>>> for an envelope containing a sheet of paper with a number printed on it. 
>>> Like, WTF?)
>>
>> Hehe, we just paid about 4000 pounds for a 46 byte text file :-)
>
> ...??!

License server key for some additional packages in our CAD software.  The 
actual CAD software DVDs include *everything* (I hate to imagine the cost of 
buying that), but packages/features are unlocked depending on your license 
key.  If you want to unlock more features, you just pay them some money and 
they send you a new license key.

In theory you could work out how they generate the key (they use the MAC 
address somehow to generate it) and then generate your own key to unlock 
everything!

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scott wrote:

> License server key for some additional packages in our CAD software.  
> The actual CAD software DVDs include *everything* (I hate to imagine the 
> cost of buying that), but packages/features are unlocked depending on 
> your license key.  If you want to unlock more features, you just pay 
> them some money and they send you a new license key.
> 
> In theory you could work out how they generate the key (they use the MAC 
> address somehow to generate it) and then generate your own key to unlock 
> everything!


to send us a code number to allow us to install it on another server. 


As my boss at the time muttered, "it seems we're in the wrong line of 
business".

(Seriously, why bother running a big expensive lab when we could just 
sit around all day charging people extortionate amounts of mony to write 
psuedorandom numbers on sheets of paper...)

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Invisible wrote:
> (Seriously, why bother running a big expensive lab when we could just
> sit around all day charging people extortionate amounts of mony to write
> psuedorandom numbers on sheets of paper...)

Or charge people huge amounts of money for just a set of keys (that gives
them access to a house).

They don't charge for the number, they charge for what the number will give
you access to.

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scott wrote:
> generate your own key to unlock everything!

http://www.google.com/#q=keygen

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   I ordered stamps from Zazzle that read "Place Stamp Here".

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Invisible wrote:
> As my boss at the time muttered, "it seems we're in the wrong line of 
> business".

Manufacturing trumps service any time. That's one of the things I don't like 
about GPL software. It turns programming into a service job instead of a 
manufacturing job.

It happens with payment systems too. Every time I build a payment system, I 
get paid $0.03 for every $10 porn sale some college kid makes. Wrong 
business indeed.

-- 
   Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
   I ordered stamps from Zazzle that read "Place Stamp Here".

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> http://www.google.com/#q=keygen

Perhaps I won't be trying that at work :-)

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scott wrote:
>> Can you get an argument list? How about type information?
> 
> No. No.

IMHO these 2 options would make good optional features if you would like 
to truly make a public .dll.

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> Did anybody else notice that, unlike every other GUIDE on the planet, 
> these ones have a *pattern* in them?
>
> CAFE-EFAC? Oh, that's cute. ABCDEF-FEDCBA? Come on, guys...

Reminds of the old Acorn days, they used to use DEAD or DEAD-DEAD quite 
frequently to mark stuff ;-)

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> I found a DLL called autodisk.dll which exports half a dozen functions and 
> hundreds of COM methods and properties. I found several other DLLs which 
> apparently export... absolutely nothing. (Why do they exist then?)

Just been reading about .net assemblies, these are also saved as .dll files 
but won't expose any "traditional" functions, maybe you found some of these 
too.  BTW the .net assemblies contain type and parameter info in the .dll 
file, so with a suitable tool (or with a few commands from a .net language) 
you can find out what's in there.

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scott wrote:
>> I found a DLL called autodisk.dll which exports half a dozen functions 
>> and hundreds of COM methods and properties. I found several other DLLs 
>> which apparently export... absolutely nothing. (Why do they exist then?)
> 
> Just been reading about .net assemblies, these are also saved as .dll 
> files but won't expose any "traditional" functions, maybe you found some 
> of these too.  BTW the .net assemblies contain type and parameter info 
> in the .dll file, so with a suitable tool (or with a few commands from a 
> .net language) you can find out what's in there.

Yeah, after reading about the whole PE file format, it becomes clear 
that the exported symbols are just one mere table inside the file, and 
there can in fact be an arbitrary number of others. That's why a resouce 
editor shows one thing, a DLL inspector shows another, and no doubt the 
.NET inspector tools show something else again. There's no limit to how 
much data you can shove into a PE file. (Which is a good thing, really...)

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