Not only text documents are affected. The same goes for some *.dll files
and executables... :-(
I've downloaded some. I think their size is double because the rar file
contains also the source code of the utility.
As this appears to be a legit pcmag mirror, we're
following the letter of their licensing agreement by
downloading from them!
I've downloaded some. I think their size is double because the rar file
contains also the source code of the utility.
B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson said:Sad as it is: One *cannot* obtain PCMag utilities rightful as
freeware, anymore. The change of their distribution scheme (in
combination with their old license restrictions) didn't leave any
legal choice for *free* download.
Patrick said:Yes, this is ambiguous. These utilities were once free, you could
download them from a PC Mag site and get the source code but you
couldn't distribute them. That was the (fair) deal. Now, to get the same
package from the same site, you have to pay a (small) subscription fee.
New utilities don't come with the source code, by the way.
I don't want to discuss this decision publicly because this is not my
business and because I'm not the owner of the code (PC Mag Utilities
authors are/were independent authors paid to produce a utility and
transfer ownership to PC Mag). Releasing a new utility every other month
(or even more frequently) costed a lot of work and money, believe me.
The production process was very professional and a lot of time was spent
testing and re-testing the code, tweaking the features and the user
interface. Those who are using these utilities should say a big "thank
you" to Sheryl Canter, the former manager of the Utilities column.
But I think that leaving free access to the old utilities while
requesting a fee for the new ones would have been a better and more fair
solution.
Have you noticed the shrinking size of the magazine??
They need every nickel they can get.
What's needed is a good magazine about FREEWARE and how to use it.
Hopefully, any advertising would be done tastefully and inobtrusively.
When PC Magazine started charging for their utilities, that was the
final straw for them. Haven't read an issue of that magazine for a long
time.
Hell, the way I see it.... with all the advertising in Ziff-Davis or
CNET (or whatever they call themselves now) their magazines, they should
be paying ME to read their crap. There is very little of value in them
anymore, and about the only applications they cover and provide their
limited "how tos" for are Microsoft applications. Even their
"editorials" are nothing more than thinly disguised advertising.
Yes, this is ambiguous. These utilities were once free, you could
download them from a PC Mag site and get the source code but you
couldn't distribute them. That was the (fair) deal. Now, to get the same
package from the same site, you have to pay a (small) subscription fee.
New utilities don't come with the source code, by the way.
I don't want to discuss this decision publicly because this is not my
business and because I'm not the owner of the code (PC Mag Utilities
authors are/were independent authors paid to produce a utility and
transfer ownership to PC Mag). Releasing a new utility every other month
(or even more frequently) costed a lot of work and money, believe me.
The production process was very professional and a lot of time was spent
testing and re-testing the code, tweaking the features and the user
interface. Those who are using these utilities should say a big "thank
you" to Sheryl Canter, the former manager of the Utilities column.
But I think that leaving free access to the old utilities while
requesting a fee for the new ones would have been a better and more fair
solution.
David said:I think you will find that the deal was that you could use these
utilities only if you had the relevant copy of the magazine. That has
been the policy of most magazines going back to the first disks on
magazines in the eighties.
Downloading, distributing or giving away the programs, unaccompanied
by the magazines, was, and is, not allowed.
I think you will find that the deal was that you could use these
utilities only if you had the relevant copy of the magazine.
Patrick said:Distributing and giving away was not allowed. Downloading from the PC
Mag site was allowed and encouraged (because of the ads on the download
pages).
And as the author of some of these utilities, I can assure you that the
programs were usable without having the magazine handy. Each utility
came with a full help system.
Mel said:
Even though the Website says:
<quote>
Welcome to the "Free Software Magazine" project. Free Software Magazine
is the free magazine for the free software world, available on paper and
in electronic format.
</quote>
I think they used one too many "free"s 'cause their rates are:
Hardcopy:
- US customers for 12 months: $60
- NON-US customers for 12 months: $108
Softcopy:
- US and NON-US customers for 12 months: $24
Distributing and giving away was not allowed. Downloading from the PC
Mag site was allowed and encouraged (because of the ads on the download
pages).
And as the author of some of these utilities, I can assure you that the
programs were usable without having the magazine handy. Each utility
came with a full help system.
Sad as it is: One *cannot* obtain PCMag utilities rightful as freeware,
anymore. The change of their distribution scheme (in combination with
their old license restrictions) didn't leave any legal choice for *free*
download.
I'm sure the programs were useable without the magazine. I was talking
about the legality of having the programs without buying the Mag. Most
magazines deem this to be illegal even if they, seemingly, encourage
it.
I see. Already deleted the downloaded ones.
Sincerely, more for the doubt about their different size, because I had many
PC Magazine utilities when we could download them freely, but I lost them
with my previous PC.
Maybe you find your old backup floppy of these utilities if sometimes a
*reliable* source for download shows up on the net again... ;-)
Yes. That may be true for 'most magazines'. But it wasn't the case for
the PCMag utilities. The former editors of PCMag thought it a good idea
to attract people to their magazine and spread the word of PCMag as a
source of valuable information and help. And, IMHO, they were right
doing so. PCMag in these days was an institution. (If I may use that
word.) Now it is only one computer related magazine out of many, which
gets less and less attractive, as others pointed out.
If you dig a bit around you'll find different sources of information to
the legality of the free distribution and usage of their utilities. One
is the famous posting of the PCMag editor Robin Raskin. You can find it
if you look for MsgID <[email protected]> in Google or
read the article Timo Salmi set up on Garbo after removing the PCMag
section:
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/pcmagvol/pcmagvol.txt
Another method is using the Internet Archive. If you're browsing old
web pages of www.pcmag.com you'll find licensing information as well.
One sample issued from 1996 to 1997:
| COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
| The programs presented in PC Magazine can be copied but are copyrighted.
| You may make copies for others if no charge is involved, but making
| copies or using any portion for any commercial purpose is strictly
| prohibited.
And in another part of the same page:
| PC Magazine's utilities are free. Still, we recognize the need to provide
| an avenue for technical support. The discussion areas on the Web and ZD
| Net/CompuServe are available for this purpose. We are not in a position,
| however, to offer every avenue for technical support (phone, email) that
| a commercial software company offers.
|
| -- Sheryl Canter, Contributing Editor / Utilities section
Source:
http://web.archive.org -> www.pcmag.com/download/support.htm
No need to obtain a printed version of the PC Magazine is mentioned.
Even further: Around this time the full text of the articles describing
any PCMag utility was available on the PCMag site, too. For free!
I can't get hold of an exact date, when the licensing changed. The last
utilities which were freely available through Simtel and Garbo date back
to the midst of 1998. After that time some reorganization took place in
the Ziff Davis group (the holder of PC Magazine since 1982 - if Wikipedia
got it right). Primarily the internet presence suffered several changes.
Some side-effects can be read here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1754295,00.asp
Be it as it may, restricted license agreements (forbidding distribution)
can be found since May 1999:
http://web.archive.org -> www.zdnet.com/pcmag/utilities/license.html
BeAr