A nice christmas present !?
Yesterday there was a bad surprise on christmas: the discussion forum contained a posting about how to install eComStation without a valid key. The best things in life are free ? Well, we will not argue about that lovers of the OS/2- and eComStation operating systems think that these are great. But can eComStation be for free ?
Meanwhile diverse manuals are available on the internet, on how eComStation can be hacked, but now one appeared on OS2.org. This has put up the question on how to deal with it. One reader proposed to just delete the complete thread. This would certainly have been the easiest and quickest thing to do. We decided against that method, because this may have been understood in a way that we would like to avoid, namely that we see bad things happening, but do not name them, instead hushing up the case.
eComStation - a (last) Chance for OS/2
Yes, correactly read. If OS/2, or better, OS/2 technology is to have any chance, the right way to it is eComStation. This product or project is required to keep open only one, if not the very last option for users of OS/2 and eComstation operating systems.
On the other hand this also means: if eComStation does not spread wide enough, we (all) have reached the end of the road. And as eComStation, due to several reasons, is a commercial product and will remain to be one in the forseeable future, this project relies on commercial success. Everybody may have an own opinion, how successful eComStation can be, but one thing is for sure: a certain success, and that means a certain number of sold licences is absolutely required in order to ensure the future of eComStation. This also covers the base and motivation of many OS/2 developers that provide their programs or work on concepts for eComStation for free to make it a success, even when they have to buy the product afterwards...
You get, what you deserve (or pay for) Everybody using a product whithout paying for it, does without a doubt damage to it. Possibly only few among us may be absolutely sure that they pay all software that they use (anywhere on the harddisk there may still be an unregistered shareware program ...). And that is already bad enough, because every program for OS/2 and eComStation not being supported, may already be ceased tomorrow and that will narrow the base for all user.
But how stupid is it not to support the operating system itself? It does not mean anything else than to saw the branch on which someone is sitting. How incredibly stupid beside that is it even to make the method public about how to work around checks in installation routines, especially concerning eComStation ? It means to invite even somebody else to saw together the already thin branch, on which we all are sitting together.
After all it is even worse that those, who use eComStation and do not pay for it, do damage not only to the vendor, but also to all honest and committed users, developers and supporters of our favourite operating system. These hackers ensure that eComStation may not be a commercial success and at one day in the future _must_ be ceased.
Fight stupidity
We ask all users not to follow such methods for working around the requirement of a license key or only propagating such methods. This is particular, but not only true for eComStation: register the programs that you are using, and if you use programs being available for free, at least write a mail to the authors and say thank you. Only by doing this further development will take place, as such is powered only by money or other motivation. Only this way an operating system like eComStation as well as the programs around it will remain available.
There is no reason for justification of hacking an installation program etc., even if one thinks that one does not get enough for the money or one would have already payed enough. People not being content with it should just use another operating system, after all there are some for free. Whoever wants to use eComStation though, which is further developed and supported by many committed people, should kindly pay for it.
Christian Langanke, 2003-12-25
Comments: 0
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