Microsoft admits targeting Wine users...
Category Microsoft
From ZDNet: Microsoft admits targeting Wine users
The software giant has admitted specifically excluding users of the popular Windows compatibility toolkit with its update tool.
Microsoft prioritised making its anti-piracy tool prevent users of Wine, an open source toolkit that allows users to run Windows applications under Linux, from downloading Windows updates, the software giant said on Friday.
A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet UK it made sure the validation tool used by its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme identified Wine users, so that only users are running a genuine version of Windows could download updates and add-on tools.
"As the most popular third-party translation technology in use, Wine was the first emulator to be specifically tested for via WGA," said the spokesperson. "Microsoft does not knowingly provide copyrighted Microsoft Windows OS files to users of third-party emulators or cross-platform API translation technologies such as Wine."
It's like they're trying as hard as possible to alienate anyone using any other platform. And this from the company who wants to play well with others.
And I love this second piece at the bottom...
Microsoft's public acknowledgement of Wine suggests a shift in corporate policy. Earlier this week Jeremy White, chief executive at CodeWeavers, which sells products based on Wine, said that Microsoft has until now had "a clear corporate policy to not talk about Wine".
For this reason, White said he was excited rather than worried to hear that the WGA validation tool was blocking Wine. "The reason we love this is because this shows that Microsoft is aware of Wine at very high levels," said White. "For us it's exciting -- it is an acknowledgement of us as a threat."
While I understand his statement on an emotional level, I don't think it's too wise on a rational one. I'm sorta kinda thinking that having a software giant worth more than $55 billion perceive you as a threat is not the best way to ensure your longevity if you probably don't have revenues that top the double-digit million dollar range. :-)
From ZDNet: Microsoft admits targeting Wine users
The software giant has admitted specifically excluding users of the popular Windows compatibility toolkit with its update tool.
Microsoft prioritised making its anti-piracy tool prevent users of Wine, an open source toolkit that allows users to run Windows applications under Linux, from downloading Windows updates, the software giant said on Friday.
A Microsoft spokesperson told ZDNet UK it made sure the validation tool used by its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) programme identified Wine users, so that only users are running a genuine version of Windows could download updates and add-on tools.
"As the most popular third-party translation technology in use, Wine was the first emulator to be specifically tested for via WGA," said the spokesperson. "Microsoft does not knowingly provide copyrighted Microsoft Windows OS files to users of third-party emulators or cross-platform API translation technologies such as Wine."
It's like they're trying as hard as possible to alienate anyone using any other platform. And this from the company who wants to play well with others.
And I love this second piece at the bottom...
Microsoft's public acknowledgement of Wine suggests a shift in corporate policy. Earlier this week Jeremy White, chief executive at CodeWeavers, which sells products based on Wine, said that Microsoft has until now had "a clear corporate policy to not talk about Wine".
For this reason, White said he was excited rather than worried to hear that the WGA validation tool was blocking Wine. "The reason we love this is because this shows that Microsoft is aware of Wine at very high levels," said White. "For us it's exciting -- it is an acknowledgement of us as a threat."
While I understand his statement on an emotional level, I don't think it's too wise on a rational one. I'm sorta kinda thinking that having a software giant worth more than $55 billion perceive you as a threat is not the best way to ensure your longevity if you probably don't have revenues that top the double-digit million dollar range. :-)
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Comments
Posted by Duffbert At 11:54:12 On 28/02/2005 | - Website - |
If I buy a licence for Word or Excel I am entitled to certain upgrades. Whether I run this software on top of Windows XP or WINE is not part of my licence agreement with MS.
Posted by Leonardo Burci At 09:58:54 On 27/02/2005 | - Website - |
It would be interesting to see what happens for more mainstream emulators like VMWare
Posted by Paul Hoffman At 13:22:51 On 28/02/2005 | - Website - |
Not that I dispute or disagree with your statement, have you read any recent renditions of the MS EULA? I've heard they like to sneak things in like, "may change at any time without notice" with reference to the scope of the EULA and they might use that clause to add "and you may not use our product on unapproved operating systems."
If they say something remotely like this, agreeing to the EULA means you agree to abide by it in principal. They're just forcing you to comply now, which is their right I would suppose.
But yeah... nice way to drop down to the 4 year old level... "I don't like you, you can't play with my toys if you don't do it my way!"
Posted by Jerry Carter At 10:56:30 On 28/02/2005 | - Website - |