[geeks] Re: Windows XP?

[Lionel Peterson]

--- Kurt Huhn <kurt at k-huhn.com> wrote:
> Do you have experience with license managers?  I'm guessing htat
> you've never been up for two days straight fighting with one to
> get some precious production data out of a piece of software
> dependent upon one.

Yes - 15 of my last 20 years in the software business (On-Line
Software, Computer Associates, Bellcore/Telcordia), but always as a
producer, not a user (which causes a certain myopia, I am sure)

When we had software licenses, we always had a way for the client to
get one if they needed it (800 number, fax-back, emergency license good
for a limited time, or even little devices you turned on and gave you a
one-time, 15 day license, sorta like a SecureID card).

We never left our clients in the lurch, but then again, we were dealing
with serious six or seven-figure software/maint. contracts, our
software couldn't go down for two days (as in your cited example...
Hell, if enough phone service is affected, telcos have to notify the
FCC - telcos don't like to do that. 

=====
Lionel

"Nothing would please me more than being able to hire ten
programmers and deluge the hobby market with good software"
Bill Gates, in "An OpenLetter to Hobbyists" dated February 3, 1976
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