Software 'keys' are a huge PITA for reasons not so far mentioned. -- In larger shops, software contracts are often managed exclusively by bean-counter types far removed from the sysprogs who have to implement the keys. When a product threatens to self destruct--or actually does so--the responsible sysprog can got caught in the middle of a negotiation shoot-out. Most vendors are kind enough to supply a 'temporary extension' key while the lawyers mud wrestle. (It's not as sexy as you might imagine. Or maybe it is.) The dire messages flying across the console--even appearing in a user's joblog--are tawdry testament to our inability to just get along.
-- While most vendors these days supply their products to be (at least optionally) installed with SMPE, they all view themselves as sole guardian priests of the divine software protection sword. Each vendor's incarnation of this sword is unique to that vendor or even specific product. This creates a dependency on individual SMEs who must be engaged to implement and promulgate a new key. Vacation and holiday schedules only complicate this monster dance. I'm with Barry. Dispense with keys. Trust your customers. The potential cost of a legal hassle should be enough to keep customers on the line. Or close enough. . . JO.Skip Robinson SCE Infrastructure Technology Services Electric Dragon Team Paddler SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager 626-302-7535 Office 323-715-0595 Mobile jo.skip.robin...@sce.com From: zMan <zedgarhoo...@gmail.com> To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu Date: 12/27/2011 10:43 AM Subject: Re: cpu / machine identification Sent by: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu> On Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 8:55 AM, Mark Zelden <m...@mzelden.com> wrote: > Obviously the point of view of someone who doesn't make a living by > selling their software. Au contraire, I sure do make my living selling software. My point is that in my experience, the cost of fighting the CPUID battle isn't worth it. The counterexamples cited are pathological -- given a CPUID, such shops would just hack it (not that hard, no matter what anyone says). The expired SAS shop Barry cites is another example of someone going around it. I just don't see the point. FWIW, I've never had to live with the customer end of CPUIDs -- only the vendor end. But I fail to see how they would ever be seen as a boon by customers. -- zMan -- "I've got a mainframe and I'm not afraid to use it" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
