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

[Neill Cox]

On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 4:49 PM, steve jenkin <sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au>
wrote:

> <snip>
> Why can't I just buy OS/X?
> There's no technical reason nor any valid business reason apart from
> 'because we can' with the presumed intent of Apple maximising profits
> from their natural monopoly.
>

The business reason is that they are likely supporting the software
development with the hardware sales.

Other possible business reasons:

  - Reduce support costs by limiting the range of hardware that needs to be
supported.
  - As a result maintain the value of the brand in that it has a reputation
as a product that works well (justified or not - some interesting stats on
MacBook reliability recently)

Just because you don't like their reasons doesn't make them invalid.  Apple
have tried allowing clone manufacturers to sell Mac compatibles and damn
near went bankrupt as a result. That's why Steve Jobs got his job back.

Oh and by the way: What natural monopoly?  Apple hardware accounts for only
a small part of total PC hardware sales.

<snip>


> I would just like to *buy* a proper OS/X licence and be legit!
>
> Apple deserves money for their effort and I'd really like to pay them -
> which didn't come across before.
>

I think the bottom line here is that if you want to pay Apple you need to
buy their hardware.  Otherwise you're not depriving them of their
cross-subsidisation.  If you really think what they're doing is illegal then
challenge it.


>
> The advice "use something else" doesn't work for me. I simply can't get
> a bunch of software on Linux - and I don't see Windows as an alternative
> - it's not POSIX - it doesn't comply with a basic computing *standard*.
>

Bluntly, this is not Apple's problem.  I'm sorry that it is for you, but
Apple are a business with the usual concerns about maximising their
profitability.  They don't have an obligation to provide you with an OS X
license on your terms.

Sorry for being provocative.


Lol - hardly provocative, and I'm sorry if I seem unsympathetic.  I think
this is a great illustration of why pretty much all proprietary software is
evil.

In the long run the only solution to this sort of problem is genuine FOSS
operating systems. There are a lot of things Apple does that I really,
really dislike (DRM, restricting software development on the iPhone, the
general crappiness of Apple Mail etc).  Really I look forward to the day
when Ubuntu and Fedora drive OS X out of the market, but I want Windows gone
first.

Cheers,
Neill