Path: csiph.com!feeder.erje.net!2.us.feeder.erje.net!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!micro-heart-of-gold.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!panix!gordon From: John Gordon Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Abandonware should fall back into the public domain Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:17:45 +0000 (UTC) Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and UNIX, NYC Lines: 20 Message-ID: References: <5414fb2b-0598-4ff2-9bf2-c0cdc704686d@googlegroups.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: panix1.panix.com X-Trace: reader2.panix.com 1512062265 24482 166.84.1.1 (30 Nov 2017 17:17:45 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@panix.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:17:45 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: nn/6.7.3 Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:123641 In <5414fb2b-0598-4ff2-9bf2-c0cdc704686d@googlegroups.com> "Rick C. Hodgin" writes: > As the years go by and more and more previously commercial (and even > open source) software makes the move into abandonware, where the original > copyright and/or patent holder is no longer maintaining or developing the > software ... my view is it should move into the area of the public domain, How do you define abandonware? If a program was released some years ago and has received no updates, but continues to work perfectly well for its original intended purpose, is it abandonware? And even if it doesn't work perfectly well, why should the author be obligated to provide ongoing maintenance? Comparable works (books, etc.) do not have this restriction. -- John Gordon A is for Amy, who fell down the stairs gordon@panix.com B is for Basil, assaulted by bears -- Edward Gorey, "The Gashlycrumb Tinies"