Yedidyah Bar-David <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > and his response rather suprised me. Basically, he has contracts with > > all of his software vendors that gives him full access to the source > > code in case the company goes under. His basic premesis was "I can get > > competition over support in proprietary software too - Clalit did it in > > the past already". > > That's simply amazing. Does this include also off-the-shelf software > (Windows? With what NDA?), or only software written for them?
No, it is not amazing or surprising, it is very standard. I encountered that while working for (and renning one) startup(s). A typical contract where software is involved includes the following two important points: the level of support the vendor provides, and an escrow arrangement for all the IP, including the source code, in case the vendor goes under or fails to provide the support as specified by the contract for any other reason. Basically, the customer demands the right to examing the product, including the source code, under an NDA, and its in-house or outside experts give an OK to the deal saying, if Fubar Software Ltd. goes under we will be able to maintain the product given the source code. The source code is put under escrow and the customer gets it only if the vendor fails to fulfill its contractual obligations. This stuff is common enough that it is taught in the MBA program at TAU (a friend even showed me some course material on it). Needless to say, it is applicable mostly in the cases where the ability of the vendor to survive causes reasonable doubt (startups etc). I don't see how it relates to "competition over support" - as long as the vendor is OK no one else can fix bugs in closed code. It is different with open source - there you can make IBM and HP and CA to compete for providing support. And no, Didi, I don't think even Clalit have source code access to Windows, but I am sure they have a support contract with redmond and a few MSCEs on staff. -- Oleg Goldshmidt | [EMAIL PROTECTED] ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
