I was all set to install an application built using Adobe's AIR platform when I took a minute to actually read the End-User License Agreement. What I read made me cancel the install, rather than agree to the EULA.
What was so bad? Well, for a development platform that's supposed to let users run web apps from their desktop, regardless of their operating system, AIR can apparently only be used once:
2.1 General Use. Subject to the terms of this agreement, including the important restrictions in Section 3, you may install and use a copy of the Software on one compatible computer. The Software may not be shared, installed or used concurrently on different computers
Did you catch that? They'll let you install it once, on one computer, and that's it. How useful is that? I migrate between a Mac computer at work and a Linux computer at home; this EULA means I can only have use AIR programs on one or the other, but not both.
As if that weren't crazy enough, Adobe still has the balls to claim they offer AIR with no warranty and no guarantees. So not only do they restrict where I can install and use their "free" software, but they also won't take responsibility for any damage it causes.
I was excited when I first heard about Adobe AIR. No more. AIR's EULA places Adobe firmly in the doesn't-care-about-user-freedom-at-all camp, and that's a camp I've left behind.
