On 7 May 99, at 10:35, Darryl Luther wrote: > I'm almost embarrassed to be using > an LSOFT product after reading that written tongue-lashing... I certainly didn't see it as a tongue-lashing. The parts about innocent software trying to defend itself and "better you than us" were definitely tongue-in-cheek. (It's adapted from a sign in a sub-shop: "We don't give you credit, you get mad. We give you credit, you don't pay us back, we get mad. Better _you_ get mad"). What you call "blame-shifting" (although I assume you mean "protection from blame-shifting"), I call "traceability". Trying to troubleshoot problems in software that doesn't leave a trace is very difficult -- not just for the software vendor trying to do support, but for the person running the software. I consider it a feature to be desired (even required). I can understand the need for certain things to be hidden -- I use QUIET and .HH ON / .HH OFF quite a lot. But even .HH leaves a trace so that someone won't be stuck inadvertantly trying to troubleshoot a partial header. Anyway, don't be embarrassed at buying L-Soft products -- they didn't quite realize what they were getting into when they hired me ;-) (That was also tongue-in-cheek, BTW) Francoise