[SK]

Legal BDE Issues
It is tempting to speculate a while on the motivations behind these "restrictions" on redistributing the BDE. Since the new BDE release includes connectivity to Microsoft backends of all calibers (from Access through FoxPro to SQL Server’s latest release), Borland.com appear to be mainly concerned with not beeing seen to distribute "freeware" that enables competing compilers to access these databases.
The developer’s "existing Borland license" is mentioned as being the basis on which free distribution of the BDE is allowed. "To be eligible to install and use the Software, you must own a licensed, registered copy of an Inprise product ("Inprise product") which includes files designated by Inprise as BORLAND DATABASE ENGINE." (License.txt with the BDE setup).
However, the customers may also be directed to the borland site to download the newest version – which basically means the installation program will simply check for the existence of a "core" BDE which it will upgrade regardless of the "license".
It would be interesting to get some more clear-text messages from Borland concerning this BDE distribution – for instance, I would like to know if my old Borland – Paradox developer’s license is still a valid basis for me to distribute the current BDE to any third party!
Going the other way ‘round, i.e. distributing Microsoft’s Data Access Pack (which includes ODBC drivers for Paradox databases) may be a bit of a legal problem, as the MDAC is clearly an Office product and is probably asking for confirmation of EULA before installing.