Are 30-day evaluation apps ethical?
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I did it with generic named files in the system directory. If they don't get used again, they won't have any huge effect on the PC, I wouldn't think. Although I guess it depends on how the file system works, they could well slow down the file system looking for files it needs ? Anyhow, it's more ethical than stealing software, and the only chance these companies have to survive. If you don't get the chance to use it for 30 days, you're not likely to decide you need it, or that it's any good. And you know what they are doing when you download a 30 day trial. Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++
Unfortunately, the uninstall processes can leave many files and/or registry entries - programs don't clean-up themselves very well. There are good reasons for this - for instance - to stop you continually uninstall and re-install a trial program. Running RegMon and FileMon (freeware both from www.sysinternals) before installing any trial programs, they will record exactly what was happening to your computer (keep these running on "first run" of trial prog). Save report to a text file. You can then at anytime interrogate those txtfile records and clean-up your computer as if the trial/demo program was never installed. Note of caution, the textfile reports will be mammoth.
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The difference... You knew the terms when you installed it. Rootkits rarely tell you in an obvious way, "Hey, we're going to inject our code into your OS and cripple your DRM related fun." Sony is a mud-lake of pig-spawn and I will never trust any product from them ever again.
If we all used the Plain English compiler every post in the lounge would be a programming question.:cool:
Welcome to CP in your language. Post the unicode version in My CP Blog [ ^ ] now.People who don't understand how awesome Firefox is have never used CPhog. The act of using CPhog alone doesn't make Firefox cool. It opens your eyes to the possibilities and then you start looking for other things like CPhog and your eyes are suddenly open to all sorts of useful things all through Firefox. - (Self Quote)
code-frog wrote:
a mud-lake of pig-spawn
What a lovely turn of phrase. I must remember it for my design review next Monday.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
There are several (hundreds of thousands) shareware/trialware applications that stop working after 30 days (or 15 or 21 or whatever). Uninstalling/reinstalling these apps will not get them to work again. The authors obviously have used some little tricks - like adding subtle entries to the registry, creating hidden files with names that do not attract suspicion etc. I understand why they do it, and I have even written a class that facilitates doing this (it's on CP too - though it's not remotely an effective solution). If you have installed/uninstalled a 100 of these apps, it means that there are a 100 of these 30-day-expiry detectors installed on your machine - without your explicit permission. How different would this be from a rootkit or from spyware? It's non-intrusive for sure, but it slows down your system (a bulkier registry for one thing), might create trash files in your windows and windows system folders (again an annoyance). So are these techniques ethical? Just because I installed an app, does that give that app's authors the right to install hidden software on my machine? Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications.If 100 unused registry entries noticably slows your system, I'd trade in that Atari for something a bit more modern. Similarly, if 100 marker files hidden on the disk drive is annoying, it's time for a drive upgrade. Heck, Windows installs many hundreds of files that never get used - locales, icons, screensavers, etc - and can't be removed easily. Who notices? Sure it's ethical - if you didn't try to get around their protection schemes by reinstalling, you'd never have noticed.;) "...a photo album is like Life, but flat and stuck to pages." - Shog9