[pc110] RE: TouchPad driver (was PC110 For Sale)

Josh (jg nospam at thegrid.net)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:26:01 -0800

To clarify my side...
I have beef with nobody on this issue, I know we all appreciate Mr. Perkins
work on this driver, it's been a real plus to PC110 users who run 95 and he
deserves our appreciation.
I don't think the fact that I mentioned a "TouchPad Driver" in my PC110
post warranted a mini flame war.

But I am NOT using this driver to boost "MY" PC110 sales, I'm not a PC110
dealer, I'm not profiting off the driver in anyway, I am not reducing the
price of my PC110 just because the driver is not included, I'll reduce the
price to sell it.

I was bit taken with the fact that you felt threatened or something because
I put the words "Touchpad Driver" on my post then you had to go & tell
everybody on the list as if I was a criminal violating your copyright.
And all this ask nicely stuff like I'm a peasant or something, I mean where
was I being mean in the first place? Dude, your being rigid.
We are not blowing hundreds on tiny palmtops only to pirate software &
drivers or be MEAN.

If I offended or frustrated you for your hard work on this driver, well
excuse me sir, it wasn't my intention, I respect you and appreciate your
work - you sure the hell know more than me about writing drivers, you're
the man, and I know the PC110 community would love to see more development
for the PC110, don't let my PC110 post ruin it for everyone else.
BUT, I say this, relax. nobody is pimping your driver, at least not that I
know of and it is not me...
Your driver is totally eleminated from my system & no one will ever get it
from me, they all know where to get it.
If you don't believe me, I invite you to buy my PC110 & see for yourself
(no refunds).

Now if somebody wants the windows 95 TouchPad Driver "I" wrote Email me & I
will send it to you, you can distribute it freely & sell it as you wish,
include it in systems, etc.... Just give me credit for it... Oh, I have to
warn you, it doesn't work & use it at your own risk.

Again, bottom line, no hard feelings, I'm still gonna sell my PC110 (if I
can), your driver is not included. We're all happy guys here.

cheers,

josh
(soon to be a former PC110 owner, I think...).

At 11:04 AM 11/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>
>Hmm, seem to be a few points to clarify here:
>
>Josh, you stated "Touchpad drivers installed." then "It's currently
>running WIN95..." on the very next line. That's why I assumed you were
>referring to a Windows driver, not a PW or Linux driver. That wouldn't
>make sense, right? If there's another Win95 driver out there, I'd love
>to hear about it.
>
>Alan, it's my intention to provide the driver for download well into the
>future. I am building a new web server right now in fact.
>(http://www.pobox.com/~pc110 will automatically point to the new server
>when it's up.)
>
>I would also like to clarify why I am taking this position. In the past
>I have released work to the world at large for no fee only to find
>others distributing it in various ways for profit. I found this
>frustrating and offensive.
>
>In the case of this driver, I could have easily left the driver as just
>a core running on my machine and any others I chose to install it on.
>Instead, I went to the effort of putting an interface on it and
>documenting it so that others in the community can use it.
>
>My only restriction was that it is not distributed without my
>permission. I didn't want to see companies -- or individuals -- using MY
>work as a way of leveraging THEIR sales, or losing control of the
>distribution.
>
>As I'm sure you all know, if claims to copyright aren't enforced in the
>USA you risk losing them. That's why I felt it appropriate to post my
>original message.
>
>In this specific case, had Josh asked for permission (nicely!), he would
>have received it.Finally, Josh, you can't copyright an individual's
>name. Trademark it, yes, but not copyright it. (In the US anyhow.) <g>
>
>Cheers,
>Rex.
>(Wondering if I should bother making my keyboard driver available for
>download or just keep it for myself...)
>