Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 18:28:17 -0600 (MDT) From: Nate Williams <nate@mt.sri.com> To: joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de (Joerg Wunsch) Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Minor linux_emul update Message-ID: <199706040028.SAA29239@rocky.mt.sri.com> In-Reply-To: <19970604000805.OZ37222@uriah.heep.sax.de> References: <19970603082347.TZ02340@uriah.heep.sax.de> <199706030734.RAA02671@genesis.atrad.adelaide.edu.au> <19970604000805.OZ37222@uriah.heep.sax.de>
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> > > Why pirate? Somehow, you must generate the number, one way or the > > > other. You know it... I've got no ethernet at all, so what's the > > > returned number? > > > > It's empty, and you require a different license type. > ... > > An ethernet address is about as ``secure'' as any other arbitrarily > invented number. I can forge an ethernet address as well on almost > any modern ethernet card, the times when they have been set in stone > by a GAL or other hardware have long since gone anyway. They are > stored in EEPROMs these days (so it at worst requires a soldering > iron). Anyone qualified enough to burn an EEPROM or forge an ethernet address is probably able to figure out how to un-engineer the licensing scheme. Licensing schemes are only as good as the people using the software. > I think it should be invented at the first use, and stored in some > configuration file then. Even Slowarlis (x86) does it this way. The > (Un-)FlexLM suits seem to can live with this. Copying a file is *much* easier to do, and can be done by even the most unqualified computer user. The licensing folks need a way to tie the license to a particular piece of hardware, and files simply don't cut it. An ethernet card/address is *generally* much more static than any other piece of hardware in a particular machine. Unfortunately, there is no complete solution to the problem, so a 'best guess' is good enough. Nate ps. Please leave me in the Cc: list when replying.
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