Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!tivoli!alan
From: alan@tivoli.UUCP (Alan R. Weiss)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Bug Tracking systems - summary
Message-ID: <520@tivoli.UUCP>
Date: 28 Mar 91 20:04:22 GMT
References: <15485@scorn.sco.COM> <16520024@hpisod2.cup.hp.com>
Reply-To: alan@tivoli.UUCP (Alan R. Weiss)
Organization: Tivoli Systems Inc., Austin, TX
Lines: 54

In article <16520024@hpisod2.cup.hp.com> decot@hpisod2.cup.hp.com (Dave Decot) writes:
>> When I asked to have QualTrak's license for its demo (that's right, they
>> make you sign a *very* restrictive license for their *demo*), they said
>> that they would look into it.  They never managed to get back with me.
>> ...
>> _____________________________________________________________________
>> Alan R. Weiss                           TIVOLI Systems, Inc.
>
>I am having trouble understanding this.
>
>Did they send you the license agreement or not?

Yes.  They sent the original agreement.

>If not, how did you determine that it was "*very* restrictive"?

They sent the agreement PRIOR to sending the software.  I phoned
them, indicating that I could NOT sign such an agreement and place my
own firm in legal jeopardy.  They asked me what the offending
sentences were, and I told them.
>
>If so, did you sign and return it?  What did they say they would "look into"?

After that, they said that they would have their legal department
"look into" changing the wording.

They never got back to me with a new agreement, and I have not
received the demo software.  Personally, I am having a hard time
caring about this, since we are now using NO PROBLEM! from Pencom
Software, but I just wanted people to know that *demo* agreements
can be written in such a manner as to be impossible to sign or face
a breach of fiduciary duty that a manager has to his/her own firm.

BTW, the offending sentences had to do with the requirement that I
not show either the manual OR the demo itself to anyone else
(that was how it was written, although what they *meant* was to
anyone outside of my company ... this was explained when I phoned them).
I said that, in order to use a bug tracking system, I would like
some of my design partner customers (early Beta customers) to
use this directly.  The question was, could I let THEM take a look
at it, since if THEY felt that the system was too cumbersome then
I am certainly not going to use it (the customer comes first).
THAT was the crux of the issue.

I'm curious:  why do you ask?


_______________________________________________________________________
Alan R. Weiss                           TIVOLI Systems, Inc.
E-mail: alan@tivoli.com                 6034 West Courtyard Drive,
E-mail: alan@whitney.tivoli.com         Suite 210
Voice : (512) 794-9070                  Austin, Texas USA  78730
Fax   : (512) 794-0623     "I speak only for myself, not for TIVOLI"
_______________________________________________________________________