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From: seanf@sco.COM (Sean Fagan)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Ethics of crippler circuitry
Message-ID: <2313@scolex.sco.COM>
Date: 19 Feb 89 19:41:05 GMT
References: <7143@pyr.gatech.EDU> <11630010@hpsmtc1.HP.COM> <1257@raspail.UUCP> <132@aucis.UUCP> <751@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com>
Reply-To: seanf@scolex.UUCP (Sean Fagan)
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Lines: 23

In article <751@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com> tat@pccuts.pcc.amdahl.com (Tom Thackrey) writes:
>First, the upgrade is seldom that simple.  Second, it's a trade secret,
>so if you find out how you've probably found out from someone who will
>end up in court with you when the manufacturer finds out.  Third, there
>is usually some microcode which you can't get unless you have an official
>upgrade.  Fourth, in the case of mainframes, you'd have trouble making the
>change without the field engineers finding out.

1.  Sometimes it is.  See a previous article about CDC's and upgrading.
2.  Not necessarily.  In the case of (1) above, it was discovered when they
upgraded one of their machines and looked at the differences.  They owned,
of course, both machines.
3.  Not all machines have microcode, which is why the Cybers mentioned above
could be upgraded by the removal of a wire or two.  Crays also don't have
microcode ("Real(tm) Computers don't have Microcode").
4.  If it's easy, what you do is deliberately slow the machine down for when
the ce's come by.  If it's microcode, all you have to do is have two boot
tapes.

-- 
Sean Eric Fagan  | "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world,
seanf@sco.UUCP   |  the master calls a butterfly."  -- Richard Bach
(408) 458-1422   | Any opinions expressed are my own, not my employers'.