Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!ames!sun-barr!texsun!texbell!uhnix1!sugar!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.misc Subject: Re: BISON, GCC, and the GNU public license Message-ID: <5362@ficc.uu.net> Date: 30 Jul 89 16:13:10 GMT References: <26@ark1.nswc.navy.mil> <4989@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 26 In article <4989@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu>, cck@deneb.ucdavis.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth) writes: > If > I lease a piece of equipment and its craps out, the leasing company does > not ask me to pay extra for a later version, they provide a substitute > that works. With leasing, maintenance is typically the responsibility > of the owner, not the user. Software doesn't crap out. What happens is that new versions of the software come out. If I lease an '84 Porsche 928, does that mean I'm entitled to a free upgrade to an '88 model, just because it's got a better Cd? > Moreover, the analogy breaks down for tax purposes. Unless I am mistaken, > the IRS treats the usual acquisition of software as a purchase, not a > lease. In 1982 the IRS treated me as a permanent resident of the U.S.. I was a resident of Texas for tax purposes. That didn't mean I could go to the INS and get a green card instead of my F-1 visa, or that I didn't have to pay out-of-state tuition at state colleges. I.e., what the IRS says is irrelevant. -- Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation. Business: peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180. | "The sentence I am now Personal: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com. `-_-' | writing is the sentence Quote: Have you hugged your wolf today? 'U` | you are now reading"