ebook vs paperback mini rant

[MarkDennehy]

That whole own-v-licence thing took an interesting turn today. Apparently you can't own a tractor anymore, you can only licence it, according to John Deere...
http://boingboing.net/2017/04/22/drm-eschatology.html

And yeah, not many people use a tractor for rip cuts or dovetails, I get it - but what about CNC machines? And how far does the gadgetry have to come in before software becomes enough of the tool to get covered by that? Like that new hand-held computer-aided router thing from Shaper:

That's weird-looking today, but give it a decade. The first hand-held trim router looked pretty stupid at the time too I'm guessing.
And how long before someone invents a fancy planer thicknesser that does some sort of autocorrection or whatever, sticks a microcontroller in there to do that and suddenly your planer has software. How far does that have to go before you're a licencee rather than an owner?

Ah, "interesting times", don't you just love 'em?

 

[RogerP]

There are other tractor manufacturers, in fact John Deere are no longer the largest. That honour now falls to the Indian maker Mahindra. So go elsewhere if you don't like John Deere's terms of business.

 

[MarkDennehy]

What has that got to do with the legal precedent they could set?
I mean, one of them is always going to be first, the problem is when they all follow after because that first one broke trail.
Pretty soon "I don't like their terms of business" becomes "I don't like anyone's terms of business" and you have to make your own tractor. Cool, if you have the machining tools and time and expertise to do it and nobody sues you for using it in a place of work...

 

[AES]

Re tractors (I don't have one, and doubt I ever will) and planers (ain't got one o' them either) personally, I'm not particularly bothered. As said earlier in this thread, there are LOTS of Ts & Cs and general "immoral attitudes" around (always have been) but in practice not many people really bother about it except "in principle". Perhaps we should care (but I doubt anything we do - even ALL of us - will change much)

But can I go back to my post on P4 please? I wrote about the Calibre software and asked whether the ask for monetary support on that site is a scam or genuine, then went on to ask if genuine, how much should one donate?

Mark, it's your professional area I guess? Or anyone else? Any ideas please? This is a completely new field for me.

TIA

AES

 

[AndyT]

Re donations for Calibre. It used to be widespread, back in the 80s, as shareware.
It's an approach which is creeping back. I think it's an honest compromise.

If the creator of the software tried to make it chargeable only, bad people would rip off copies anyway. So instead, he appeals to people's gratitude. A bit like a busker, passing round a hat. So give the software a go for a few weeks. If you don't like it or don't want to use it, just uninstall it, pay him nothing.

If you like it, bung him the price of a pint, or a paperback, or a charged-for smartphone app. If you are loaded, give a bit more and enjoy a warm glow for doing the decent thing.

 

[AES]

Thanks AndyT. Your advice is appreciated, completely new idea to me.

I'm getting to grips with Calibre now (I now know what "DRM" is!!!!). If I like Calibre I'll bung him the price of a pint, if not, I'll delete it.

AES

 

[MarkDennehy]

if genuine, how much should one donate?

Depends on how much time it saves you or how much you use it. For calibre (I've used it myself but it didn't fit my needs in the end), I'd send the guy an hour's pay.
(How much that is varies, which is fine).