CodeWeavers Release Server Version Of CrossOver

Jeremy White writes: CodeWeavers has just launched the Server Edition of CrossOver Office. Server Edition provides Windows applications like Microsoft Office to thin clients and previously unreachable platforms like Solaris/SPARC. It's designed to compete directly with Citrix and Windows Terminal Server solutions, primarily on price (watch that TCO drop, baby). The most delicious irony will come when we release a Windows client, and we start serving Windows applications to a Windows desktop through a Linux server.""

Comments

so how is this different from remote X + wine?

[smoser]

I read the release, how is this different from just doing remote X and using wine?

Ie, couldn't Solaris users always ssh/telnet to a linux machine configured to use wine and run an app with the display set back to the thinclient or ssh-X forwarding?

I know I've done this linux->linux.

someone enlighten me?

DMCA?

[sterno]

Here's an unplesant thought of how they could make it illegal. In the next release of Office, make it dependent on some sort of DRM technology in the Windows operating system. If they did this:

1) Because that is security related, Microsoft could keep the knowledge of how this interface would work under the exceptions outlined in their settlement.

2) If Codeweavers was to reverse engineer it, Microsoft could claim that their implementation was circumventing an access control and take them to court under the DMCA. Moreover, since Codeweavers actually sells these products, they could actually be brought up on criminal charges.

Number two might make for an interesting court battle, assuming codeweavers has the resources to fight it.

Re:Irony?

[Reziac]

As of the last several M$ seminars I attended, they told us that Office was indeed now licensed per warm body, and sometimes PLUS a lic. per networked machine. (At least, as best the M$ rep could explain it. It's so damn convoluted that he confused himself while making the attempt. Boiled down to trying to collect *both* per seat and per user license money.)

The examples were: If you have one machine used by one secretary, that's one license, but if the machine is accessable AT ALL by anyone else (even if they don't actually use it), you need a lic. for each and every such person. If you have one home machine with two users, you're required to have two licenses. (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)

Needless to say this got much growling from the audience.

Re:Informative? Should be (-1, delusional)

[EllisDees]

From the top of the page you posted:

"This document addresses the most commonly asked questions about licensing Microsoft® Office in a Windows terminal server environment."

Terminal server refers to a specific microsoft technology. It is doubtful that using a non-microsoft technology would invoke these restrictions at all. Besides, you could always use an earlier version of office that didn't contain the above license restrictions.