analytical chemistry
EDITOR: GEORGE H. MORRISON EDITORIAL HEADQUARTERS 1155 Sixteenth St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Phone: 202-872-4570 Teletype: 710-8220 151 Executive Editor: Josephine iW. Petruzzi
Software and Analytical Instrumentation
Managing Editor: Barbara Cassatt Associate Editor: Stuart A. Borman Assistant Editors: Marcia S. Cohen, Rani A. George Production Manager: Leroy L. Corcoran Art Director: John V. Sinnett Staff Artist: Linda M. Mattingly Copy Editor: Gail M. Mortenson Circulation Manager: Cynthia G. Smith Journals Dept., Columbus, Ohlo Associate Head: Marianne Brogan Associate Editor: Rodney L. Temos Advisory Board: Joel A. Carter, Richard S. Danchik, Richard Durst, Dennis H. Evans, Jack W. Frazer, Helen M. Free, Shizuo Fujiwara, Roland F. Hirsch, Csaba Horvath, Wilbur I. Kaye, Thomas C. O'Haver, Janet Osteryoung, Herbert L. Retcofsky, Robert E. Sievers, Wilhelm Simon, Rudolph H. Stehl Instrumentation Advisory Panel: Edward M. Chait, M. Bonner Denton, Raymond E. Dessy, Larry R. Faulkner, Martin I;.Frant, Michael L. Gross, Fred E. Lytle, Curt Reimann, Andrew T. Zander Contributing Editors, AIC Interface: Raymond E. Dessy; The Analytical Approach: Jeanette G. Grasselli The Analytical Approach Advisory Panel: Edward C. Dunlop, Robert A. Iiofstader, Wilbur D. Shults Regulatory Affalrs, Analytlcal Division Committee: Fred Freeberg (Chairman) Published by the AMERICAN CHEMICAL. SOCIETY 1155 16th Streei, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 Books and Journals Division Director: D. H. Michael Bowen Journals: Charles R. Bertsch Production: Elmer Pusey, Jr. Marketing 3 , Sales: Claud K. Robinson Research and Development. Seldon W. Terrant Manuscript requirements arse published in the January 1983 issue, page 171. Manuscripts for publication (4 copies) should be submitted to ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY at the ACS Washington address.
Recently, a matter of serious concern associated with the software used in analytical instrumentation was brought to our attention by a reader. Following a recent ASTM symposium that highlighted the lack of openness on the part of vendors who provide such software, this correspondent was given the task of alerting editors of scientific journals to this developing problem. Our inquiry into the matter confirms the serious nature of the situation. Many instrument vendors will not share software with purchasers. Some will not even share the algorithm that describes what the software does. Vendors seem sensitive to users and competitors sharing software with each other in an unregulated manner. The problem involves documentation, the electronically readable form of software, humanreadable forms of the same material, and the algorithm. Raymond Dessy, our contributing editor for A/C INTERFACE, does not believe that user pirating is a problem for software in PROM (programmed by the vendor prior to sale) or for software distributed on magnetic media. Too much specific ancillary hardware is involved, which is intimately associated with the software, to make user duplication worth the effort. Furthermore, duplication can be made difficult to impossible by using encrypting techniques, or by writing special enabling data in the intersector gaps of disks. Licensing agreements and nondisclosure agreements signed by the user provide a final legal barrier. Under the latter conditions, controller and interface vendors will share printed circuit schematics with purchasers. It seems reasonable then to expect instrument vendors to share algorithms with users who want to be sure that the invisible data treatment being applied is appropriate to their requirements. Even source codes should be shared where specific needs warrant it. After all, computer vendors do provide source codes for many aspects of operating systems when users wish to modify them for special purposes. With respect to the commercial competitor, certainly retroengineering is always possible. However, the time and expense involved are considerable. The distributors of business, personal, and hobby software protect themselves by the methods mentioned, and then maintain their competitive edge by developing new generations of products, rather than compulsively worrying about protecting the last release. With the increasing computer sophistication of analytical chemists, deciding which instrument to buy may well hinge on the quality of the software provided by the manufacturer. This important problem will be explored more fully in a forthcoming pair of articles in A/C INTERFACE.
The American Chemical Society and its editors assume no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by contributors. Views expressed in the editorials are those of the editors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the American Chemical Society.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 55, NO. 1, JANUARY 1983
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