Tim Goetze <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > [Pete Bessman] >>the salient point is that Chris stipulated that proprietary software >>producers *aren't* evil! The only way they can be evil is if you >>stipulate a moral code which dictates as much. > > I keep a good 150 or so .arr files around, stemming from the late 80s, > early 90s, back when I used to do MIDI-only work with Cubase on an ST. > > A few years ago, I wanted to revisit/-edit my music from that time. > So I turned to Steinberg to help me in decoding the files. The short > version: I asked for file format docs, they said "Buy the latest > Cubase instead", I said "What would I run it on?", they said "Mac or > Win", I said "I own neither and don't plan to", they said "Then you're > SOL". > > I don't know about you, but denying me unfettered access to my very > own data certainly meets my definition of "evil".
Not mine. It is not like they promised you anything or that they'd be obliged to help you out. They are not a charity. That's one of the reasons why using nonfree software is a bad idea. It reduces you to begging, and that's not a good position to be in, regardless of whether the person you need to beg from is goodwilled or not. The price to get the source may be higher: in developers you pay, in work you invest yourself. But it means that you still have the option to take your business elsewhere if necessary. -- David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum
