

For the good of software, software must die - evangineer
http://alarmingdevelopment.org/?p=555

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makecheck
Software depends on its hardware. If the hardware dies, or no one writes an
emulator, that program will stop being used. But even if a particular
incarnation of an idea is no longer used, it _will_ exist on modern hardware
if it is still a useful thing to do (via a port, a rewrite, or even as a
dedicated part of the hardware itself). That isn't to say it won't _cost_ more
to keep an older design afloat, but it happens all the time.

Some forms of emulation are not even obvious to end users. For instance, there
is an _alarming_ amount of effort spent on Windows operating systems and the
Intel architecture to enforce decades-old decisions so that programs expecting
certain behaviors don't require code changes. You may not know it when you run
something, but its very ability to execute can be the result of a hack upon a
hack at both the software and hardware levels. It's not even that uncommon for
a platform to say "if program A, apply hack X; if program B, apply hack Y;
else hack nothing".

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rch
Nice theory... but, sometimes the old stuff is pretty OK.

How about time limited GPL instead? Transition to public domain after 5 or 10
years.

Or tie it to media copyright terms - If company X wants Y to be public domain,
they have to lobby for shorter copyrights on movies. :)

