On 10/4/2015 6:51 PM, Robert Green wrote:

A dongle is livable. Something like Superlok that demands a file be written
in a non-standard way, not so much. I recall we came in on two Mondays in a
row with the entire network locked up because the backup had failed due to
Lotus' copy protection failing verification.

Plans to replace Lotus with Excel were soon underway and it was gone by the
next accounting cycle with only a few die hards having Lotus still on their
desktops. When tech inquiries to Lotus made it clear they weren't going to
work with us on the subject of failed restores we chose another option.

There are still plenty of industrial programs that use dongles, but very few
that I know of that use deliberately corrupted media. (Ducks in fear that
I will now learn about all the software that still uses corrupt media to
protect their IP).

DVD video relies on this heavily.

Ages ago, floppy "key disks" were "marginalized" -- so that their contents
were not *reliably* read. The verification software simply tried to read
them several times. If it got consistent results, it knew this was a
forged copy. If the data changed "mysteriously", it knew that this was
a genuine medium that was deliberately "flakey".

You have to show some sympathy for (pure) software vendors -- folks that
don't ALSO sell a piece of hardware that their software uses/runs on.
I always chuckle when I hear folks wanting "free" -- yet also wanting
to be *paid* for THEIR work efforts! The Other Guy is always OVERPAID;
but never oneself! :

I note the large numbers of folks who run FOSS and suspect that many of
them do so simply because it is "Free". They simply don't want to
have to PAY for these "products" and will "settle" for things that
are inferior, lack any sort of support, etc. JUST to avoid paying
for them! They also seem to be the sorts of folks who don't value their
own time.

If you could have a "free" car but had to spend an hour running around
pushing levers, adjusting settings, mixing fuel, etc. just to get
an hour's worth of use out of it, would you? Knowing that you'll
have to do the same thing *tomorrow* for an hour's use at that time?

Would you use a "free" cellphone (exclusively) if the chances of getting
signal were 50% at any given time?

How much time would you be willing to post comments on user forums
HOPING to find a GENUINE solution to the problem you are having
trying to get your FOSS spreadsheet program to calculate your
income tax bracket before you could file your tax return?

How many times will you tolerate downloading and installing updates
in the *hope* that something that you are having problems with gets fixed?
How much RISK do you run that those updates don't BREAK something
else? Or, change its behavior in a way that sends you scurrying back to
those same forums asking how you NOW perform the task that you previously
KNEW how to perform?

Someone has to pay for the efforts of those developers. Just like
someone has to pay for the doctor who treats/cures your malady, the
accountant who balances your books, the farmer who grows your food, etc.

So, why is software considered different? Free to steal -- if not
outright free?