Microsoft Seeks to Bottle Up Open Source Wine

KingFishKingFish
edited February 2005 in Science & Tech
Microsoft's tactics with the Windows Genuine Advantage program is causing a stir within the Wine community.
Are Wine users just whining about Microsoft's anti-piracy plans? Or is Microsoft unfairly targeting and discriminating against customers attempting to run Windows programs on Unix and Linux?

Microsoft Corp.'s WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) program has had its share of critics. But this week, a number of open-source advocates joined the ranks of those questioning Microsoft's methods for thwarting software piracy.

On Wednesday, a developer of Wine—an open-source implementation of the Windows application-programming interface that allows Windows applications to run on Unix and Linux—said he discovered that Microsoft's Windows validation tool checks for Wine and generates an error when it is found.
Source: eWeek

Comments

  • FAH_WWFAH_WW Training in Indianapolis, IN
    edited February 2005
    Not that surprised about it - after all, WINE is not a Microsoft product, it is therefore never going to be a genuine Microsoft Windows product...

    Whether it's the right thing to do or not, it is what any software supplier could do. Personally I can see where they are coming from, although it is of course going to cause grief :(
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited February 2005
    The problem is not with getting updates for WINE, but rather with getting updates for things like Office. Not allowing people who run their software on a different OS to get updates would seem to be getting near a slippery anti-trust slope. If we think of it in another market, its like Sony refusing to honor a recall on your speakers (ie the "update") because you plugged them into a Panasonic Amp.
  • JengoJengo Pasco, WA | USA
    edited February 2005
    i wouldnt worry too much about microsofts dumb plan... Open source is tricky. you cant control it. their stupid for trying. thats just like putting Serial Keys on games. there are ALWAYS ways around it. weather you like it or not.
  • deepseadeepsea Lancaster, PA
    edited February 2005
    I agree with qp...the operating system is irrelevant...if office is flawed, it is flawed, and if you're going to provide fixes, you can't tell one group that they can't have it because they are using another base. can you imagine GM saying that they wouldn't make repairs to the engine in your car after they issued a recall, just because you were riding on different tires?
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