[hercules-390] Re: I'm downloading z/VM from IBM...

--- In [email protected], Jay Maynard <jmaynard@...>
wrote:
>
> On Mon, Aug 04, 2008 at 06:38:45AM -0500, Jay Maynard wrote:
> [about the z/VM trial edition:]
> > FWIW, there's an interesting bit in the license...but that belongs on
> > hercules-advocacy, not here.
> 
> The license says, in part:
> 
>     z/VM Version 5 Release 3 Evaluation Edition operates on the IBM
System
>     z10 Enterprise Class (z10 EC). The Program requires hardware that
>     implements the IBM 64-bit z/Architecture in order to execute
properly
>     and therefore You are not authorized to install or use this
Program on
>     any machine that does not properly implement 64-bit z/Architecture.
> 
> Note that it does not say that "you must run this Program only on a
z10 EC".
> IBM is very, very good at making licenses say exactly what they want
them to
> mean. To me, this means that the evaluation edition may be run on
Hercules
> as long as Hercules properly implements the 64-bit z/Architecture.

I think the reality of this is that it is of limited use.  Having read
through the terms a little more closely than before, there are
restrictions which would make it difficult to consider the use of this
trial software by any of us legal under the terms of the license, or
at least not for very long.

Aside from the fact that this will not install under Hercules without
the assistance of another z/Architecture version of VM, there are
several parts of the license which are of concern.

<quote>
You may 1) use the Program only for internal evaluation, testing, or
demonstration purposes, on a trial or "try-and-buy" basis
</quote>

This makes it clear that this is what it says; a trial product, not a
hobbyist's license.

<quote>
The evaluation period begins when You agree to the terms of this
Agreement and ends 1) as of the duration or date specified in the
License Information, or 2) when the Program automatically disables
itself. There is no charge for the use of the Program for the duration
of the evaluation period. Unless IBM specifies in the License
Information that You may retain the Program, You will destroy the
Program and all copies made of it within ten days of the end of the
evaluation period.
</quote>

and

<quote>
The evaluation period begins on the date that You agree to the terms
of this Agreement and ends after 90 days.
</quote>

90 days isn't a huge amount of time, and, at the end of that period,
you would have to destroy any copy of the product you may have.  It
ain't really a keeper.

As you rightly point out, there is also the matter of where it can be
run.  The part that states "The Program requires hardware that
implements the IBM 64-bit z/Architecture in order to execute properly
and therefore You are not authorized to install or use this Program on
any machine that does not properly implement 64-bit z/Architecture"
could be interpretted as "you can run this on Hercules as long as it
implements 64-bit z/Architecture properly", but who determines that? 
IBM may take that to mean that it can be run on any machine that it
has determined runs 64-bit z/Architecture properly, which would mean
that Hercules would have had to have passed IBM's architectural tests
to qualify, and we all know that is not going to happen.

There's also the matter of the word "hardware" to consider.  Hercules
definitely is not a piece of hardware but a piece of software running
on totally incompatible hardware.  True, it could be argued that even
IBM's hardware implementation is handled by several layers of
microcode and as such is also a software solution, but that's probably
splitting the hair a little too fine.

I did think to download and hang onto it just to say I'd got it even
if Hercules would not install it due to the console issue, but even
that's not really permitted by the license.  It kind of reminded me of
that time Madonna put out an MP3 file on the file sharing networks
proporting to be of some new release but it just turned out to be her
swearing and cursing about how the people who downloaded it should go
out and buy it instead of stealing.  There wound up being a whole load
of fans who went out trying to download that file just so they could
say they'd got it.

Ah, well!