[clug] Off topic: OS/X USB boot device for 'normal' PC'S

[Alex Satrapa]

On 25/06/2008, at 16:49 , steve jenkin wrote:

> Do their actions constitute 'third-line forcing' - prohibited under  
> the
> Trade Practice Act?  Feels that way to me :-) But IANAL.

Third-line forcing relates to offering deals where a product from a  
third party is required as part of a sale. For example, a Car  
dealership requiring you to finance your car through their nominated  
insurance company.

You're drawing a very (very) long bow in bringing up "third line  
forcing" in this instance.

And note that "third line forcing" doesn't apply if the car dealer  
chooses to sell you "an insured car", since the act of bundling the  
insurance into the cost of the car creates a single package which is  
sold by the one agency to the customer.

So Mac OS X being sold as part of your new Mac is not third line  
forcing. It's a bundled product. Buying Mac OS X with a licence  
agreement that says, "you agree to only install this software on  
Apple computers" is not third line forcing since there is no third  
party involved - you don't have to buy someone else's product when  
you buy Mac OS X - though you certainly have to buy a specific  
company's product in order to install it anywhere... the only  
argument here would be whether the Mac OS X licence counts as a  
"shrinkwrap licence" and is therefore unenforceable.

Then again, the prosecution in such a case would just point to this  
discussion to say that all those present were aware of the terms of  
the licence agreement before you even walked into the store to buy a  
copy of the software. My argument in that case would be that prior  
knowledge of the terms of a shrinkwrap licence indicates that you  
consented to those terms before handing over your dosh - therefore,  
contract is binding.

Me, I'm happy buying the "megabucks" Apple hardware with the  
operating system that's preinstalled. No more fishing around to  
figure out what's wrong with my computer only to find out that this  
motherboard has a known problem with Brand X model Y video card  
(which just so happens to be the one I have installed).

I have a bunch of Linux computers sitting under my bed, and I pull  
them out every now and then to boot them up and update the Debian  
installs.  They'll be getting more work soon, as I start delving more  
and more into the art of seamlessly deploying Ruby on Rails  
applications on Debian.

Taking software licencing seriously is the only way to fight  
Microsoft. I go out of my way to explain the full ramifications of  
the Windows licence (the OEM licence you get from Dell is not  
transferable, not even to a replacement computer) in order to  
encourage people to steer clear of it.

What is it about Mac OS X that people find so attractive that they're  
willing to suffer through dodgey hardware and software hacks to get  
it to work on cheap hardware? Why not just implement the features  
they like on Linux? Maybe Apple should police the software licence  
more rigorously, so people would need to implement the desirable  
features on Linux in order to save $100 on hardware :P

Alex