Well, I think the LabVIEW guru guy won't be spamming us with garbage posts on info-LabVIEW for a while. This was my response to one of his emails:
You know... I said to myself that I wouldn't reply to this post but...
> That scripting feature may be hard to use, but given that it was given to
> GOOP (thanks for confirming that by the way), that makes it all the more
> desirable for developers such as myself.
> All we want are simple features made available by this
> scripting. Generation of controls, placement of subVIs. Those would be
> excellent features for those of us who have the need for 4GT.
> To be honest, I'd accept the risks involved, and even lack of support and
> documentation, just to have a chance to use these features. Of late, I
> have had so much need for this tool that its not funny. I'm sorely
> dissappointed that NI made this available to Endevo, but won't make it
> available to others.
I too want scripting and I'm sure my reason is as valid as anyone else's.
However let's be reasonable. If Greg is really honest about the difficulty
and bugginess of this feature (and we have NO reason to doubt him), do you
really want to use it? Most of us are developers because we have customer
problems to solve, we don't want NI's problems as well. Even though we
participate in beta programs we at least want the beta features to be
something that is being released soon. What is the real reason for your
eagerness? Is it to develop some competing tool to the GOOP wizard and get
back at Endevo? See, I can hypothesize too! I'm sure when the time comes for
release there will be a beta period that will allow all of us to put
scripting "through its paces".
> Unfortunately, I have ethics, and wouldn't accept
> this hack/cheat/theft from the former NI employee, wether it was
> legit or not.
> Unfortunately, it (scripting) is not available to anyone but dirty
> rotten former NI employees cheap enough to steal the code and the
> password.
If you had ethics my friend, then you wouldn't be slandering people left and
right on this list. I don't know the specifics of the situation you're
talking about but in the end, who cares? We don't. I've been reading this
list for the past few years and the tone has always been acceptable. Yes, we
target NI every now and even I have gone off on a rant (about LabVIEW), but
this is ridiculous. You jumped into this list from Developers zone because
someone gave you low ratings? You think this list would be any more lenient
on you? Think again. The fact that you answer everything and anything and
disregard the fact that half of your answers are wrong says a lot.
Participation in this list is voluntary and is suppose to help people, not
confuse them.
> Speaking of which, I find it hard to put the topic to rest. The
> guy ripped
> the company I worked for to the tune of $500,000 in contracts. They are
> now out of business. Granted, they should have sued, and are no
> longer in
> business due in part to their own misgivings, but this guy's
> damages had a
> lot to do with it, and are directly responsible for my now 8 months of
> unemployment and current financial situation.
I'm sorry that you're unemployed and in difficult times, I've been there
myself. As you said, they should have sued and dealt with it in court. Do
you have proof of any of this? Why didn't you do something then? Why don't
you do something about it now? Why are you torturing us with this sob story?
You had your chance and you blew it. Please do not use this list as a podium
for your grievances.
> I just want to make sure
> that everyone is aware that just because someone uses LabVIEW,
> doesn't make
> them a good person. It seems clear to me now that not all LabVIEW
> programmers are honest. Code theft happens. Cheating, stealing, lying,
> etc happen. This recent talk of code protection had to have come
> up for a
> reason. I find it hard to believe that there was an innocent coincidence
> that led to the discovery of changing an exe to an llb and having
> access to
> code that way. Someone somewhere hacked someone's code. Knowing this,
> knowing this nemesis and his practices, and knowing what I now know about
> the security of NI's password protection of VIs says that security isn't
> something I can count on. Paranoia can be your friend.
I think paranoia is your ONLY friend. I guess we won't be seeing you
participate in OPENG then would we?
> Coincidentally, 4GT is a BIG part of this. If I were able to generate
> code, or dynamically place controls, I would feel comfortable with
> releasing or making available, some tools that I have created.
> For now,
> they will be unavailable, even for sale, to the LabVIEW world because of
> security concerns.
So, what you are saying is that you don't release code because it will be
hacked and your VI's exposed? Well what kind of special protection will the
scripting offer you? It will probably be code just like LabVIEW, or some
form of text? Whatever it is, it can be hacked like anything else, what are
you saying?
> I have never had LabVIEW users as clients or
> customers,
> and don't see a way for that to be possible, unless I can better
> protect my
> code. If I could generate code, I wouldn't have to worry about
> code being
> stolen, and I could offer some of my tools.
Most of the developers I know would prefer to spend a week or two to develop
their own home grown solution rather then hack away at some toolkit or
driver. However, if it does save time and solves a big problem then they buy
it. Like we bought database toolkit and office toolkit. Why should we steal
it? We just budget for it, in our project cost and operating costs.
> I will look into the GOOP toolkit further, but feel largely uncomfortable
> with "stealing code", whether it is legal or not.
Greg did not tell you to steal the GOOP toolkit. I think you try to read
between the lines too much. Been watching X-Files lately?
> I didn't write
> the code,
> I didn't buy it, and it wasn't offered. I have ethics, and as such, I...
People who keep touting their ethics all the time are the first ones to
break them.
Well... that was fun. And now I will set my Outlook email filter to send
Guru posts to my "special" folder marked "the Guru". When I'm feeling down
and under the weather, I will go into this folder for a nice chuckle.
