“The folks at Apple must be nervous. What else would explain why the world’s most rebellious technology company would be out squashing a rebellion? I’m talking about the OSX86 rebellion,” Tom Gromak writes for The Detroit News. “What’s OSX86? It’s the long-awaited marriage of the Macintosh OSX operating system with Intel’s x86 architecture (so-named for the original processor with the code number 8086 and all those that followed). It’s not a beautifully orchestrated reception at MacWorld. It’s more like a Vegas-style cheapo-chapel wedding hatched by a bunch of rogue hackers, crackers and posers who want OSX to run not on Apple’s blessed hardware, but on their own.”
“I’m one of them,” Gromak writes. “A few weeks ago, I got my hands on a hacked and patched version of Apple’s 10.4.3 Tiger operating system. It was the culmination of a scheme that began late last year with my last PC motherboard upgrade to a speedy 3GHz Intel dual-core processor. When the hacked version dropped in my lap in late January, I was elated. I quickly formatted a hard drive, slipped in the CD, and thirty minutes later, I was running OSX on a home-built PC. I was amazed… Apple says it has no plans to sell the operating system apart from its hardware. It’s taken the extra step of going after a couple of key Web sites in the OSX86 movement, including the excellent OSX86project.org, a site for all sorts of Mac enthusiasts and switchers. And that’s too bad. But then, they are in the business of selling computers. And I’ve enjoyed the experience so thoroughly that I may just have to pony up the cash to buy one.”
Full article here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple restricts access to Mac OS X source code bits in effort to curb Mac OS X on x86 hacks – February 24, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X 10.4.4 for Intel cracked – February 15, 2006
Is Gromak endorsing theft? That doesn’t sound like something a responsible journalist does.
That’s it.
Kate
macnut222
Exactly. Can you imagine a newspaper telling their readers how they stole Photoshop or Office?
So Gromak advocates stealing Apple’s hard-earned IP. ‘Nuff said about him. One of the main reasons Apple won’t release a version of Mac OSX for generic Intel hardware is that it would put them in the same position as Microsoft: Having to pinp their OS in order to keep profits up.
And that’s only one reason — there are many more.
What good is the best OS in the world, if your hardware doesnt work in harmony with? Just get a Mac, and be happy!
wait a sec, I think the last line of the Article is the most important and really really needs some consideration.
“(…)But then, they are in the business of selling computers. And I’ve enjoyed the experience so thoroughly that I may just have to pony up the cash to buy one.”
Now this is VERY important as it talks about another possible promotional mechanism for Apple which they didn’t have before.
The “LIVE” CD something that Linux and BeOS users have been familiar with for a while which allows there os to run in a demo mode from a cd on a regular windows computer, enabling the regular winblows user to experience OSX in its full glory and proding them to buy a mac instead of their Dell.
This would really really be a good marketing tool, and what this guy is saying is that even though he builds his own PC’s and is a harware entusiasts who likes to thinker, he will spend cash on a machine JUST to continue running OSX which he was able to experience because of this “unfortunate” but usefull hack.
It’s software. Stealing software doesn’t actually hurt anybody, guys. It’s not like people make money off of it or anything. It’s a totally faceless crime where everybody wins. : /
Mac OS X is like crack,
the first hit is free, then your hooked
then your selling your children into poverty to have the latest Apple device
In fact my children are presently working in that new Cupertino sweat shop, but it keeps me in the cool zone.
Not to mention that if the OS86 got out into the wild and everybody could install it on their system, this would probably force Apple down the path of incorporating things like product activation into their OS. What a pain that would be.
Tom Gromak wrote: “But then, they (Apple) are in the business of selling computers. And I’ve enjoyed the experience so thoroughly that I may just have to pony up the cash to buy one.”
This sums it up. Let Windows users experience OS X and iLife. A good percentager will consider converting with their next computer purchase.
My quick note to the author:
I have no idea who you are, but I’m shocked. Doesn’t happen to me often. Have you publicly endorsed theft under the guise of rebellion before? I actually find it funny that your article opens with Apple being nervous. Perhaps the author should be a bit nervous admitting to receiving stolen property, then bragging about it for the world to see.
Actually Apple is allowing Mac OS X to be hacked, along with these security lapses, for a very good reason.
And that reason is TRUSTED COMPUTING.
Where they decide what programs you can run, and they decide what’s trusted or not.
You will no longer have the power to decide.
http://www.lafkon.net/tc/
A shame they though I understand why Apple will not just sell OS and a few nice apps (hardware issues are major when you have to support any & every bit of kit), I was disappointed when they hammered the sites that were looking at doing “at your own risk” versions of OSX on x86.
A lot of Linux users would love to try out OSX on intel but would sooner have a “play” first (knowing there may be odd hardware issues) rather than have to shell out for a whole Apple box in case they find they do not like OSX after buying a Mac.
I don’t see why the architecture change would alter the OS name….. :/
Mac OS X damnit!!!! and thats it
Not being able to afford something is not a justification for theft.
Paraphrasing General Tagge:
“What of the Rebellion? If the Rebels have obtained a complete technical reading of this (operating system), it is possible, however unlikely, they might find a weakness and exploit it.
I hope Apple is reading this. What they should do is offer a Live CD of OS X like you find with Linux distro’s. Let people try out the OS. Only after they try it will they be convinced that its a killer OS.
The writer answers his own question…
He closes the article with…
“And I’ve enjoyed the experience so thoroughly that I may just have to pony up the cash to buy one.”
MW: EXTENT, “Using a Macintosh is like a day at the circus, you’ll love being under the (os) X-tent”
dear MDN: please incorporate an “ignore” function in your site so those of us who enjoy reading comments here can do so unfettered by the reliably uninteresting contributor who seems to have crawled out of the woodwork recently.
I can’t believe i actually miss Joe McConell and to a lesser extent Mac & PC Guy.
Hubkap –
“Stealing software doesn’t actually hurt anybody, guys. It’s not like people make money off of it or anything. It’s a totally faceless crime where everybody wins.”
Are you really that dense? Or, are you just making excuses?
Imagine that you are a self-employed musician, artist or inventor. You invest your time in making something nobody else has made, and you count on people appreciating it enough to buy it when you make it available for sale. If you don’t sell, you don’t eat. Then, some schmuck copies your work and deprives you of the sales you need to survive. He has effectively stolen from you all the time you spent perfecting your art, music or invention. What are you going to do when you meet the schmuck on the street?
I know what I’m going to do, and it won’t be pretty. I’m a photographer, and this issue is not academic to me. Intellectual property is property. IP theft is NOT a faceless crime any more than shooting you with my eyes closed would be a faceless crime.
Grow up and stop making excuses for selfishness.
While I think the author hurts himself more than Apple by installing and bragging about a hacked, stolen copy of OS X, I understand the underlying objective.
Apple has always contended, fairly I think, that it could provide a better user experience by mating and controlling the the hardware and system software. But that arguement held more water when Apple featured SCSI vs IDE, or LaserPrinter vs dot matrix, RISC vs CISC processors. Apple has since been forced to commoditize the hardware to the point that aside from style and execution, the ONLY difference between Mac other computers is a special chip that allow OS X to function. And the only thing keeping OS X from running on all the other computers is the need to find and verify the code in that chip.
The arguments to keep OS X off of other 8086 based hardware are pretty strained. It is up to Apple to make the arguement that their hardware works better, works differently and is the best platform to run OS X. The Intel based machines introduced to date don’t make the case.
I’m all for a Mac OS X Live CD/DVD. One problem. If they can do that (and make it work on everybody’s beige box computer well enough to convince people to switch), then people would be screaming, “APPLE ALREADY HAS IT WORKING, WHY OR WHY DON’T THEY JUST SELL US A COPY WE CAN INSTALL!” Not to mention, a live CD would probably give hackers and pirates even more tools (Apple written drivers for most hardware) to get the full OS X installed on their Dells.
Be patient people. Apple hasn’t even transitioned it’s own hardware yet. Lets get through one paradigm shift at a time.
Email to the author Tom.
Tom , I’m surprised that you would go public about stealing software,
You write >I set about installing some software I had obtained back when I road-tested a Mac Mini. Microsoft Office? Check. Adobe Photoshop? Check Roxio Toast? Check.>
That is, after stealing OSX.
Why not just buy a Mac and be done with it.? You’ll be glad you did.
Welcome to the best-virus free- OS.
Windows – over 60,000 viruses, trojan horses, malware, spyware, and still counting.
Mac OSX – zilch, zip, nada.
…but he didn’t ‘steal’ it. The hacked software “dropped on his lap”.
That’s like saying you weren’t shoplifting, the new ipod was just “dropped” into your pocket.
How many tens or even hundreds of millions has NeXT and Apple invested to make it what it is today – an unbeatable OS. Why the hell should a few crackheads be allowed to steal it?
I’m in the “KEEP MAC (A BIT) EXCLUSIVE CAMP”. I’m happy to convert enlightenable people to convert to Mac, but I don’t want the entire world on WinBoxes to crash the party.. that would bring Apple to its knees with complaints and idiotic lawsuits and heaven knows what other crap.
dudes, theft is cool. everybody knows that.