Where to purchase software?

I really wish that folks would actually read the EULA when they install software.

They think that software is "freeware" or "shareware", or is theirs to redistribute.

They are the same folks that would get quite P.O.ed if someone gave away their own work for free!

Duane Phillips wrote:

Woody, et all, I am not interested in being a thief. I realize the software/music/video industry has an expensive problem with unauthorized duplication and distribution (theft).

Let's go back to the book analogy. I agree that photocopying and giving away is theft because it results in 2 (or more) copies of a book being in use when only one has been paid for. However, suppose I buy and read a book that then goes out of print. Later I buy a revised and updated edition of that same book and give the old copy to a friend (I've done this). Since I paid for both copies no one is being defrauded or stolen from.

I checked the RockSim V4 disks and they're copyrighted, so no copying and re-distribution is allowed. But I couldn't find a EULA, either on the disks or in their files. However, the "RockSim - Getting Started" page that came with the program says "Congratulations! You are the owner of the most powerful rocketry software on the marker today." This is open to interpretation but I take it to imply that I actually own the software and not just a license to use it.

After using this software for some time I decided to upgrade and paid the price to get V7. Thus I now have two versions of RockSim, both of which I paid for. I no longer use V4 and have no other copies of it on disk or on any of my computers. If I give V4 to a friend the author/distributor is not defrauded or a victim of theft because I already paid him/her for both versions. V4 is now unavailable ("out of print") from the supplier, and I would guess it's unlikely the supplier would upgrade it anymore. It just seems reasonable to me that I could give V4 to someone without defrauding anyone. Besides, it seems likely that Laura will buy the current version some time in the future. After all, V4 is functional but is limited in what it does compared to V8.

According to Kurt earlier in this thread, Apogee modified their software agreement and I believe this is probably due to the advance of technology. In 1998 my "new" computer came with a CD-Rom but does anyone ever buy a computer without a CD-RW drive these days? They have made illegal copying of anything electronic soo much easier and software companies are trying to adjust to the new circumstances, but I think they will fail. Why? I may be cynical but it seems to me that ethics have been replaced by the utilitarian desire to make life easier for me, no matter what it costs someone else. I hope I'm wrong but I haven't seen much evidence to the contrary lately, so I guess we're going to have to live with increasingly restrictive EULA's in the future. And unfortunately some people will ignore those too. Larry Lobdell Jr.

In the mid ages, wasn't a creature under a bridge that would come out and say:

You Must Pay Troll, You Must Pay Troll

True to a certain extent, but like most things, there's more to the story.

The primary reason fuel is cheaper in New Jersey is that NJ has one of the lowest gas tax rates in the nation.

Notwithstanding, NJ roads are some of the best-maintained in the nation.

comments inline...

Yes, and I explained why (story told).

"Best" is a personal opinion, not well reflected in my several travels through there. I have never been down the pike without construction clogging it somewhere. So are they maintaining? Obviously... in fact, with that kind of contract, you want to be seen always working on it, not just soaking in the contract... and therein lies the pain.

Cheers!

~ Duane Phillips.

That's what I've been told... and in some cases they just come out and eat you alive.

Cheers!

~ Duane Phillips.

Every time I have to stop and wait in line to pay a @$%# toll, I think of "The Ballad of Jake and 10-Ton Molly":

So, yiu're upset because they ARE maintaining the roads?

..riiiggghhhtt.....

Plus. you are lumping the Turnpike, which is an "authority" road, in with other highways.

Not really comparable, in many ways.

Remember -they let you in for free but you have to pay to get out. Don't lose all your money in AC.

Gus / Steve is an expert on the subject - he gets paid by (as opposed to working) for NJ DOT. Nice scam if you can pull it off. Steve - are you getting paid to post on rmr today? I'm jealous.

Phil

As well you should be, f*ck nut.

Not upset here Gus. Just discussing the facts.

The slight decrease in fuel costs is far outweighed by toll costs and monopolistic channeling of that huge and lengthy tract of real estate, let out at a tiny fraction of the real value.

I have travelled in and through every state in the nation (except Alaska), and almost without exception, the controlled tollways are a real pain. And the pike was one of the biggest pains, regularly.

I have driven on almost every major highway in the US. I personally rank the pike in the bottom 10%, for many reasons. What I was noting was not maintenance, but the appearance of maintenance while bottlenecking several miles of roadway with cones during daytime hours. That is both my personal experience, and also on the drivers we had to dispatch through troubles there.

So what you are implying is that we all just got caught on the bad days... every time...

"> ..riiiggghhhtt....."

And I most definitely compare it with all major highways in the US... which is why we agree on at least this point:

"> Not really comparable, in many ways."

Cheers!

~ Duane Phillips.

I'm not arguing with you, just trying to shed a little light on the subject of how highways are financed.

Actually, very little of the money used to finance the NJ Tpk. comes from taxes.

That is not the case with non-Authority roads.

92% of the Turnpike's revenue is derived from tolls, 35% of which is from out of state traffic.

No State Tax money is used to fund the Turnpike. In fact, $12 million dollars of Turnpike funds are contributed to the State Transportation Trust Fund annually.

So, if the turnpike were NOT a toll road, it would have to compete for available funding with every other transportation need out there. In a major corridor state like New Jersey there are always FAR more needs than there is money to address them.

That's life in the big city.

"It would have to compete..." vs. "enjoy the leisure of a monopolistic function".

The only noteworthy point above is the "35%" out-of-state traffic (your numbers... I don't have the actual statistics). But that is a double edged sword: by your numbers, 65% are Jersey residents who now pay triple "taxes" (call it what ever you desire) on the major roadway though New Jersey... but hey, the gas is cheaper (sort of).

So you've just brought it back full circle. In my opinion, the decrease in fuel prices due to less State additive taxation is only a token decrease in State fuel taxes, and does not compensate for the crammed up piece of taxing roadway that showcases the pike authority. In the end, the money still comes from the people, only now we also pay for terminus, overhead, and access control, with excesses of $12 million (your numbers) and finally a product of a roadway that never seems to be free of construction, and takes longer to pass through than at least 95% of other major highways in the US.

That's not "life in the big city", it is just one way to pay for the roadway (and then some), with a method that actually costs the people more in the end.

However, that is both my experience, and my opinion. I don't agree with toll-based roadways. That type of system just flows to easily with the following (bad) logic: "If it moves, tax it. If it still moves, tax it more. If it keeps moving, regulate it. If it stops moving, subsidize it." ~ author unknown (I think Reagan quoted something like it, in jest).

Cheers!

~ Duane Phillips.

Yesterday - Regular 2.419 / gallon full service wahoo. To bad I didn't need gas while I was there.

Phil

Well then, you REALLY won't like "Congestion Pricing."

QED

Today, a block from my house...$2.26 full service (its rare to find full service, and this is one of the cheaper ones around)

I filled up. :)

-Aar> Yesterday - Regular 2.419 / gallon full service wahoo. To bad I