Customer: Hello, I would like to buy a CARP license please. Licenser: A what? Customer: A license for my network redundancy protocol, CARP. Licenser: Well, it's free isn't it? Customer: Exactly, the protocol's name is CARP. CARP the redundancy protocol. Licenser: What? Customer: He is an.... redundancy protocol. Licenser: CARP is a free redundancy protocol! Customer: Yes, I chose it out of three, I didn't like the others, they were all too... encumbered. And now I must license it! Licenser: You must be a looney. Customer: I am not a looney! Why should I be tied with the epithet looney merely because I wish to protect my redundancy protocol? I've heard tell that Network Associates has a pet algorithm called RSA used in IETF standards, and you wouldn't call them a looney; Geoworks has a claim on WAP, after what their lawyers do to you if you try to implement it. Cisco has two redundant patents, both encumbered, and Cadtrack has a patent on cursor movement! So, if you're calling the large American companies that fork out millions of dollars for the use of XOR a bunch of looneys, I shall have to ask you to step outside! Licenser: Alright, alright, alright. A license. Customer: Yes. Licenser: For a free redundancy protocol? Customer: Yes. Licenser: You are a looney. Customer: Look, it allows for bleeding redundancy doesn't it? Cisco's got a patent for the HSRP, and I've got to get a license for me router VRRP. Licenser: You don't need a license for your VRRP. Customer: I bleeding well do and I got one. It can't be called VRRP without it. Licenser: There's no such thing as a bloody VRRP license. Customer: Yes there is! Licenser: Isn't! Customer: Is! Licenser: Isn't! Customer: I bleeding got one, look! What's that then? Licenser: This is a Cisco HSRP patent document with the word "Cisco" crossed out and the word "IETF" written in in crayon. Customer: The man didn't have the right form. Licenser: What man? Customer: Robert Barr, the man from the redundancy detector van. Licenser: The looney detector van, you mean. Customer: Look, it's people like you what cause unrest. Licenser: What redundancy detector van? Customer: The redundancy detector van from the Monopoly of Cizzz-coeee. Licenser: Cizzz-coeee? Customer: It was spelt like that on the van. I'm very observant! I never seen so many bleeding aerials. The man said that their equipment could pinpoint a failover configuration at 400 yards! And my Cisco router, being such a flappy bat, was a piece of cake. Licenser: How much did you pay for that? Customer: Sixty quid, and twenty grand for the PIX. Licenser: What PIX? Customer: The PIX I'm replacing! Licenser: So you're replacing your PIX with free software, and yet you want to license it? Customer: There's nothing so odd about that. I'm sure they patented this protocol too. After all, the IETF had a hand in it! Licenser: No they didn't! Customer: Did! Licenser: Didn't! Customer: Did, did, did and did! Licenser: Oh, all right. Customer: Spoken like a gentleman, sir. Now, are you going to give me a CARP license? Licenser: I promise you that there is no such thing. You don't need one. Customer: In that case, give me a Firewall License. Licenser: A license? Customer: Yes. Licenser: For your firewall? Customer: No. Licenser: No? Customer: No, half my firewall. It had an accident. Licenser: You're off your chump. Customer: Look, if you intend by that utilization of an obscure colloquialism to imply that my sanity is not entirely up to scratch, or indeed to deny the semi-existence of my little half firewall, I shall have to ask you to listen to this! Take it away CARP the orchestra leader!