how to re-compile a project with the same results of old compilation

I just hope that ... tool vendors realizes that when the license texts gets too strange, we will not just ignore the strangest parts of the licenses - we will ignore every single line of them. Or the product.

I appreciate the vendors need to protect their software from piracy, but sometimes they seem to protect the legal, lawful owner of their software from 'pirating' what they already legally, lawfully own.

does anybody remember the old beautiful "book licence" (treat it as a book, only one can use at a time)

Well, once more thieves (no other word fits) makes it more difficult for normal honest people (no thieves, no need to lock the door) and we, probably have only two choices
a) shoot the thieves.
b) live with crummy protection schemes.

Erik

BTW I just realized I could have writtent just about the same thet I wrote about the thieves about the idiots that think it is fun to make vira, worms etc and force us to have out computers spend half the time to protect us and only half the time doing useful work.

I just hope that ... tool vendors realizes that when the license texts gets too strange, we will not just ignore the strangest parts of the licenses - we will ignore every single line of them. Or the product.

I appreciate the vendors need to protect their software from piracy, but sometimes they seem to protect the legal, lawful owner of their software from 'pirating' what they already legally, lawfully own.

does anybody remember the old beautiful "book licence" (treat it as a book, only one can use at a time)

Well, once more thieves (no other word fits) makes it more difficult for normal honest people (no thieves, no need to lock the door) and we, probably have only two choices
a) shoot the thieves.
b) live with crummy protection schemes.

Erik

BTW I just realized I could have writtent just about the same thet I wrote about the thieves about the idiots that think it is fun to make vira, worms etc and force us to have out computers spend half the time to protect us and only half the time doing useful work.

shoot the thieves

?!

in Texas, they allow teachers to carry guns. I wonder if you support the same privilege for software engineers as well?

"does anybody remember the old beautiful "book licence" (treat it as a book, only one can use at a time)"

I very much miss the early Borland licenses - that was when they had good products and loyal customers. It was before they let ties take control of the company. After the ties came in, they were no longer allowed to admit known bugs and document possible work-arounds.

It didn't take too long to kill the company. What remains now is a broken shard, since they aliented themself from their end users - we developers.

I don't know how many companies they have bought to get access to new technology, and then failed badly since we customers don't trust them to stay focused and to value us.

shoot the thieves

?!
the only alternative to b) I know of

if you have another idea than a) and b) let's hear what it is. a) is never going to be implemented and just dropping b) would give the thieves a field day

Erik

the brain dead IT department that is so worried to keep my laptop running, keeps on making sure that my virus scanner
1. consumes 50% of the CPU most of the time
2. hogs the hard drive at the most inconvenient moments, and I cannot even shutdown the service anymore (they found out, damn it).

FYI Erik, THESE are villains I am prepared to shoot! or: where is my NRA membership card! :-)

by the way, some vendors lock their tools to a particular hardware configuration. but if many computers are identical (company buys masses when needed, and they are all the same - tool vendor probably don't check MAC address and other really unique stuff...), some can get smart (not me)...

"by the way, some vendors lock their tools to a particular hardware configuration."

Look no further than Keil.

The MAC address are at the top of the hw-locking list, since it makes sure that a company can't have two concurrently running machines with the same software unless they are in different network segments.

Not too many can afford to buy an extra license to put on a spare machine and dedicate a single user to be the one and only build master - besides the license the same person has on his/her own machine for actual development.

I was originally the only Keil user at our company, but we bougt a second license to make sure me and my machine would not be a single-point-of-failure.

Luckily, we can do 80% of our development with other tools, where redundancy isn't so expensive.

one licence per user was purchased (in one case 8, in another 3)

Eriki

We are starting to get way off-topic now :)

One license / user is quite normal. But one license / machine can feel a bit restrictive.

I have used a number of MS Visual Studio versions. I have normally installed every new version on a new computer.

If I need to maintain an old version originally developed -97, I can use the original environment as-is with Visual Studio 97 and all service packs installed. No need to spend time worrying about possible incompatibilities if the code is moved to a several releases newer edition. Most probably, the project history will even show the relevant project.

I didn't stop with Visual C++ until M$ got political and decided that the profiler should not be available in the largest "single-user" compiler package - now called Visual Studio Professional - but should instead only be available in their "team-edition" kits, where they splitted the product into different roles for different functions in a larger company - one release for testing, another for design, ... Somehow, they decided that if there is only a single user, there would be no need for any profiler - or that it was ok to charge almost three times as much ($6k instead of $2.3k) if a one-man operation needs the profiler. Or if a single user really needs to do both database design, development and testing, then all it takes is $18k..

There are limits how much a user may be pushed before he jumps ship, and a number of companies are quite busy focusing on short-term gains and not listening to grumblings from their users.

Pirates never have to bother about software licenses or which kit contains what feature. It's the honest customers who have to sit down and figure out the advantages of expensive commercial kits compared slightly worse commercial kits at a way lower price, or taking the jump all the way to open software. But people who have takend that final jump - and taken the costs to get started - seldom comes back. No more regular ticks for yearly subscriptions or support. So tool vendors really have to think twice about possible short-term gains from too hard licenses or stiff premium charges for the last few tool features.

One license / user is quite normal. But one license / machine can feel a bit restrictive.
well, how many users have more than one "machine"?

It's the honest customers who have to sit down and figure out the advantages of expensive commercial kits compared slightly worse commercial kits at a way lower price, or taking the jump all the way to open software. But people who have takend that final jump - and taken the costs to get started - seldom comes back. No more regular ticks for yearly subscriptions or support. So tool vendors really have to think twice about possible short-term gains from too hard licenses or stiff premium charges for the last few tool features.
Well, you, probably, have two groups of customers. Those that gladly accept "too hard licenses or stiff premium charges" for whatever benefit that gains them, and those that do not.
The only reason to pay the "stiff premium charges" is a productivity gain and if it comes with "too hard licenses" the productivity gain is gone.
Thus the vendors, if they want to succeed, need drop one of them.

Erik

well, how many users have more than one "machine"?

Would have thought it was quite common. We certainly have a number of people (me included) who take work away at the end of the day and continue with it at home - Occasionally with full days working at home.

It should be noted that Keil normally - even if not mentioned in the license - accepts the tools to be installed on a separate machine. They realize that people like to have both a stationary and a laptop.

We certainly have a number of people (me included) who take work away at the end of the day and continue with it at home
so do we, and those that do work with a docked laptop

Erik

"so do we, and those that do work with a docked laptop"

But it's so much easier to carry around a copy of the complete project on USB stick than carrying even the lightest laptop.

Their loss.

A good laptop has a hard time competing with a good stationary machine.

Even with a docking station, you don't get the same options for dual or tripple displays, use of native RS-485 instead of USB-to-RS485 or RS-232 to RS-485, ...

And it's harder to play doom :-) :-) :-)

Even with a docking station, you don't get the same options for dual or tripple displays

Erik

PS one 'p' in triple