The Future of Windows Software Distribution

Diomidis Spinellis writes "Microsoft's Windows Marketplace Labs offer a preview of their Digital Locker technology. The Digital Locker uses Microsoft's Passport Network to allow Windows users to search, buy, and download software from multiple retailers, storing their product keys for future installations. Both retailers offering the service support digital rights management technologies: Digital River promotes its SoftwarePasport, and eSsellerate its Product Activation technology. Will this technology trigger an across-the-board adoption of DRM for Windows software? How will it affect the distribution of free and open-source software?"

Comments

Nice

[Anonymous Coward]

The first stop on the path to web services.

First they get you used to having no packaging, then they get you with the subscription service.

Re:Nice

[kgruscho]

I think windows dominance relies on past piracy. Piracy was truly rampant back in the windows 3.11 days, back then I seemd to se 3-4 priate copies for each legit copy.

Now almost every copy of windows I see running is legit, because it came with the computer.

Windows became dominant by being pirated, but once it was entrenched, microsoft started selling it on every PC out there. And selling cheap upgrades to half the pirate copies.

Also please people do not kid yourself in thinking that prices and DRM will push people to linux. linux has some great merits, but most people do not build their system and get the OS preinstalled, to them windows is "free".

(Honestly I think the best bet for linux is if a manufacturer acts like apple, and puts together really nice hardware and ships a box that just works for the end user)

Re:Nice

[miffo.swe]

I remember the piracy being pretty darned rampant with MS Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP too. And lets not forget that very many of the preinstalled XP Home gets swiftly exchanged for XP PRO. Piracy of applications on MS Windows isnt a small thing either. Take your own Windows boxes (if you own any) and calculate how much software you have there, including all the shareware you have used long beyond its trial period. I suspect that for most people that sum isnt something they are willing to part from. Windows may be free but all the applications is not and DRM may just make people painfully aware of that.

The sole reason prices dont drive people towards Linux/*BSD/Whatever New is that pretty much no home user really pays for their software and thus dont compare the two on price.

Passport?

[lachlan76]

Didn't Passport get cancelled? Are they building new systems based on a deprecated
system?

How are the 2 related?

[jkrise]

What does Passport authentication have to do with Open Source s/w distribution? Has Amazon or eBay affected s/w distribution? So why should an MS authentication scheme do it?

Re:How are the 2 related?

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

I hate to break it to the Slashdot zealots, but here it is:
Microsoft wants one thing and one thing alone: money. It is not in Microsoft's best interests to restrict development for Windows. It is not in their best interests to break compatibility with older software. Neither of these things will EVER happen at Microsoft because the strength of their platform lies in its software library and ease of development. This news has NO implications for FOSS on Windows.

This article, in fact, is 90 percent FUD. DRM has existed for a long time in the shareware and commercial software world - this just standardizes it and provides centralized downloading and key storage. Not a bad idea, if I say so myself.

Middleman?

[Dr.Opveter]

From the Help
Q: Am I buying my software directly from Microsoft?
A: The Digital Locker on Windows Marketplace Labs is not a software retailer. Microsoft, with your permission, communicates your purchase information to the retailers to help complete your transactions.

Seems they are just a store front using their name to sell 3rd party software. Keeping all the licenses of your purchased software in a Digital Locker on your system might actually be convenient for the average Windows user. The program is supposed to also be able to make backup cds of purchased software as well.

I'm sure there's something I'm not seeing but it doesn't seem such a bad move to me.

Re:Monopoly webserviced ;-)

[aussie_a]

Microsoft has participated in illegal practices for quite some time. They are a convicted monopoly, and what's different about how they did business before and after their conviction? Absolutely nothing. That may be because Bush came into power soon after they were convicted, the Republicans all being supportive of big businesses of course didn't want to cause Microsoft any harm, damn the laws that it broke. Paranoid? Possibly. Co-incedence, doubtful. See the facts here.

So when Microsoft was found guilty of breaking the law, and nothing happened. What incentive does Microsoft have to comply with other laws? What's going to happen? They'll be convicted again? I'm sure Microsoft is quivering in their boots.

Linux vs. Windows...

[cobrajs]

Why should this put a hamper on OSS distribution? Isn't this just Windows trying to be more like Linux, i.e. like apt-get or CNR for Linspire?

I don't think that this really would hurt OSS distribution at all, but would instead provide more of a reason to use OSS.

Re:A search on sourceforge..

[indifferent children]

This could be a good thing for OSS. If home-user license enforcement becomes easy, it will become widespread. If this works well enough, then MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc will start requiring these licenses to run. If it becomes difficult or impossible to run these programs, more people will stop using illegal copies, and start using OpenOffice, Gimp, etc. If MS were able to stamp-out copyright infringement (by any means), that would be a huge boost to OSS.