coyote_dj2003 wrote: > I suppose what I wonder is what line is drawn between copyright materials > such as the material described in that email, and what makes this > interesting and worse at the same time is that obviously the code should not > be even remotely close to each other based solely on the major differences > in operating systems. I could be wrong about that, however, the questions > remain. yes this is a much larger and I'm sure a labour intensive project, > (I know Thomas your growling at me, being a president of a software > development company) but what other issues could be happening here to say > that u stole my code, and more importantly although a far stretch, the > traditional "hello world" code used to teach beginners how to "create your > first program" in the first chapter in any idiots guide to programming or > scripting could also be declared a copy right infringement if someone could > figure out how to use the sentence in a retail production and distributable > code.
First off, I don't get mad easily. The only way to quickly get me riled is to be a deliberate hindrance to the development and growth of those who want to become software developers. Especially females in this male-dominated industry. I am not a lawyer, but I know enough to be dangerous. The basic rule of thumb is to read the license/legal agreement of whatever you are looking at (it is dry, it is boring, it is technical, but it'll save your bacon). If you are writing something similar, make sure the code is 75% you. There are some things that are completely unavoidable (e.g. using the same Win32 APIs). > What stops the treat of being harassed by companies claiming you have stolen > their code, and the term of good programming? I would think that although > there is many ways to get to the same result, or sometimes there is only one > way to develop the result (ex. "hello world") what's to say I could not > develop the same code knowing or not knowing the other source code existed. It helps to do a little market research in advance. You'll be able to come up with who you will be competing against (if anyone) and whether it is even worth developing the software in the first place. Copyright infringement is HARD to prove when it comes to software. Patent infringement, OTOH, is far more reaching and has cases that have succeeded in court. > And in the same breath. what's protecting developers from the re-use of > their code. and what's the appropriate time frame in which someone could use > code similar to the code they found from 7 or 8 years ago and using it to > benefit their requirements now? Most source code is proprietary and kept within the "corporate" firewall...so that code would have to be leaked. Both copyright and patent laws are, IMO, outdated. Neither are processed fast enough and each industry moves at different speeds. The computer industry moves 10 times faster than any other industry. Copyrights and patents should therefore expire in 1/10 the time. And copyright/patent expiration dates shouldn't be fixed - industries speed up and slow down. > On the next note and I know I'm blowing a bunch of email fauxpas' but I am > thinking I have found a great wealth of information in the responses I have > seen so far, I would like to ask one more massive and really ugly question > for people like Thomas' and others who have the ability to make decisions on > price and marketing custom software solutions, I would like to know how I > would get started in custom application building and how do u charge clients > for the services you offer? Is it mostly dependant on the uniqueness of the > project and the size of the target market for that particular program? It is really up to you what price you want to set. You have to figure out who you are targeting, why they are a viable target, and how much they are willing to spend for your product. For me, I grew up around "super-expensive" software - I had to be extremely frugal with my allowance to purchase what little computer software I had. So I have this belief that software should be affordable. I'm constantly told that I'm underpricing VerifyMyPC, but you know what? I don't care. Most users are absolutely thrilled to learn that there is an affordable piece of software that reduces their technical support times from 2 hours to 5 minutes. Time saved for them means they just make back the $10 investment over and over. > What sort of jobs would I be able to find if I wanted to get in over my head > in programming? Does it pay better to work for a major company? Or software > development process being developed by one person.and distributed? What you do is really up to you. Some people like job security. For that, you need to get an 8 to 5 on salary. Some places are better than others. There aren't a whole lot of places hiring Delphi programmers, so you might want to expand your repertoire a little. You mentioned PHP...that's web programming. Perhaps pick up ASP.NET and one other .NET language (or C++). Other people like a little adventure and want to start up their own company. The owner of the company never sleeps...so don't get visions of sitting on the beach and money pouring in. I work significantly harder for significantly less pay. But it is extremely rewarding to get each new customer. It helps to be out of debt, have some capital, and be fairly young (< 35) when starting up a company (the younger you are, the more financial risk you can take on). It also helps to be outgoing (NOT an introvert) and have lots of professional connections. Statistically, it takes about 5-6 years for most businesses to take off. Plan your finances accordingly. If you can't tell, I'm a one-man operation. MyUpdate Toolkit (works with Delphi apps.!) is my biggest seller at the moment (annual licenses). Companies keep telling me that InstallShield Update Services (now FlexNet) is 5 times the cost of last year's price and is the main reason why they are switching to MyUpdate Toolkit. In other words, InstallShield is sending their customers to me in droves. There really is something to be said for affordable software. -- Thomas Hruska CubicleSoft President Ph: 517-803-4197 *NEW* VerifyMyPC 2.5 Change tracking and management tool. Reduce tech. support times from 2 hours to 5 minutes. http://www.CubicleSoft.com/VerifyMyPC/
