Agreed. Mel
--- "Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Mon, Sep 05, 2005 at 03:39:14AM -0700, Mel wrote: > > Many years ago, I had a minor problem with WORD v > 4.0 > > and called Microsoft software support. I was told > > that V 4.0 was no longer supported and that > Microsoft > > was no longer responsible for maintaining that > > version. > > I guess I have two points to make here: the first > one is that the > danger associated with abandonware depends upon the > company who > published the software. A lot of companies > genuninely don't care > about these old products, and they don't see any > value in attacking > users of abandonware. That said, what a generic > staff member says > and company lawyer says may be entirely different > things. Because > of this and since these companies are so rarely > willing to give > written permission to copy abandonware, you have to > be aware of > what the law is and what the potential consequences > are. > > The second point is that the software industry has > changed with > the times. There was a huge shift in software > support in the 1990s, > there has likely been an even larger shift in their > perception of > property rights over the past decade. It is at the > point where > Apple practically refuses to acknowledge anything > prior to Mac OS > X 10.2, never mind Mac OS 9, and never mind System > 6. Support for > products seems to disappear after three years. Even > Microsoft, > which has a larger and wealthier corporate market to > take care of, > tries to retire support for a product after five > years. Granted, > they haven't been as successful. Contrast that to > pre-Jobsian > Apple, where Apple was supporting products produced > as early as > the late-1970s. This, incidently, is the era when > the Older Software > Downloads site (which still offers System 6) comes > from. IIRC, > the same could be said for Microsoft five years ago. > > Byron. > > -- > System6 is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> > and... > > 123Inkjets.com > <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> > > Support Low End Mac > <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > System 6 Heaven > <http://www.euronet.nl/users/mvdk/system_6_heaven.html> > > System6 info: > <http://lowendmac.com/lists/system6.html> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: > <mailto:system6@mail.maclaunch.com> > To unsubscribe, email: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/system6%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > iPod Accessories for Less > at 1-800-iPOD.COM > Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deals > www.1800ipod.com > --------------------------------------------------------------- > -- System6 is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> System 6 Heaven <http://www.euronet.nl/users/mvdk/system_6_heaven.html> System6 info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/system6.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:system6@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/system6%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deals www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
