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Linux Passes the Microsoft WGA Test
Wil writes "Here's a good one for the Linux fans -- running Wine on Linux and attempting to download a Windows Genuine Advantage protected file from the Microsoft website works just fine. It seems that Bill Gates has a soft spot for Tux after all, or at least isn't bothered about him downloading updates."
If the WGA check works under WINE on Linux, then Microsoft gets made fun of. If it doesn't, they're accused of anti-trust violations, malfeasance, and generally being bad.
I too have felt the cold finger of injustice.
I know that was a joke, but I bet many slashdot users (like me) are still more than likely just fans of the idea of linux, than the actually software.
Religion for nerds. Stuff that really matters
Pretty amazing considering I can't get a legit copy of XP to pass WGA.
Mike
It's people like you that raise the cost of software because of such illegal acts. Please go to find the nearest firearm and shoot yourself in the head.
Will systems running WINE pass WGA validation?
p x
WINE is a Win32 emulator which allows Windows applications, such as Office, to run on top of X and UNIX. When WGA validation detects WINE running on the system, it will notify users that they are running non-genuine Windows, and will not allow genuine Windows downloads for that system. Users of WINE should consult the WINE community for WINE updates. It is important to note that WINE users, and other users of non-genuine Windows, can continue to download updates for most Microsoft applications from Microsoft application-specific sites, such as Office Updates.
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/downloads/faq.as
All they did was paste a code in that they no dobt generated from a legit box. This is that 'crack' that came out way back when, where you generate the code on a genuine box, and then enter the code that comes back in the pop up box. I don't believe it checked what OS you were running, it just did a checksum against the code you entered. While certainly amusing and somewhat embarrasing on the surface for MS, it didn't really prove anything.
This isn't new, it's a known exploit. WGA only cares about XP and 2K3. If GenuineCheck.exe is run on a 2000, ME, 98 and 95 system it will generate an authorization code and allow you to pass onto the download.
When I spoke to MS about it last week they said it was "By Design".
Using the same technique if you download GenuineCheck.exe with a pirate copy of XP and set it's compatibility to Windows 2000 or Windows 98 you will also get a valid code and can then use it to proceed to download.
I think that, more important than ways to defeat WGA, is that the user experience for Firefox people is harder and more dangerous than those using IE. For example if you use IE and elect to use the ActiveX control you just have to press one button. If you use Firefox you are forced to use GenuineCheck.exe every time you want a download. This requires a download, a run of the program, a copy paste a button click and then you are free to download. Firefox people should bombard MS to write an XPI or better yet scrap this stupid scheme.
Orationem pulchram non habens, scribo ista linea in lingua Latina
Bill doesn't sell computers, he sells operating systems and software. Why on earth would he code windows to NOT run under Wine? Those are paying customers.
Windows doesn't run under Wine - Wine re-implements the Windows API. No copy of Windows is involved, so these aren't paying customers unless they're using Wine to run Office, etc.
So what we have is a system intended to block pirated copies of Windows from getting updates - but it apparently considers a complete re-implementation to be the genuine article
If I write my own JDBC driver, am I emulating a JDBC driver, or am I implementing the API?
Product activation exists to make Windows (slightly) more difficult to pirate. WGA exists to warn consumers if they have bought a computer packaged with an illegal copy of Windows from an unscrupulous salesperson.
That said, an unscrupulous salesperson could probably implement someway to bypass the WGA test easily as well.
I'd assume Microsoft doesn't care if Wine is considered genuine or not. It can certainly be annoying for legitimate Windows users, so I would assume the test errors on the side of not-hassling the user.
That said, I wish it would go away. It is annoying extra step on the rare occasions that I do have 2 deal with it.
http://brandonbloom.name
Or install Windows and use OpenOffice.org on Windows, thus saving him money just like he would running OpenOffice.org on Linux? Funny how that works eh?
Yes, I am a Linux Advocate, but this garbage about saving money on Office by using Linux doesn't exactly fly.
I wonder if the numbers are skewed by the sheer amount of people who get bored at work and check slashdot from their company mandated windows PC
"I know that was a joke, but I bet many slashdot users (like me) are still more than likely just fans of the idea of linux, than the actually software."
I can't say that's all that surprising. All you have to do is talk about how great and free and open Linux is and suddenly your comment is marked with a nice pretty word like "Insightful". If you're talking about Microsoft and you use words like "monopolist", the same thing happens to your post.
Fortunately, things are more balanced than they used to be. But man, years ago, you always got a +5 Insightful by raising the question of whether or not a new type of computer could run Linux or not. (Hence the "But does it run Linux?" jokes that come along from time to time.)
A lot of people play Slashdot like it's a popularity game. That's why this joke is pretty funny.
"Derp de derp."
XP is included in "any version of Windows from 3.0 to 2k3".
Game! - Where the stick is mightier than the sword!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Wine IS NOT an emulator in the traditional sense, it does not actually emulate anything. Wine (unlike VMWare, Virtual PC, or others) does not emulate the hardware of the PC. What the Wine project tries to do (mostly successfully) is to write an Open Source version of the Windows API. Again, Wine does not emulate anything. Windows' code runs natively on Linux, what Wine provides is the Open Source API for Windows' programs to access. One could theoretically copy Microsoft's APIs to Linux and accomplish the same thing that Wine is doing; but that would require buying a Windows license.
Calling Wine a Windows emulator is the same as calling Linux a glorified Unix emulator.
"Eat your vegetables now Bill or the big bad wolf will come to eat you!" :-)
On the other hand, if the solution was too strict it would only cause too much badwill for denying legitimate users from downloading software. It seems like it is scanning for known leaked corporate keywords and nothing else.
So maybe it is time for an update to the licensing model of Windows instead? The cost of maintaining a multitude of versions (XP Home, Media Center, Professional etc.) can actually be a problem too.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Depends if you count web views, i.e. desktops as the only "use" of Linux. I run a linux server, my parents have two linux desktops (zero windows), one doubling as a server but I still have my primary Windows box. There's simply some programs I can't seem to let go of, and then there's games. When PS3/Xbox360 starts getting some nice HDTV games I might finally drop that and switch completely to Linux. But until then, I'll keep getting counted as a Windows user, Windows/Opera no less.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I don't know where to begin on this one. I'm not advocating Piracy here.
I just had to get hold of the latest windows installer for a bank I'm working at. Windows Genuine Advantage doesn't work through their firewall. The copy is absolutely genuine.
Now that stupid part is running windows update automatically gets you the installer without WGA kicking in. BUT I need the installer redistributable not a single installer. So I had to go to a third party site, and virus check etc. instead of going to the Microsoft web site.
This like every other piece of anti-piracy technology I've seen tends to inconvenience legitimate users, while pirates etc. find a way around it.
Absolute bulk stupidity.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
And some people use Windows because a lot of fancy specialized software runs only on that (think audio), while other minor boxes can be running whatever OS.
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
I've used Linux at work and at home for years. No "MS updating", no "anti-virus", etc.
Why the hell is this "Insightful?"
Nandz.