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Apple Subpoenas, Sues Over Leaks
CNET reports that Apple has been granted the right to subpoena O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, and Think Secret over leaks of information concerning an unreleased product code named "Asteroid" and "Q97," which has been described as a FireWire audio interface for use with GarageBand. The subpoenas are related to a lawsuit against an unnamed individual who leaked the information.
In trying to identify the identity of worker bee (ex-contractor, Juan Gutierrez), Apple basically had to confirm that there was some truth to the rumors that he was posting--namely the details of a revision to the iBook laptop. Apple eventually did release a laptop whose details matched worker bee's description. In 2001, Apple settled with Gutierrez after he promised to turn over any remaining Apple confidential information and not divulge any further details.
Honestly this seems to be little more than drumming up even more buzz over up-in-coming products. Yeah, they probably were going to keep it a secret for a while longer but now that it's out why not milk it a bit and get the word out?
I have no interest in most of what Apple does or makes. I certainly wouldn't be perusing the three sites mentioned in the lawsuit but what I do peruse are news sites and other non-Apple sites (news.google.com, Slashdot, etc). Would I have heard about this through Slashdot? Perhaps. Would I have heard about the lawsuit through news.google.com AND Slashdot? Yup, in fact, I did.
So, I'm a PC/Windows user. Never surf the Apple rumor sites. I hear about this lawsuit that stems from the leaking of information about a piece of hardware that I can hook my computer up to my instruments and record shit. Sounds cool...
Worth filing some papers and getting someone to promise they will never leak information again? Yeah, I think so.
There really isn't any information contained on those sites that isn't contained in the articles about the suit.
Is Apple going to sue slashdot now for telling us what the lawsuits were about?
Of course all Apple has achieved is validating the rumor.
I am the last person to defend Apple but this is such a non-story. They are not suing these sites. They obviously caught somebody who signed an NDA leaking information and are suing them. These sites are receiving subpoenas because they may be able to verify the identity of said person.
Are you sure it wasn't a secret graphing calculator app???
"Your first time being root is much the same as loosing your virginity only with less humilation."
Not if you manage to combine the right balance of arrogance and incompetence it's not.
this is getting old and so are you
blog
GarageBand is the audio editing/music creation application now included as part of the iLife suite of apps (along with iTunes, iDVD, etc.)
More info at http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
It's not too hard to track down, if you try.
I'd guess it means that people are violating their NDAs. There is nothing rotten with a company protecting thier confifendtail information.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
They're suing someone who violated the terms of the NDA. End of story.
how relevant WE think the information is, or how worth hiding/saving/embargoing is irrelevant. There are tons of reasons that a company wants to keep info secret until they're ready for it to be released. They might (legitimately) fear that a competitor could use the info to get the jump on them. Considering how 'cool' people think Apple's stuff is this is likely. Or they may want to maximize the marketing impact of the product update/launch. This is not so insignificant really. As someone who works in marketing, I can say that an "oooh, what's next" buzz can be very helpful, and even valuable bonus when introducing product. To have some employee leak it for nothing more than first posters braggin rights is annoying and they wouldn't have a hard time making the claim that it cost them real money. And if the guy signed an NDA (VERY likely if he's working in product development) then he's screwed. I think the real story here is that they were allowed to subpeona the records of the sites he posted to. One reason why you'll never see me posting stuff that I find out at work (v. big tech/computer firm here).
That's all well and good, but you still haven't answered the OP's question: what is GrangeBand?
... but I am really sick of hearing about lawsuits. Period. I understand the need to protect brand equity, and can even see the justification for protecting your "IP," but honestly. When will these companies stop with the lawsuits!
New Year's resolution: not buying anything from anybody filing "stunt" (Apple) or "business model" (SCO) lawsuits. I would much rather these execs just took each other out behind the woodshed, beat the crap out of each other, shook hands, drank a beer, and got on with some, oh, I don't know, INNOVATION!
Overly litigious people/companies make me sick.
In addition, while this lawyer argues his case, the Jury sits around restless. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even the court recorder is straining to keep awake as I type this.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working with Apple lawyers, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen an Apple lawyer that has made a more reasonable case than its opposition counterpart, despite the Apple lawyer's superior training. My Real Estate Attorney with an Associate's Degree from New England Tech works better than this $3,000 per hour machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that Apple has superior lawyers.
Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to have Apple sue them over other faster, cheaper, more stable individuals.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
They've also sued three ADC members who were distributing developer builds of Mac OS X Tiger via BitTorrent.
Details here and here.
Nothing spectacular here, since besides the obvious copyright infringement, the developer builds are released under NDA.
I posted this below, but i have to reply. We can argue about the 'only thing separating you..." comment but I won't bother. But to pretend for ONE SECOND that marketing, including hype and buzz, is not important is to so fundamentally misunderstand business as to be laughable. The reason Apple has a niche - marketing, the reason Microsoft has dominance - marketing, the reason Starbucks sells you $4 coffee - marketing and on and on and on. the fact is that marketing (or communicating to an audience for the purpose of selling them something) stopped being a 'frill' about 50 years ago, and became a central pillar of capitalism. And when an employee breaks an NDA (as noted by others) it's a breach and he'll get screwed. That is has to do with marketing doesn't reduce its value, but increases it.
I know it' s only 3 weeks before MWSF but let's all act like adults here: if I want fanboi I'll go to PowerPage.
I got all excited at the prospect of PowerPage finally getting shuttered. Don't let me down like that.
- learn to swim.
garage band is a simple to use audio application that is part if the iLife suite (iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, garage band). http://www.apple.com/ilife/
one of the rumor sites said the code name Asteroid was a joke on the term "breakout box".
breakout and asteroid being old school video games.
breakout box being a device that has the multiple A/V ports and connects to the computer with one cable.
they seemed to imply Asteroid and Q97 were internal codenames for the device, not knowing what the shipping name would be. it was implied the device could ship as soon as January's MacWorld expo, or in the next few months. i guess the assumption is that it might ship with the rumored iLife2. OS X 10.4 is due to ship in the next few months too.... and nobody seemed to know if iLife2 would ship with 10.4 or before.
When will people learn that clock speed is not the same as processing power? Oh. Once you get a fucking clue. Okay, I guess I shouldn't worry about something that will never happen.
Actually it is. The article originally said 'GrageBand'. A google search of this returned:
1. Am empty site owned by a squatter
2. A couple of references to an independent band.
3. Zero apple related references.
I assumed 'GrageBand' was a typo or something and guessed 'GrangeBand', which turned out to be worng.
I think GrangeBand is a software application for creating music that lulls cows into a false sense of security so that you can run up to them and push them over. Search for it on SourceForge or FreshMeat.
(S(SKK)(SKK))(S(SKK)(SKK))
I can understand them stopping leaks over things like the G5, Color iPod, etc. But a firewire audio interface. Small potatoes.
DAMN YOU OCTODOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
Why is it that you people insist on trying to push the notion that Apple only pushes aesthetics... as if theres nothing else like ease of use, faster, smaller, more efficient, quieter etc... The parent post is a thinly veiled troll which trys to imply that Apple is only about flash.... Sigh...
Yeah but they do it to generate buzz and publicity.. and i suspect lawyers end up being cheaper than advertising.
Apple has been granted the right to subpoena O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, and Think Secret over leaks of information concerning an unreleased product code named "Asteroid" and "Q97," which has been described as a FireWire audio interface for use with GarageBand. The subpoenas are related to a lawsuit against an unnamed individual who leaked the information.
So...lemme get this straight.
This article is about products that don't exist, concerning a leak about what they may contain, and a lawsuit related to an unnamed person who may have leaked info about them?
Does that about sum it up?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
You can buy a digidesign Mbox factory package for $550. It comes with ProTools LE (the only real limit - practically speaking - is record/playback of 32 simultaneous tracks) and a crapload of really good plug-ins. And the Focus Rite mic pres are pretty nice.
I know that sounds like a commercial, but I actually own one. And I love it. My question is can Apple really compete with that? I mean, ProTools is the industry standard for digital audio recording and editing for a reason.
Then again, I suppose any "musician" who buys Garage Band isn't exactly looking to take their tracks to a real engineer or shop their creation around to record companies, and more than "graphic artists" who use MS Paint would take their creations to a printing press.
Despite conventional wisdom, I've discovered you can blame a guy for trying. It's called "attempted murder".
The mark of true journalists is they will not give in. Rather than revealing sources like this a good reporter will go to jail and have a comtempt of court record for the rest of his life!
This has been fought out in courts many times. I'm not sure where the law stands now (though some cases have come down in favor of the reporter in the past).
Ever notice that the media can somehow interview big names like Bin Laden (not him in particular, but others like him) that the government wants yet cannot find? Its because a reporter understands the sources are everything and if you turn on them you are sunk.
i don't think apple sent out press releases that they were filing papers about leaked info on a top secret project that will change the way home users play guitar forever.
anyone that reads Mac rumor sites know that Apple's legal dept regularly sends them letters demanding they take down stories, specs or pictures/drawings. that would be a non-story on here.
also Apple internally makes tons of devices that never see the light of day (like a PDA recently). then there is downright false information on rumor sites.
this is about Apple legal hunting for one specific leak. they did the same thing a few years ago and caught "worker bee". someone on an earlier comment posted about that. that one guy kept a few rumor sites well fueled for a long time. i am guessing they want to catch whomever took his place.
A firewire device for musicians. What a great idea. That's Apple for you, always on the forefront of new technology.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
applenova was also mentioned in this legal mess (i read some threads there about it yesterday or before; fyi, applenova.com was a forum created after some issues arose between some former members/mods of appleinsider and the management at appleinsider). anyway, applenova seems to be down. anyone know what happened to the site? i cant even resolve the hostname anymore.
I wish that I was a catfish.
All of this is true, and there's really no defending the dude that broke the NDA. But Anubis333 does have a point, too. Part of marketing is corporate image, and if Apple's image is 'petty' or 'childish', then that can speak just as loudly as any commercial.
Apple is certainly within their rights to sue this guy, and they have every right to guard specs about their new products any way they see fit. Along the same lines, folks like the parent poster are equally free to find that behavior a little unattractive, and if it impacts their buying decisions, maybe that opinion matters a little bit to Apple, too.
Dont think of it as leaks. Think of it as "forced" contribution to Open Source.
no god is good
Apple Love to keep there products a secret until it can be released in a trade show with all the Ohhs and Ahhhs. This is usually fine for average home user because they are impulse buyers and defiantly don't have a long term IT Strategy in mind. But many corporations do have an IT strategy and many other should get them (but that is an other topic) And by the time Apple releases a new product it is out of date when a company chooses to buy it. I am sure Apple would get better School, Government and Corprate buyers if they wern't so secret about everything. I am not talking about giving every single spec. But information like Flat Screen iMac (can fit in 1/2 square foot of desk space, with G5 Processor expected release Fall 2004, Or New Powermac 2x faster then old model expected release 2005. Information like this can help businesses who want apple have the ability to choose them on time so while they are in development they can make choices to buy it. IBM does it, Sun Does it, Microsoft Does it. Sure you not as surprised when it comes out but you may have already got the pre-orders in.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
They're suing someone who violated the terms of the NDA. End of story.
Really? Is that the end of the story? Considering they don't even know *who* the informer is, how do they know he/she signed an NDA?
For all we know, it was leaked by a janitor who saw a design document thrown in the trash.
Open at the Source:
73 Open Source technologies implemented by OS X
7 Open Source technologies created by Apple
I believe your quote was:
You forgot to mention that Apple has made no significant contributions to the Free Software community, while basing their own OS on Free Software projects and releasing everything they sell under Microsoft-style proprietary licenses.
I suppose staking the entire future of their company on adopting and building 80 open source technologies really does reinforce your point.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
But has it been signed with Verisign?
My fellow Slashdotters, we have seen the birth of a new troll!
Wizardninja, whoever you are, your post shall soon join the ranks of Soviet Russia and Tubgirl in Slashdot lore.
:-) BC
Apple is one company. Therefore, it is "Apple loves"..."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Insightful? Are you serious? The only thing this thing was missing is an actual definition of flamebait (e.g., flaym-bate, n.: a communication issued solely to elicit a negative or hostile reaction, perhaps with a gratuitous jab at Steve Jobs).
Anyone who has used a Mac in the past five years can tell you that it is about more than appearances and marketing. There is steak underneath the sizzle, as our marketing friends would say. I mean, it runs on f*cking Unix! If the Mac OS appeared out of the ether on someone's Dell, they'd think Christ himself had coded the fantastic Expose features.
This is about protecting IP. Apple wants to keep its new things hush-hush so people keep buying the old ones. It's actually quite common among, well, everybody. But hey! Google it yourself!
go get it
And this wasn't a vague rumor about flash-based iPods that could be the result of anyone's wild conjecture. It was specific information about inputs, outputs, the form factor, the manufacturers, release date, etc. That's the kind of information that can only be known by some one who's worked with Apple and has presumably signed (and violated) an NDA.
Apple really cares about who this vendor is, so at the very least they can stop working with them. The only way to find that information out is to file a law suit and subpoena the rumor sites who published the information.
I figure that EVERYONE that works for Apple signs some sort of NDA, so it is reasonable to assume that only a person on the inside would know these "code names" or details of an as yet unannounced product, and to therefore conclude that the person who leaked the info MUST have signed a NDA.
Just a series of guesses and assumptions, but I think they are well reasoned ones...
Sorry MS fanboys, you can't brand Apple evil yet in retaliation for tarnishing the good name of M$, they are doing something they should and have every right to do.
Except they're not suing their own fans. They're suing someone who is likely from inside the company for leaking information. After all, how could any Average Joe find out such detailed information? It's obvious that the person who leaked the device was someone inside Apple, and anyone with that kind of access would have signed an NDA. It's simple breach of contract. They're merely serving subpoenas to rumor sites in order to get information on who the person might be. They're not suing any sites, just compelling them to release information about who the person might be. An employee becomes a real liability to the company when they start leaking pre-released device specifications to Internet sites, and who knows that he/she won't do it again with a bigger product?
Want Slashdot headlines on your site? Try SlashHead
an unnamed individual
Makes me think about that line in Loaded Weapon 1 when they were trying to get info from Lovitz:
"Gimme a name!"
"Weren't your parents suppose to do that?"
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
I think everyone that works for just about any design or technology firm signs an NDA.
Not if you manage to combine the right balance of arrogance and incompetence it's not.
s/arrog/ignor/;
"The 'hostname' command doesn't do anything when given an argument, right?"
Said by me, right after having our head sysadmin tell me he trusts me enough to give me root, and right before I ran "hostname asdf" on the NIS master. Hilarity ensued shortly after.
Ahh, memories...
The real question should be, why is Apple suing these people? Is it because they broke the NDA, a publicity stunt, or does it really have an impact on their business?
To break it down:
Apple prides itself on being innovators. To be first to announce a new product is a VERY big deal in their customers eyes (whether or not it actually is sold first is cleary another thing).
Apple has chosen to go after individuals who have leaked this information, at the price of potentially proving these rumors are true an impacting the "next big thing" product announcement. Why would they do this?
- Apple might be making an example out of individuals who have broken the NDA
- Apple might be doing this to create a buzz in the "Geek" world (we are all discussing this aren't we) for their new product
- Apple might be concerned that a competitor might start developing a product to match the Apple product. This product might be better or worse, but either way, could cannibalize their sales.
From a customer relations stand point, I can honestly say that I don't know why Apple would actually sue any one for these "leaks", but there does seem to be many valid business reasons.
Also, will Apple settle for the return of documents, and the removal of information posting, or are they looking for monetary compensation from the offenders. I think that will tell the real story.
Don't they have protection from naming their sources? They are jouralists right? Online or offline its still news reporting.
This is exactly why apple does what they do. i cant tel you how many times companies x says the will deliver something in the future and they don't. oh by the way you must be using longhorn to make this post. any company that plans it future based on anothers projected product release should have their it people shot.
by you post you are either 14 or a total idiot.
- Apple employee throws away a stack of papers, accidentally includes one that contains such information. Person unrelated to Apple goes through the dumpsters looking for information (people do this). Leaks to media.
- Apple employee's laptop stolen in mall parking lot.
- Apple employee calls into telephone conference using cell phone. Someone with spread-spectrum receiver hardware snoops the phone (or possibly a simple analog receiver if the phone does analog fall-back).
- Third-party company that Apple contracts to do the manufacturing leaks the specs (though this would not be expected to include codenames).
It should be noted that, while the odds are high that any given leak came from someone under at least a general NDA, there are many, many possible exceptions to prove the rule.Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Ha! My thoughts exactly. May I assume that these lawyers are on retainer, normally sitting around doing "nothing", but getting paid anyway? Why not use them to complement the sales staff? Their personalities are similar. I bet they work well together. Sometimes the buzz created by the lawsuits are more exciting than the product they're suing over. The lawsuit is the ad, and CNET, Slashdot, and probably more than a few others just carried the ad for free.
What?
I don't dispute any specific event that Anubis stated (I remember most of them), but the claim that Apple's only selling point is only "pretty" products, then I'd have to ask what that is based on. According to a PC World survey article a few months ago, Apple's products in general require about half the support and half the frustration as other products. The construction generally feels (to me) more solid and tidy too, compared to that of competitors. And OS X is a pretty secure with fewer vulnerabilities and a much faster patch turnaround, stable yet easy to use.
Yeah, Jobs has an unjustifiable ego but he's not a megalomaniac.
It's funny, Apple did everything right in this case. They filed a john doe lawsuit, then subpoenaed the web sites for information of their informant. If you had someone sign an NDA then showed them your top-secret project, would you do any less? I can see news sites refusing to answer the subpoenas as a matter of journalistic integrity in the case of a whistle blower, but this is not a case of wrongdoing, just a simple contract dispute. Despite doing everything above board here, half the posts are still criticizing Apple for trying to enforce their contracts. They did not threaten the web sites, one of which MS did just last week. They did not file any lawsuits against the web sites. What more could you ask?
It could be just publicity, but more likely Apple decided that there were getting to be too many leaks and decided to clamp down again. Yes, it may acknowledge that the current leak is true, but it probably also discourages future leaks.
Really, what are the leaks about? The breakout box and Tiger? So what? I'm sure that what this really means is that Apple has something so incredible ready to come out at WWDC that they had to make sure no one considers leaking it. Thus, the lawsuits over minor leaks now.
The rumor I heard is that there's going to be a tie-in with Zooey Deschanel's upcoming movie, a new sub-ethanet receiver shaped like an O'Reilly book and with only two words on the cover.
Jerry
My fave new-to-root lossage was clattering along doing some admin task as root, the details of which I've long forgotten. I type the following:
;-)
# kill <missed the percent key>1<return>
Expletives deleted.
P.S. For newbs and non-*nix folks: "kill %1" kills the previous program run by the user in the background. "kill 1" kills the init process, which instantly crashed the system.
The 73 "open source technologies" implemented by Apple include such amazing tools like emulations of POSIX features to cover up for the fact that their kernel/linker doesn't provide them. The other items in the list are simply libraries and programs they imported.
What's especially annoying is their blurb about KHTML - they "return their enhancements to the community" in the form of undocumented patch dumps. Yeah, real useful. Also check out how they're "the first computer company to make open source a key part of its ongoing software strategy". That is, if you ignore Cygnus, Red Hat, IBM, etc. It's that kind of not-quite-lying but not-quite-the-truth marketing schlick that I dislike about Apple. They talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.
From my point of view I hope they find out who did it. Apple pays our company alot of money for our work, and part of that higher price is the reasonable assumption that we will not "leak" their products. And in the grand scheme of things the rest of the world knowing about whatver the next Apple Thing-a-ma-bob (TM) is or keeping my job there is no contest.
If you are one in a million, then there are six thousand people who are just like you.
So anybody who doesn't operate in the way you think they should is closed minded? I wonder who has the closed mind here...
Actually, the contract manufacturer has almost certainly executed an NDA as part of the contract.
Erm, "programs they imported"? But what about the libraries too?
You neglected the rather obscure conjunction I used in my sentance called an "and". Take another look:
I suppose staking the entire future of their company on adopting and building 80 open source technologies really does reinforce your point.
You don't have to be satisfied that Apple uses open source goodies like Apache, Bind, OpenLDAP, or emacs. You don't even have to like Rendezvous or acknowledge that the other six technologies that Apple made open source are worth a shit. You certainly don't have to agree that Apple is the "first computer company to make open source a key part of their strategy" (though I read that as physicial computer manufacturer, of which only IBM on your list qualifies and they have not jumped in OSS with both feet like Apple.)
But please, why the hostility? These are FACTS - 80 open source technologies used in OS X - nearly 10% developed by Apple. FACTS. If you support OSS then you should aplaud Apple and encourange them to do more and more. Atleast Apple is not working against OSS.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
The dips in stock and sales around July of each year and December/early Jabnuary would tell a different tale.
People pay CLOSE attention to Apple rumors - rumors sites do more to hurt Apple than help it.
There is a difference between rumor/speculation and STEALING AND COERCING = Apple Rumor sites.
Click here for more
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
I wasn't trying to be rude but this was an Apple thread. And Garage Band has been heavily publicized in the Apple universe (which you apparently don't belong to). It's a pretty cool toolset for creating music.
confifendtail
Fuck, that one's so bad it even breaks Google's spellchecker
(In case they fix it before you click, it asks me "did you mean confiendtial?")
This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
Not necessarily:
Person sells stolen computer. Person who buys it finds information lurking on the hard drive and... ooh, people would like to hear about this. The person buying it may have no way to know that the computer was not sold legally.
The same could occur if an employee sells a machine (or hard drive or...) on eBay without wiping the drive. Clearly there would be an NDA violation (by the employee) in that case, but not an intentional one, and not necessarily traced easily to the employee, depending.
And yes, cell phone calls are protected by specific laws in the U.S., but who says the cell phone call must necessarily be in the U.S.?
I'm not saying that either of these is likely, of course.... :-)
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
Subpoenas of source information at all levels of the journalistic hierarchy are causing trouble, lately. Even the New York Times has a couple of reporters in jail for not revealing their sources for stories on the Plame affair (remember, when one of the crooks in the White House illegally outed a deep-cover CIA agent in retribution for whistleblowing by her husband...).
It'll be interesting to see whether OPP, AI, and TS will stand their ground as firmly as the NYT did, or whether they roll over for the courts.
Who needs spellcheckers when we have people like you? Ever thought to comment on the content of the previous post instead of the method of delivery?
. They have very strict rules for anyone working with Apple.
The main one being that you have to sign an NDA, i.e. a Non-Disclosure Agreement. If you've never seen one of these, you may be interested to know that it's a legal document that you sign which basically says that you promise not to tell any of the secrets with which you're about to be entrusted, and if you do, the other party (Apple, in this case) has the legal right to kick your ass.
All that's happened here is that someone told Apple's secrets after signing an NDA, and that person is now about to get the ass-kicking that he has invited upon himself.
Ever thought to invest in a functional sense of humour?
I believe there are some... 'medicinal' solutions for your malady.
This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
How do you stop a leak after it has occurred? You can't. The information is out there. All you can do is prevent leaks. How does one prevent leaks? By nailing the current leaker's nutsack to wall, where employees, contractors, and vendors will take note that confidentiality is taken seriously.
A few years back, the president of ATI let slip some confidential info a week before MWSF, thus depriving Steve Jobs of some tidbit that would make us all Oooooh and Ahhhhh at the keynote. As a result, Apple stopped using ATI video cards for a while, and switched to NVidia.
Before Jobs' second coming, Apple had been as leaky as a sieve. One of the first things he did was to put a stop to all the leaks. He's done pretty well, notwithstanding a few notable lapses (remember the flat panel G4 iMac on the cover of time?).
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
So you've been bought and owned. And damned if you'll abide by anybody else not being bought and owned.
Hmmm.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Historically, Apple is notorious for being a very 'closed' architecture company.
Some of that changed, after they proved completely incapable of producing a robust 'next generation MacOS' and were forced to buy one in from NeXT that just happened to borrow heavily from the UNIX culture of openness. It didn't change out of the goodness of Apple's culture as a company, though. It changed because they were about to throw in the towel.
I've run Darwin on a Beige G3, and on a Pentium box. That's the extent of Apple's 'openness' and it's pretty lame.
"What's the frequency Kenneth?"
Historically, Apple is notorious for being a very 'closed' architecture company.
Some of that changed, after they proved completely incapable of producing a robust 'next generation MacOS' and were forced to buy one in from NeXT that just happened to borrow heavily from the UNIX culture of openness. It didn't change out of the goodness of Apple's culture as a company, though. It changed because they were about to throw in the towel.
I have to call bullshit on this. Just look at what Apple has done after NeXT. Take a look at Rendezvous - what does that have to do with the buying NeXT? They certainly didn't HAVE to make it OSS.
Apple has a business model of wanting to control all aspects of their user experience. But when the market rejects their notions, Apple DOES change. Take PCI for instance. Used to be you had to but a graphics card for a Mac or a PC, now, you just need to be certain there is a driver for it. Same with hard drives, monitors, etc. When it comes to software, the more OSS works for Apple you can bet your ass the more Apple will embrace it.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.