Microsoft Blocking Wine Users From Downloads Site

IamTheRealMike writes "In January, Microsoft announced a new anti-piracy initiative called Genuine Advantage. From this summer onwards all users of Microsoft Downloads will be required to validate using either an ActiveX control or a standalone tool. Yesterday Ivan Leo Puoti, a Wine developer, discovered that the validation tool checks directly for Wine and bails out with a generic error when found. This is significant as it's not only the first time Microsoft has actively discriminated against users running their programs via Wine, but it's also the first time they've broken radio silence on the project."

Comments

Re:Bad, bad Microsoft.... no cookie for you!

[memphisITguy]

The license for any non-OS product from Microsoft says nothing about having to run it on Windows. They assume you will, but WINE breaks that assumption. They are just pissed off about it... they may actually get themselves in trouble by not allowing people who paid for their products to update them. Just because somebody can run microsoft office on Linux doesn't mean it was pirated.

Re:bah

[AsbestosRush]

From digging down in the thread:

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 07:45:11 +0200, Shachar Shemesh wrote:
> In any case, at least from a technical point of view, going around such
> test ought to be fairly simple

I don't think we want to go there. I demonstrated a way of checking for
Wine to Rob last night that we really cannot fix or workaround, and if I
can think of it they certainly can too.

Basically if we start integrating workarounds into Wine, it'll lead to an
arms race we cannot possibly win. Better to ensure our users don't need
anything from that website.

thanks -mike

I'm inclined to agree with this assessment.

Re:Bad, bad Microsoft.... no cookie for you!

[chill]

Microsoft has every right to block someone from updating Office when it's being run from a Non-Microsoft Operating System...

No, they don't. Read the EULA and it says NOTHING of the kind.

I quote from the MS Word 2003 EULA found at http://download.microsoft.com/download/1/2/5/12538 ba0-3d24-4f00-aab1-dd9ff4aacfc9/en_client_eula.pdf

"Installation and use. You may:
(a) install and use a copy of the Software on one personal computer or other device; and
(b) install an additional copy of the Software on a second, portable device for the exclusive use of the primary
user of the first copy of the Software."

If you can point out in the EULA where I missed it and there is a statement saying I have to run this software under MS Windows, I'd appreciate it.

Until such time, I have the right to run the software under any OS I want.

-Charles