[ale] Volunteer work for non-profits

[Marvin Dickens]

> > 	Somehow I don't see the SBC (or whatever) ringing doorbells in the
> > tenements.
> 
> I can see it. It's a nauseating thought, but I wouldn't put it past
> M$ and their cronies. Admittedly, that statement does sound a bit
> paranoid :-), but in fact M$ has sicced BSA auditors on, for
> example, public schools in various parts of the US, so I guess
> the aphorism about them really being out to get us is appropriate.

Let me think for a minute.... Back in 1996 when I purchased a bundle of
MS-windows licenses (A 20 pack, I think...) a questionaire was included
that MS asked me to fill out. It looked harmless enough. One of the
questions that it asked was what other operating systems does your
corporation use. In this section under "other", I put IBM AIX and Linux.
3 months later we got a letter from the SBC, addressed to me at our
company. It stated something to the effect that they were aware that we
were using software that typically indicated that there was a strong
possiblity that we had unlicensed commercial software installed at our
site.

Was this just a coincidence? I doubt it. Further, on this letter was an
800 number I could call if I wanted to discuss it. So, I called it and
told them why I was calling and furthermore, every piece of software we
had was licensed and that we could prove it. In the course of
conversation, I basically told them to blow it out their a$$ and any
further contact they had with me or our company should be directed to
our corporate attorney. I followed it up with a certified letter. I
never heard from them again.


Best regards


Marvin Dickens 

 This is a digitally signed message part