shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) (07/07/90)
I must confess that this is the first time that I've read a Borland
license agreement...already owning TP 5.5 and TC 2.0...but I was bored
this afternoon and decided to find out what's in a 3 page "no-nonsense"
agreement (TC++ 1.0) if it's all plain talk :-). Well, the first sentence
looked choice:
"Programs that you write and compile using Borland's Turbo Language
compilers may be used, given away or sold without additional license
or fees, as long as all copies of these programs bear a valid copy-
right notice."
Hey, but the kicker comes down the page folks...
"Also, you may not use a Turbo Language product to create, give away,
sell, license, or otherwise distribute a competitive compiler or inter-
preter..."
Hold the phone here, Borland has the legal right to tell me that I cannot
create a C compiler and give it away if I want (i.e. the EXE compiled by
a Borland Language product)? This sounds like nonsense to me (sounds like
they're scared of healthy competition). What's the difference if I write
a Paradox clone, a Sprint clone, a Quattro clone or a Turbo C clone? All of
these are Borland products.
Does this imply also that you couldn't use Turbo C and TASM as a bootstrap
development system for a GNU C/C++ port (hypothetically speeking :-))?
I would think not if you distributed it in source form only (which is the
way it's done anyway). However, if I created a C compiler, used Borland's
TC for the first compile and had my C compiler re-compile itself and THEN
distributed it free of charge, what agreement have I broken?
-----------------------------
Steve Hite
...gatech!uflorida!unf7!shitestreich@boulder.Colorado.EDU (Mark Streich) (07/14/90)
In article <280@unf7.UUCP> shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) writes: > > "Also, you may not use a Turbo Language product to create, give away, > sell, license, or otherwise distribute a competitive compiler or inter- > preter..." I guess I'll just have to use Zortech C++ to write my Turbo Pascal killer!
horstman@sjsumcs.sjsu.edu (Cay Horstmann) (07/15/90)
>In article <280@unf7.UUCP> shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) writes: >> >> "Also, you may not use a Turbo Language product to create, give away, >> sell, license, or otherwise distribute a competitive compiler or inter- >> preter..." > Indeed, this is petty and stupid. Supposing I like the Borland product a lot better than the competing Zortech, Microsoft, Jensen, Watcom, etc..., I could still use it for development and make the final compile using another compiler. HOWEVER, if all compiler manufacturers took this attitude, this could be quite dangerous. I find it quite disappointing to see the simple "Just treat it like a book" Borland license from the olden days degenerate into the same gobbledygook offered by Microsoft and IBM (...however, we warrant the disk on which the SOFTWARE is delivered to be of black color and square shape for a period of thirty (30) days...) Cay
bright@Data-IO.COM (Walter Bright) (07/17/90)
In article <280@unf7.UUCP> shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) writes:
< "Also, you may not use a Turbo Language product to create, give away,
< sell, license, or otherwise distribute a competitive compiler or inter-
< preter..."
< Does this imply also that you couldn't use Turbo C and TASM as a bootstrap
<development system for a GNU C/C++ port (hypothetically speeking :-))?
I can't resist this one!
You are quite welcome to use Zortech's compilers to create competitive
products. I'd take it as quite a compliment to discover that a competitor
used my compiler for the production version ...rschmidt@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (roy schmidt) (07/21/90)
The remainder of the agreement says we can't duplicate the functionality, etc. of a Borland Development Environment or portion thereof. This looks like a claim on "look and feel" for which Borland is now being sued by Lotus! :-) Here's another sobering thought: This license was *not* printed in the TC++ manual. It was a separate booklet, which means it also applies to the Debugger, Profiler, and Assembler packages included if you got the complete Pro package. :-( And for the guy who said he had not read one of these before, don't worry, because it didn't say this before. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roy Schmidt | #include <disclaimer.h> Indiana University | /* They are _my_ thoughts, and you can't Graduate School of Business | have them, so there! */