dreamliner77
The Analog Kid
- Joined
- 16 Mar 2002
- Messages
- 4,716
"I am the author of the project PxLinux, the (very modest) Linux port of Pxscan software (by Alexander Noe). As a PX716A buyer and Linux user, I wanted to get the same features than Windows users. After all, I payed exactly the same price !
Pxlinux allowed users to perform Q-checks under Linux. SCSI commands were sent to the drive and then the drive response was collected. Gnuplot was then used to display the results of PIF/PISUM/TA checks.
Today I have received a letter from a lawyer company based in Brussels, on behalf of Shinano Kenshi, the Japanese company that develops Plextools and Plextools Pro. They ask me to remove the project from the different locations. In their letter, they accuse me (and Alexander, who received another letter), of harming "their good name and fame" and of "unfair commercial practices". In no way I tried to harm them : not only my project was not commercial, but also I wanted on the contrary make Plextor drives more attractive to Linux users, by giving them features that were only available to Windows users. On the legal level, interoperability is perfectly fair and legal. On the commercial level, the winner was Plextor, because on various Linux sites, I used to advertise their features and the fact these features were available to all, increasing the number of potential customers, who take care to buy hardware that is compatible with their OS.
You can imagine I am utterly disgusted. I have a lot of work (that's why the project was quite stalled these times, but had some success according to the downloads and feedback I got), and I don't think I have the will and the time to fight back. As usual, it is easier for big companies to threaten isolated people, even if they are in their good will and rights. I am very sorry for the people who had interests in this project, or wanted to help me to develop the program further.
Kind regards to everyone who was interested by the project,
Zeb"
Read more here.
Pxlinux allowed users to perform Q-checks under Linux. SCSI commands were sent to the drive and then the drive response was collected. Gnuplot was then used to display the results of PIF/PISUM/TA checks.
Today I have received a letter from a lawyer company based in Brussels, on behalf of Shinano Kenshi, the Japanese company that develops Plextools and Plextools Pro. They ask me to remove the project from the different locations. In their letter, they accuse me (and Alexander, who received another letter), of harming "their good name and fame" and of "unfair commercial practices". In no way I tried to harm them : not only my project was not commercial, but also I wanted on the contrary make Plextor drives more attractive to Linux users, by giving them features that were only available to Windows users. On the legal level, interoperability is perfectly fair and legal. On the commercial level, the winner was Plextor, because on various Linux sites, I used to advertise their features and the fact these features were available to all, increasing the number of potential customers, who take care to buy hardware that is compatible with their OS.
You can imagine I am utterly disgusted. I have a lot of work (that's why the project was quite stalled these times, but had some success according to the downloads and feedback I got), and I don't think I have the will and the time to fight back. As usual, it is easier for big companies to threaten isolated people, even if they are in their good will and rights. I am very sorry for the people who had interests in this project, or wanted to help me to develop the program further.
Kind regards to everyone who was interested by the project,
Zeb"
Read more here.
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