>From a recent summary by David Hull regarding AlphaPC 164/SX support in
DIGITAL UNIX:
> And save your money: download SRM console from DEC ftp site
> instead of buying it from a vendor... Just get the plain
> DEC UNIX license somewhere, that's all you need + the media,
> of course.
>
> ArNO
The advice from "ArNO" that you just download the SRM console firmware
instead of paying sounds like a typical software pirate attitude. If you
do that and you get caught, you are likely to be prosecuted for theft.
The SRM console firmware is a licensed program, and you only get a license by
purchasing it. Typically, the license is included with any system that has
an SRM console installed at the factory or by the reseller.
It is no more legal to simply download from a web site and then use the SRM
console firmware if you don't have a license than it would be to simply run
DIGITAL UNIX because you borrowed a media kit from someone. It's theft, and
it's not likely to be tolerated in most countries of the world. While Web
access may be on an honor system, that doesn't eliminate the license rules.
Although I personally believe that access to the SRM console firmware for
any Alpha system should be free, the reality is that it's not, and until
that policy changes, using it without a license is risky behavior. I will
check with my colleagues who produce the SRM console firmware for the SBCs
such as the AlphaPC 164/SX to verify that the policy hasn't changed, and if
it has, I will report that if I learn of any change.
Tom
Dr. Thomas P. Blinn, UNIX Software Group, Digital Equipment Corporation
110 Spit Brook Road, MS ZKO3-2/U20 Nashua, New Hampshire 03062-2698
Technology Partnership Engineering Phone: (603) 884-0646
Internet: tpb_at_zk3.dec.com Digital's Easynet: alpha::tpb
ACM Member: tpblinn_at_acm.org PC_at_Home: tom_at_felines.mv.net
Worry kills more people than work because more people worry than work.
Keep your stick on the ice. -- Steve Smith ("Red Green")
My favorite palindrome is: Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.
-- Phil Agre, pagre_at_ucsd.edu
Opinions expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily represent
those of my employer or anyone else, living or dead, real or imagined.
Received on Tue Jan 06 1998 - 15:20:41 NZDT