sproule@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jr. William J. Sproule) (10/07/88)
I have recently installed AppleShare 2.0.1 on a Mac II, that is going to be a public file server. We would like to install licensed software on it, (generic MacWidget stuff) and used the copy-protection setting on AppleShare. The server will be read-only, so I don't have to worry about people writing on it, duplication copy-protected software, etc.... The problem I am having is that AppleShare 1.x does not obey the copy protection. With workstation software 2.0.1, I cannot copy 'MacWidget', but with workstation software 1.x, I can. Is this a bug or a feature? We started giving people (via a 'vendomac', stick a disk in, get a usable system, finder, appleshare, etc., out) workstation software 1.2. We will be changing vendomac to version 2.0.1 next week, and telling people that you cannot use the old disks with AppleShare due to incompatibility problems. However, not everyone may upgrade, and this could cause problems. I have used an application called 'Doople Ganger' (sp??) that creates a fake application, which then launches the real application. Unfortunely, I lost the copy I had. Can some kind soul send me a copy, or give me an ftp site for it? This program may solve 'some' of my problems. Thanks in advance. Any other solutions for this would be appreciated. Bill Sproule CIT - Systems, Princeton University sproule@pucc.bitnet sproule@purt1.Princeton.EDU 609-452-6089
magorian@umd5.umd.edu (Dan Magorian) (10/08/88)
Once again, I would like to recommend a solution to people using Appleshare servers that works considerably better in our environment than either 2.0's copy-protect bit or the use of a shadow launcher. All you do is load the application up (via ResEdit) with some large resources (such as sounds) that the app doesn't use till it's too big to fit on a floppy even if compressed (about 1.2 meg). It never gets loaded, so the performance isn't impaired, and people are free to copy everything except the apps that need protecting. The main disadvantage is the waste of server disk space, which may or may not be a problem depending on your environment. Naturally, this doesn't stop people with hard disks, but it's cheap and uncomplicated.