Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!purdue!decwrl!labrea!polya!ali
From: ali@polya.STANFORD.EDU (Ali T. Ozer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: AMIGA disks
Message-ID: <2755@polya.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 4 May 88 15:14:31 GMT
References: <8804261109.AA26974@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <1298@csvax.liv.ac.uk>
Reply-To: ali@polya.UUCP (Ali T. Ozer)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 28

In article <1298@csvax.liv.ac.uk> unpowell@csvax.liv.ac.uk writes:
> ... there is a PD program out on the Amiga called "DOS to DOS" ...
>I think (hope) this program is public domain. A friend has got it,
>so if it is I'll post it into comp.amiga.binaries in the next week or so.

Arg! No, no, no, this program is not public domain. Whenever there's
*any* doubt that any program you got your hands on is not public
domain or freely distributable please make sure before you treat it as such.

The lack of a "freely distributable" notice in the copyright notice or the
about box should almost always make you suspicious of a "free" program.
If the program also has fancy or professional-looking startup screen(s)
then you should really wonder. I suggest browsing through the 
mail-order ads in the back of Amiga World or the Amiga product listings
that've appeared in most magazines at one time or another to see if the
program is on sale. That should pretty much leave no doubt that the program
is a commercial product.

For instance, DOS to DOS is listed as a $39 product in this one ad I just
opened up to.

Of course, there are some exceptions --- For instance, GOMF originally
appeared as a freely distributable program. GOMF 2.0 is a commercial
product, however. Thus there is room for confusion, but I believe the
early GOMF clearly states in the ABOUT box that it is a shareware
product and not a commercial one.

Ali Ozer, ali@polya.stanford.edu