[X4U] OS X On Generic PC Hardware

[David Ledger]

>From: "Randy B. Singer" <randy at macattorney.com>
>Putting aside the legalities, I was wondering what folks thought
>about this.  Apparently after a lot of  work, a group has managed to
>hack OSX to run on generic x86 hardware.

If it just stays within the hobby circle, it will just be an 
annoyance to Apple. What would concern me is if some company outside 
of US and EU jurisdiction produces a cheap PC for sale with a pirate 
OSX. If parts of the world were to become flooded with such things, 
Apple would take action. This would have to involve more security 
measures in the code, phone home verification, and all sorts of 
things we don't have to put up with now.

At present we don't even have a real licence system. With Windows you 
get a hologram backed document with a serial number. With OSX you 
don't necessarily get anything. I bought a Mac mini just after 
Leopard came out, plus a family pack of Leopard. (Five I can use at 
home and on my PowerBook, plus one on my daughter's mini should she 
want it at her house). The upgrade for the mini contains nothing to 
say I have a Leopard license. All I have is an invoice. Havn't 
examined the family pack yet. Just bought it because I know I will 
need it and I was in the shop. I'm not aware of having a serial 
number for any Mac OS.

This easy simplicity will be taken from us if Apple sees the need to 
clamp down.

David


-- 
David Ledger - Freelance Unix Sysadmin in the UK.
HP-UX specialist of hpUG technical user group (www.hpug.org.uk)
david.ledger at ivdcs.co.uk
www.ivdcs.co.uk