slmt9@cc.usu.edu (11/08/90)
Hello to all of you techincal types. I hope that one or more of toy might be able to help me with a question. My question is this. What if any programs from the C directory of the workbench disk can I put on a disk that contains a piece of software that I intend to sell. If speciual arraingments must be made with Commodore can any one out there tell me who to call or what needs to be done? Thanks, Joshua SLMT9@cc.usu.edu
ken@cbmvax.commodore.com (Ken Farinsky - CATS) (11/10/90)
In article <1990Nov7.101812.41986@cc.usu.edu> slmt9@cc.usu.edu writes: > >...What if any programs from the C directory of the workbench disk can I >put on a disk that contains a piece of software that I intend to sell... To use any of the files on the Workbench disk you need a license from Commodore. Note that the license to use 1.3 (V34) Workbench files is _NOT_ the same as the license to use 2.0 (V36) Workbench files. If you wish to obtain either of these licenses, or any other information on the CATS developer support program, write: CATS Admin 1200 Wilson Drive West Chester, PA 19380 or call (215) 431-9180 and ask for Leslie. Note that these transactions take time. There will be some delay between the time you make a request and the time the request is satisfied, so plan accordingly. > Joshua SLMT9@cc.usu.edu -- -- Ken Farinsky - CATS - (215) 431-9421 - Commodore Business Machines uucp: ken@cbmvax.commodore.com or ...{uunet,rutgers}!cbmvax!ken bix: kfarinsky
labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) (11/18/90)
In article <1990Nov7.101812.41986@cc.usu.edu> slmt9@cc.usu.edu writes: > > My question is this. What if any programs from the C directory of the >workbench disk can I put on a disk that contains a piece of software that I >intend to sell. If speciual arraingments must be made with Commodore can any >one out there tell me who to call or what needs to be done? > And what about fonts, libraries etc. Does Commodore have copyright to this, or can I freely copy it when I release my own program since everybody, who owns an Amiga allready have these files on their WorkBench disk. -- // Lars Bodin // Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, \\// University of Aalborg (AUC) \/ E-mail: labben@iesd.auc.dk
labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) (11/19/90)
In article <ggk.658965635@tirith.UUCP> ggk@tirith.UUCP (Gregory Kritsch) writes: >>And what about fonts, libraries etc. >>Does Commodore have copyright to this, or can I freely copy it when I >>release my own program since everybody, who owns an Amiga allready have >>these files on their WorkBench disk. > >Actually, I released a program that was default configured to use >Courier, Helvetica, and Times 13 fonts. I have since received many >requests of the form "can you include your fonts with your releases", or >"where can I find those fonts?" It seems that an awful lot of people >are unaware of Extras1.3:Fonts/. Maybe you misunderstood me, Gregory... The situation is: I want to release a program, which should be bootable, ie. I don't want my program to be started from WorkBench. So I have to copy some libraries, fonts and command files from the WorkBench/Extra disks to the disk containing my own program. My question is: Is it legal to copy the Workbench/Extras files to my own disk, and then release this disk for commercial use, or do I need some kind of license from Commodore? Maybe someone at Commodore could clear this up... -- // Lars Bodin // Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, \\// University of Aalborg (AUC) \/ E-mail: labben@iesd.auc.dk
xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (11/19/90)
labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) writes: > ggk@tirith.UUCP (Gregory Kritsch) writes: >> labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) writes: >>> And what about fonts, libraries etc. Does Commodore have copyright >>> to this, or can I freely copy it when I release my own program since >>> everybody, who owns an Amiga already [has] these files on [his] >>> WorkBench disk. >>Actually, I released a program that was default configured to use >>Courier, Helvetica, and Times 13 fonts. I have since received many >>requests of the form "can you include your fonts with your releases", or >>"where can I find those fonts?" It seems that an awful lot of people >>are unaware of Extras1.3:Fonts/. >Maybe you misunderstood me, Gregory... >The situation is: I want to release a program, which should be bootable, >ie. I don't want my program to be started from WorkBench. So I have to >copy some libraries, fonts and command files from the WorkBench/Extra >disks to the disk containing my own program. >My question is: Is it legal to copy the Workbench/Extras files to my >own disk, and then release this disk for commercial use, or do I need >some kind of license from Commodore? >Maybe someone at Commodore could clear this up... Maybe, but you can easily finesse the problem by creating a disk that includes no Commodore files, but does contain a script (perhaps run from workbench via IconX) that builds the bootable disk onto a blank formatted floppy supplied by the user, using material from your disk, the user's Workbench original, and the user's Extras original. This gets you out of the legal loop quite nicely, since, as noted above, all your customers already have these disks, and you are not distributing any Commodore-owned materials. It also provides a readily repeatable way for your user to create a working disk, so your customers aren't forced to use their original disks to use your program. Just put "requires a user supplied blank formatted disk" on the packaging, and you should be all set. Now your customer can, following your directions, boot his/her system under workbench, build the bootable disk from your original, then reboot from your disk to be using the environment you want. Much nicer, of course, to just make your program multitask under the normal workbench, but perhaps there is some good reason, providing extra utility to the customer, that you would not want that. Kent, the man from xanth. <xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (11/20/90)
In article <1990Nov18.124357.15254@iesd.auc.dk> labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) writes: >In article <1990Nov7.101812.41986@cc.usu.edu> slmt9@cc.usu.edu writes: >> >> My question is this. What if any programs from the C directory of the >>workbench disk can I put on a disk that contains a piece of software that I >>intend to sell. If speciual arraingments must be made with Commodore can any >>one out there tell me who to call or what needs to be done? > >And what about fonts, libraries etc. >Does Commodore have copyright to this, or can I freely copy it when I >release my own program since everybody, who owns an Amiga allready have >these files on their WorkBench disk. You must license when ANY file of the Workbench or Extras disk or even only the original bootblock appears on your floppy! There are special (even harder) cases with software that is not Commodore- owned, but licensed again from 3rd parties (fonts on Extras, AmigaBasic). For them, I think, any licensing is very difficult. -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
peterk@cbmger.UUCP (Peter Kittel GERMANY) (11/20/90)
In article <1990Nov19.122804.11210@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) writes: > >>My question is: Is it legal to copy the Workbench/Extras files to my >>own disk, and then release this disk for commercial use, or do I need >>some kind of license from Commodore? > >Maybe, but you can easily finesse the problem by creating a disk that >includes no Commodore files, but does contain a script (perhaps run >from workbench via IconX) that builds the bootable disk onto a blank >formatted floppy supplied by the user, using material from your disk, >the user's Workbench original, and the user's Extras original. You're completely right, Kent. But it's not so easy to make up a foolproof script. I experienced this when I wanted to release a PD program that needed some stuff from WB AND the Extras disk. Well, finally it worked, but I recommend firmly that this script has to be tested thoroughly and that the worst case condition has to be assumed: 512 K RAM, only 1 floppy drive. Typically you will have to prompt the user for inserting a source disk (WB), then copy some of its files into RAM:, then prompting the user for his own disk (perhaps formatting and Installing it), copying the files to his disk, and finally (VERY important!) deleting those files from RAM: again to free the memory. This has to be done perhaps several times, depending on the size of your application and the volume of files you have to gather from other diskettes. For prompting, use the Ask command. To access ANY diskette, ALWAYS use its volume name for identification, DO NOT refer to df0:! (Well, and the next difficulty will arise when we have 1.3 and 2.0 Workbenches out there mixed and the script has to know about subtle differences about some files no more existing in c directory and such more...) -- Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel // E-Mail to \\ Only my personal opinions... Commodore Frankfurt, Germany \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) (11/22/90)
Thanks to all who responded on my request. Here is a summary of the answers I have gotten: If you want to release a program, which depends on certain Workbench/Extra files, you might want to include them on your disk. This way the user wont have to start his/hers Workbench in order to load your program. Only problem is: You need to get a Workbench licence: > You may not distribute any programs from Workbench without a Workbench > license. Workbench licenses are $100 US per year, good for all of your > products. The license describes exactly what copyrights and trademarks > you must have in your docs and on your disk label, and also what > user licensing and disclaimers you must have to distribute our > copyrighted software. The license also describes which files you > may and may not distribute (there are some third-party contracted items > on Workbench which Commodore is not allowed to sub-license). > > If you want to get a Workbench license, contact your local Amiga developer > support organization. If you have none, then email uunet!cbmvax!leslie > your paper mail address and request either 1.3 or 2.0 Workbench License forms > (depending on whether you want to distribute filesfrom 1.3 or 2.0 > Workbench). > > Carolyn Scheppner > Technical Manager > CATS US If you can not afford to pay this kind of money, you could make an installation-script/program which copies the necessary files from the users Workbench to the program-disk. In order to make the program compatible with both 1.3 and 2.0 your script should look like this: > version >NIL: version.library 36 > IF WARN > ; do the 1.3 installation > ELSE > ;do the 2.0 installation > ENDIF (To Carolyn Scheppner: Hope you don't mind I copied your mail) When you write the script, remember that some users have only one disk drive and 512K. If you have any further questions, try reading the previous articles or e-mail me. AMIGA // Lars Bodin // Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, \\// University of Aalborg (AUC) \/ E-mail: labben@iesd.auc.dk -- AMIGA // Lars Bodin // Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, \\// University of Aalborg (AUC)
ggk@tirith.UUCP (Gregory Kritsch) (11/19/20)
labben@iesd.auc.dk (Lars Bodin) writes: >In article <1990Nov7.101812.41986@cc.usu.edu> slmt9@cc.usu.edu writes: >And what about fonts, libraries etc. >Does Commodore have copyright to this, or can I freely copy it when I >release my own program since everybody, who owns an Amiga allready have >these files on their WorkBench disk. Actually, I released a program that was default configured to use Courier, Helvetica, and Times 13 fonts. I have since received many requests of the form "can you include your fonts with your releases", or "where can I find those fonts?" It seems that an awful lot of people are unaware of Extras1.3:Fonts/. Also, dpn't forget that people with WB 1.2 or lower don't have these three particular fonts (they also happen to be the only ones that look decent on an interlace screen). > // Lars Bodin > // Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, > \\// University of Aalborg (AUC) > \/ E-mail: labben@iesd.auc.dk -- Gregory Kritsch | University of Waterloo Fido: 1:221/208.11110 [1:163/109.30] | 1A Computer Engineering OCUG: ggk@tirith.ocug.on.ca |---------------------------- UUCP: ggk@tirith.UUCP | The University doesn't get ...!watmath!xenitec!tirith!ggk | a chance to censor me!