So assuming a person had the cash, they could conceivably have every Active Skill and 100 different language and Knowledge Softs on tap, any of which could be ready for use with a mere Simple Action?

That limit is for ActiveSofts running on Skillwires. KnowSofts and LinguaSofts don't need Skillwires, so any associated limit would not apply to them. Does something else factor into the equation to limit the amount of immediately accessible KnowSofts?

I'm not sure what you mean here, or how it actually relates to my question. If you are referring to LinguaSofts being less accurate than actual Language Skills, SR4 states that LinguaSofts provide expert translation and language skills.

i'll give my best shots at these:

linguasofts and knowsofts are programs. you can run programs based on the quality of your commlink/whatever it is. this is the limit you can have at one time.

and yes, if you have enough money, you could buy every single activesoft (knowsofts and linguasofts are, for all intents and purposes, unlimited in number). keep in mind that sometimes that action to get to it can be a problem, and that for very large amounts of data your GM can rule you can't store it all in one place... how much is too much depends on your GM's opinion. however, since we're talking about 'given enough money', you could presumably afford the cost of an optical chip to store the data on if you are buying the program in the first place... and since the optical chip is apparently wireless (or at least, nothing says it isn't) you should have enough storage, generally speaking.

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linguasofts are expert translation programs... in a way.

to put it another way, a given linguasoft almost has a specific dialect to it. for example, you might have a linguasoft for english. if it was american english, you would call a device that mechanically moves you up and down between floors in a building an elevator. if you had one for england, you would call such a device a lift.

similarly, you might see something like that for flat vs. apartment.

neither of those default linguasofts would tell you that someone offering to sell you weed isn't talking about undesirable plants. it wouldn't necessarily be able to tell the difference between Coke (ie coca-cola, or even just a cola type drink as the word is sometimes used) and coke (ie the illegal drug).

so do you see how an expert translation may not provide a very correct translation, in certain situations? a linguasoft will generally give you the kind of knowledge you might get from going to school and learning a given language. if you start coming across idiomatic expressions that are local to an area, slang expressions, and so forth, you wouldn't necessarily understand it properly.

Emphasis mine, but it seems pretty clearly spelled out to me.

So basically all 'Softs except ActiveSofts run on a person's Commlink, and count as Programs for determining performance degradation of the 'link. ActiveSofts actually run on the Skillwires themselves (and have their own built-in limit).

Do the 'Softs fall under the restrictions as to the rating limit of the Commlink's System and/or Response? Would a rating 5 Troll Recipes KnowSoft be limited to a rating of 3 when on a Commlink with System/Response of 3? Would this apply to all non-ActiveSofts?

I'm not arguing real life semantics. I agree with what you are saying in that regard. That being said ...

According to the SR4 rules, Lingos are a Specialization of a Language Skill. Since the rules for LinguaSofts state that they 'replicate language skills', and make no reference to needing to apply specific Lingo rules, nor require (or even, IIRC allow) Specializations, your argument doesn't really apply.

It's software. So yes, limited by system/response.

sure it does. you have to run the program on something... they don't run themselves.

I always assumed that the skillwires had the necessary hardware to run the knowsofts.

(edited for typos)

skillwires are not needed for the use of knowsofts...

Ah ... good to know. Thanks.

Or a Datajack. Both provide a DNI.

By the way, I do not think that a Sim Module is necessary, as trodes or an implanted comlink already provide a DNI. Thus I think the rules on page 320 might be wrong.

If that's the case, it may as well be wrong to assume that any DNI suffices.
As there are no chipjacks anymore, datajacks are their successor.

RAW states explicitly that a DNI is enough.
Though, I would favor a brakedown into DNI and knowledgesoft interpreter. See my overview here: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...pic=15137&st=12

Then, as programs, what do the 'Softs actually run on? I understand they can be 'stored' pretty much anywhere, but don't they need some kind of operating system or the like to actually work?

Devices have ratings. Are 'Softs therefore limited in rating to that of the device in question?

system limits the ratings of all programs. there is nothing to indicate that knowsofts are any different, since they are programs.

Yeah, that is the way I figured it worked for ActiveSofts. This can't be the default rule for KnowSofts or LinguaSofts though, as they can be used regardless of the presense of Skillwires.

Who are you responding to with this post? This was never in question, and in fact was mentioned in my very first post in this thread.