Proper software licensing
This fun little tidbit over on Daring Fireball absolutely floored me.
What’s interesting about this is that the single-computer license isn’t enforced in code by the operating system. (Or at least that’s been the case with Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.4.) And, I suspect, most DF readers are aware of this. Which means many readers are doing the right thing simply because they’re honest. I have no idea if this breakdown is representative of the Mac user base as a whole, but if it’s even close, these family packs are a huge success for Apple.
This simply isn’t how things work with for-pay software. Let’s take, for example, my recent experience with Windows. I run XP in a virtual machine for work. I reinstall the VM fairly regularly. If I try to install with a license that I’ve used before, the install gets all fussy and tells me that the license is already running on another computer and I’ll have to call India to get it up and running. (Amusingly, re-activating my XP license is the only time I’ve ever actually been connected to an off-shored call center, or at least the only time I’ve been aware of it.) It’s an amazing pain in the ass, and the only thing that’s saved me is the big stack of XP licenses I traded beer for a few years ago. (Thanks, Pat!) I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do once they run out. (Probably beg IT to install a VPN that works with OS X.)
We have three computers at home, so I had planned on buying a family pack, anyway. (Can you even get multiple retail copies of Windows for less than the same multiple of the single license price?) Knowing that I don’t have to makes me feel a lot better about doing that.
(For all you Canadians out there: Yes, I’m aware that Linux is still free. Thanks.)
October 29th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
It’s a tad misleading to suggest that Apple has zero copy protection. They go to great lengths to make it difficult, if not impossible, to run on anything other than Apple hardware. So, they might miss out on a few upgrade fees, but beyond that, they kind of have a headlock on their userbase. MIcrosoft doesn’t make their own computers, so their copy protection scheme differs in annoying ways, but I don’t really see this as a case of one company treating their customers with more respect than the other.
P.S.: Oh yeah, I just wanted to make sure we were all aware that Linux is still free and has no annoying restrictions like this. You’re welcome.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Right, but they certainly could be a Microsoft-style pain in the ass about it. I guess it’s sort of sad that simply failing to live down to that standard is something that excites me.
October 29th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
They are a Microsoft-style pain in the ass about it. Just try running OS X inside a VWware instance that isn’t on an Apple computer.
October 29th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Why would I want to do that?
October 30th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Apple is a pain for people who are not their authorized customers. Microsoft is a pain for those who ARE their authorized customers. That’s a big difference. And I don’t really have a problem with Apple restricting OS X to their own hardware, since that’s where they make their money, and it allows them to better control the experience. I do have a problem with having to call MS to prove that you are not a pirate, unless you are a pirate, in which case you’re free and clear.
I preordered Leopard for Jill’s Macbook, primarily for previews of images in icons and for Time Machine. It went smoothly, although I made sure I had no installed copies of APE. Logitech apparently surreptitiously installs APE so I uninstalled their mouse control center to be safe. Everything mostly works except the machine refuses to reboot when you tell it to (it tells you things refused to quit and so the reboot was cancelled, even after they quit). Still, since that doesn’t happen often it’s not a deal killer. My MBP, owned by my employer, is still on Tiger until such point as IT authorizes Leopard upgrades. I use my Ubuntu/Gentoo boxen primarily anyway.
Oh, and BTW, were you aware that Linux is still free? ;-)
October 30th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Tej, I didn’t know that you were Canadian.
October 30th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Corey, this is going to sound like a stupid question, but why do you go to the trouble of reinstalling a VM, over and over?
Dummy, install it once, then make a backup copy of the VM file. Sheesh, you can’t spare 10GB of space on a HD?
October 30th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Pat: Normally that’s how things go, but I start from scratch often enough for it to be annoying. Also, switching between different VM’s (VMWare on Linux, Parallels, VMWare on OS X) makes it difficult to keep just one VM image.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I don’t dispute that MS is more of a pain (although guess what happens when you try to take that version of Mac OS that shipped with Mac A and install it on a very different model Mac B?).
My point is that it is fair to say that Microsoft and Apple are treating both of their customers with a similar level of contempt. Sure, I’m not authorized to run OS X on a non-Apple machine, but by doing so they significantly reduce the value for me running OS on the Apple machine we are authorized to run it on.
The message I get from Apple is along the lines of: “we know are hardware isn’t good enough to stand on its own, so we’re bundling and reducing the value of our software in order to make unbundling impossible”. Kind of like their iPhone. ;-)
October 30th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
s/are/our/
Damn I suck.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Geez. I forgot to remind everyone that Linux is free as in speech.