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

[Simon Clubley]

On 2021-08-06, Simon Clubley <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:
> 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:
>>>
>>> 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

"the right to". Sorry.

> 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.
>

BTW, I remember when I first started in the DEC world, my boss showed
me some old slim stapled books (old even then!) of printed patches, with
a different patch on each page, that you had to key in manually to patch
early versions of RSTS/E. Does anyone else remember those ?

Apparently that's how patches used to be distributed in the DEC world
for RSTS/E in the really early days. I don't know if you could pay for
a paper or magnetic tape option in those days.

Would be nice if patches were _that_ small these days. :-)

Simon.

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