some licenses contained a right-to-upgrade clause.
>
> I have NEVER seen a DEC license that included "right-to-upgrade", and, 
> through the years, I've seen many licenses.
>

In the UK, the right to upgrade was something you had to put on to the
support contracts and was an option you had to pay for before you could
do that.

Outside of that, in the traditional DEC licences I am aware of, you had
to right to use the version you paid for in your initial purchase and
that was it.

>> And with support, you had some expectation that they would fix bugs you
>> found. Also, in the old days, patches were officially freely available.*
>>

No. You could report the bug via a SPR form, but there was no right
to a guaranteed response unless you had a support contract.

_If_ the problem was fixed however, you could eventually pick up the
fix via the freely available patches.

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.