Products > Test Equipment
MSO2000 Application module hack
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artag:
So what are the possibilities here ?

1. Tek are dumb, don't understand 'security', and are run by beancounters and idiot lawyers.

Sadly, this could be the case. But even though it's not run by engineers any more, it still employs some good ones. I can't believe they thought this would go unhacked (though they might possibly object
to hacking keys coming from china rather than requiring that you do dangerous firmware mods to your expensive instrument).

2. Tek have seen the sales wins achieved by HP and Rigol etc. as the result of their hacks. They don't need the upgrade sales to pay for the features, because they're making a healthy profit selling an unenhanced model and don't need the high-end buyers to subsidise it. And they want some of the action, so after making it an easy mod and seeing it get reported, they're out to make the most of it by harnessing Streisand-effect publicity.

My money's on 2.
Tothwolf:

--- Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on August 10, 2014, 09:20:22 am ---A bit of an overreaction perhaps....

--- End quote ---

Au contraire...

Tektronix has no right to tell people what they can or cannot do with something that they've purchased. If Tektronix chose to sell a product with a feature "switched off" via a configuration option to lower their production costs, and a consumer subsequently figures this out and enables it, they have absolutely no right to then threaten hobbyists and Hackaday for discussing it. You Bought It, You Own It

If money is the reason Tektronix / Danaher are going to issue a bogus DMCA notice and threaten a hobbyist site like Hackaday, then I can do my "small" part to protest their response and take away some of their bottom line. This doesn't mean I'm going to get rid of any of my own existing Tek gear, but I certainly won't be buying any new gear from Tektronix / Danaher any time soon.

For Tektronix / Danaher's sake, hopefully none of my clients will call me up asking me to spec a lab full of gear between now and when they eventually decide to offer a public apology. There /are/ alternatives to pretty much everything they offer, but perhaps Tektronix forgot that?
mikeselectricstuff:

--- Quote from: Tothwolf on August 10, 2014, 03:07:24 pm ---
--- Quote from: mikeselectricstuff on August 10, 2014, 09:20:22 am ---A bit of an overreaction perhaps....

--- End quote ---

Au contraire...

Tektronix has no right to tell people what they can or cannot do with something

--- End quote ---
True but the fact is that everyone does it nowadays. Tek, Agilent, Flir, Rigol....
If anything Tek have the advantage that it's trivially easy (though the later scopes apparently have better protection.
These companies have to at least make it look like they're protecting stuff to please their shareholders. An occasional bit of lawyer bluster has no real effect, and certainly no reason to boycott anything.
janoc:

--- Quote from: artag on August 10, 2014, 02:35:46 pm ---2. Tek have seen the sales wins achieved by HP and Rigol etc. as the result of their hacks. They don't need the upgrade sales to pay for the features, because they're making a healthy profit selling an unenhanced model and don't need the high-end buyers to subsidise it. And they want some of the action, so after making it an easy mod and seeing it get reported, they're out to make the most of it by harnessing Streisand-effect publicity.

My money's on 2.

--- End quote ---

Except that by slapping publicly a site like Hackaday with DMCA notice is not going to bring you a lot of good will among their audience - exactly the people who would be buying the hackable gear otherwise. The Joe Littleguy is a lot more susceptible to going all gaga over crap like this and taking their dollars elsewhere than a big corp that is buying 100 of those scopes for their labs.

So yeah, they will get publicity, but probably not the one they hoped for ...



Tothwolf:

--- Quote from: janoc on August 10, 2014, 03:35:35 pm ---Except that by slapping publicly a site like Hackaday with DMCA notice is not going to bring you a lot of good will among their audience - exactly the people who would be buying the hackable gear otherwise. The Joe Littleguy is a lot more susceptible to going all gaga over crap like this and taking their dollars elsewhere than a big corp that is buying 100 of those scopes for their labs.

So yeah, they will get publicity, but probably not the one they hoped for ...

--- End quote ---

Tektronix also seemed to forget that a "Joe Littleguy" can make or break a large sale when they also happen to be an independent sales consultant. A large company is likely to have no interest in tinkering with their gear to enable hidden features anyway (and is more likely to buy the more expensive model). In bullying hobbyists though, Tektronix is only harming themselves.

Not that things have been going all that well for Danaher...

Tektronix, five years after sale to Danaher, continues to shed jobs and struggle
Danaher, Tektronix's takeover-minded owner, now can't make a deal
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