Subject: Re: What Lisp to choose?
From: Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no>
Date: 2000/06/01
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Message-ID: <3168849850345688@naggum.no>

* dlinenbe@my-deja.com
| I am thinking of buying the product, but my Franz rep tells me I
| need to sign a letter of intent to purchase the product before
| getting a 30 day trial of it!!

  This is scary stuff to the legally naïve, but a letter of intent is
  not a contract.  You are under no obligation actually to purchase
  anything if you don't want to after the trial period is over, but
  you have to notify the other party of a change of intent.  This is a
  means of maintaining control over who receives trial versions and
  ensures that they either return or purchase it within a reasonable
  time.

  There are lots of unnecessary legal papers to sign or deal with in
  most transactions, but they become necessary in a dispute.  If you
  haven't arranged for them beforehand, you're basically hosed.  In an
  over-litigious society like the American, this probably makes a lot
  more people than necessary feel like they are suspected of cheating,
  or at least thought capable of cheating, which by itself causes some
  to cheat in anger or spite, which sort of proves the point that the
  paperwork is necessary to protect oneself from such people...

#:Erik
-- 
  If this is not what you expected, please alter your expectations.