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From: John_H on 22 May 2010 19:50
Call me a sadist, but I tend to cruise through the license agreements
and EULAs before installing software to make sure I'm not being
victimized by using someone's application. I wanted to bring my S3E
starter kit back up to prototype Xilinx-based algorithms while
employed by a particularly Altera-friendly group. Loading ISE 12.1, I
not only find lawyer-speak that's longer than Facebook privacy policy
but see that:

"Webtalk" is a required component to run Webpack.

A quote from the second page of legalese: "Please note that WebTalk
will collect and transmit certain data that may contain (or be
correlated to reveal, primarily via the Authorization Codes data)
personally identifiable information. By agreeing to this Agreement,
you hereby give your consent (on behalf of Licensee and Users) for
Xilinx to use and disclose this information anywhere in the world for
the purposes and as described in this Agreement."

Crud.

Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
Xilinx? I just want to prototype some stuff and do NOT like my
computer to leak information out into the world beyond my control. At
the moment my form of control is to not install ISE. To not use
Xilinx.

Hey - at least it's not like Cadence who says that anything I send
them - designs, etc - effectively becomes public domain. But it
leaves a seriously bad taste in my mouth.

- John_H
From: John_H on 22 May 2010 21:51
On May 22, 7:50 pm, John_H <newsgr...(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:
>
> Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
> things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
> Xilinx?

After some searching and poking around, it appears ISE 12.1 is the
first to force Webtalk onto Webpack users. I finally found where to
get Webpack 11.5 which - according to Xilinx info - allows Webtalk to
be disabled on install.

I'll see if I hit any "gotchas" along the way.
From: Brian Drummond on 23 May 2010 06:14
On Sat, 22 May 2010 18:51:57 -0700 (PDT), John_H
<newsgroup(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:

>On May 22, 7:50�pm, John_H <newsgr...(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:
>>
>> Anyone know of the last Webpack I could get that doesn't transmit
>> things like my constraints, devices, and authorization codes back to
>> Xilinx?
>
>After some searching and poking around, it appears ISE 12.1 is the
>first to force Webtalk onto Webpack users. I finally found where to
>get Webpack 11.5 which - according to Xilinx info - allows Webtalk to
>be disabled on install.
>
>I'll see if I hit any "gotchas" along the way.

I wonder what that means for running 12.1 on a machine without network
access...

- Brian (posting from the stone age)
From: John_H on 23 May 2010 07:53
On May 23, 6:14 am, Brian Drummond <brian_drumm...(a)btconnect.com>
wrote:
>
> >I'll see if I hit any "gotchas" along the way.
>
> I wonder what that means for running 12.1 on a machine without network
> access...
>
> - Brian (posting from the stone age)

The Webtalk FAQ suggests that the html file with all the info will
simply be saved for the next time a connection is present. Having a
machine disconnected from the internet won't keep the designer from
using the product.

As far as "gotchas" it seems 11.1 won't even install on my 64-bit
Vista machine.
From: Brian Drummond on 23 May 2010 11:50
On Sun, 23 May 2010 04:53:50 -0700 (PDT), John_H
<newsgroup(a)johnhandwork.com> wrote:

>On May 23, 6:14�am, Brian Drummond <brian_drumm...(a)btconnect.com>
>wrote:
>>
>> >I'll see if I hit any "gotchas" along the way.
>>
>> I wonder what that means for running 12.1 on a machine without network
>> access...
>>
>> - Brian (posting from the stone age)
>
>The Webtalk FAQ suggests that the html file with all the info will
>simply be saved for the next time a connection is present. Having a
>machine disconnected from the internet won't keep the designer from
>using the product.
>
>As far as "gotchas" it seems 11.1 won't even install on my 64-bit
>Vista machine.

10.1 (and 11.1?) Webpack were only supposed to install on 32-bit
machines.
However, I tried it on OpenSuse 11 64-bit because the Suse Installer
claimed it could install 32-bit compatibility libs. I only needed to
comment out the "exit" in the 32-bit test in the setup script, and it
installed and worked fine.

Problems with 64-bit Vista may be a bit more deep seated though. Vista
sounded like one big "gotcha" for a lot of people.

- Brian (for stone age, read Win2000sp4)
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