Charles Mills wrote: >It is common in the PC world for software to be offered for a 30-day trial >that works "automatically." You download the software, install it, and it >somehow "knows" when it was installed and quits 30 days later unless >purchased. Typically, it "knows" by hiding some magic file or registry entry >somewhere that has the original install date.
They're also called 'nagware'. They're nagging constantly, interrupting your work, with 'buy me' prompt or something like that. Some of those software were really clever that if you adjust your clock, they will disable themselves properly... >On the mainframe side, I don't think I've ever seen an "automatic" 30-day >trial, largely because "magic hidden files" are of course greatly frowned upon >in this space. Mainframe 30-day trials in my experience require vendor >administration to generate some sort of "30-day key." True. You get also temp keys for DRP or switch over to new footprint. Whatever it is, you have to involve your vendor. >Obviously, there would be advantages to a vendor if they could offer a >freely-downloadable trial of mainframe software that expired "automatically." >No one is going to install mainframe software on a whim, but eliminating the >administrative burden of issuing a "30-day key" has a distinct advantage. Indeend! I really would like that, but over the years I never see such animals. It is either licensed (vendor supplied) or freebies at your own extreme risk (CBTTAPE for example). >... For certain mainframe software, keys are here to stay, like it or not, and >that's a different topic. The more expensive the software, the more weird are the keys and the [slow, slower, slowest] administration of it. ;-D >Has anyone ever seen mainframe software that automatically "expired" 30 days >after installation? If so, any rough idea how that worked? (Presumably, not a >magic hidden file LOL.) No. Never. But I wonder about IBM-MAIN members own software. How are THEY working with licensing and key management? Groete / Greetings Elardus Engelbrecht ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
