Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!helios!t1f4387
From: t1f4387@helios.TAMU.EDU (Mike Farlow)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Morality of Self-Destructing HyperCard Stack
Summary: Want Comments and Suggestions on the above subjecT
Keywords: HyperCard
Message-ID: <4286@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Date: 20 Feb 90 20:36:06 GMT
Distribution: comp.sys.mac,comp.sys.mac.digest,comp.sys.mac.programmer
Organization: Texas A&M University
Lines: 46

A friend and I are beginning a HyperCard project that will be
distrubuted to new students at Texas A&M to show them were the different
computing facilities are located and what types of hardware/software is
at those facilities.

After we create this stack for A&M, we hope to be able to offer the
shell and a 'Construction Stack' to other universities that would like
to have it.  Also a demo stack will be posted to the usual places.

Since we want to be the central distribution site for this stack, we
want deliver full working version only to sites who license with the
Trustees of Texas A&M (we hope this license to be free, i.e. John
Norstad's Disinfectant).  The primary reason being for us to offer
support, all copies of the stack must be consistent (less site-specific
information).  As a result, the DEMO would automatically cripple itself
after a preset amount of time.

Our question is this:

Is it morally reprehensible to develop a piece of software that will
destroy/cripple itself?

We have considered the following options to accomplish this:

o Hiding the destruct mechanism inside a _vital_ XCMD or XFCN.

o Deletion of the scripts for all the cards/buttons/backgrounds. (This
  leaves the stack intact, but functionally useless)

o OR physical deletion of the stack from the disk.


We would appreciate your comments on our methods.  WE ARE NOT soliciting
views on the morality of cripple-ware itself.  What we need is feedback
on the least obnoxious method of crippling our stack.

Please reply direct to me since I do not read c.s.m a whole lot.  A
summary will be posted once the replies have died down.

Thank you.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Michael Farlow,                    X098MF@TAMVM1.BITNET
MicroComputer Specialist           X098MF@TAMVM1.TAMU.EDU 
Computing Services Center
Texas A&M University               Thank you, John Norstad!!!