r0ck1r0ck2 wrote:ahhem.

anyone ever built a Hackintosh?

Is your meaning build from parts or install osx on non-apple?
Year ago, I install the osx on a toshiba laptop; she seem much speedier than windows but this hackedintosh, she very unstable, and cannot use the wifi.

mr. arrison, if you like to put the osx on your thinkpad, we will help you, but my bet is she will take a long time to get working like champion, maybe so long that you would like to buy mac instead.

for building from parts, that will take longer to plan but maybe less headache for drivers and such.

galanter, not so much to worry about hackintoshes -- these fellows who work so hard to not buy mac, many end up buying macs.

When I think of ethics, the first people I always think about are international corporations.

If you can't build one in 1 hour or less, then you better log back into WOW land.

Seriously. where can we hear about a person doing this as their one and only machine, i.e. they have to be productive with the machine, don't care how, just not games, endless configuration tweaks, or run on sentences? I don't want to hear about your sys admin at work who says they did it.

galanter wrote:And the answer is exactly "no."

Now ask if anyone has ever stolen a Hackintosh, and you'll be in better shape. C'mon...say it....

Shouldn't the question really be:

Has anyone broken the EULA of a licensed copy of OS X by installing it on a PC?

You're assuming the software is pirated for the sake of making the usual boring holier-than-thou attack on software piracy. Galanter, you are better than us, ok? You will go to heaven for being a good boy and paying for all your software.

What bothers me most about software and media theft discussions on this board is (1) the absolute nonsense that people spout in defense of their actions and (2) the fact that many of these very same people, should they realize their goals, will need to be defended by the very same intellectual property laws they now claim are the enemy.

If someone steps forward and says "yes, I'm a thief. I know it's bad. I wouldn't want someone to steal from me. Someday I hope to be a better person, but for now I can't seem to resist doing the wrong thing"....well, at least it's a start.

But these excuses that even school children would recognize as feeble...I mean c'mon people...

(And by the way, when you steal software someone *does* end up paying your way. People like me, for example. I'm not setting myself above others...I'm not looking for a gold star...I'm just asking them to stop picking my pocket.)

galanter wrote:If someone steps forward and says "yes, I'm a thief.

You're assuming the software is pirated.

(And by the way, when you steal software someone *does* end up paying your way.

Once again, you're assuming the software is pirated.

Your arguments apply to anyone here who did not buy a licensed copy of OS X for their Hackintosh; they do not apply to those who did.

People like me, for example. I'm not setting myself above others...I'm not looking for a gold star...I'm just asking them to stop picking my pocket.)

Yes you are! You're making a completely groundless assumption that the people creating these Hackintosh's are using pirated software and then criticising the ethics of those people based on that *assumption*. If someone has *purchased* a copy of OS X and then hacked it to run on a PC then they have not stolen that software, they have merely broken the license agreement.

I guess in this instance, you could argue that Apple have been deprived a hardware sale, but by that logic you would have a problem with people buying second-hand macs and installing the latest versions of OS X on those too.

Point is, if you had argued about the ethics of breaking the EULA you would have been on slightly more solid ground. However, instead you've decided to turn an interesting technical discussion on hacking OS X into a boring, condescending rant on software piracy.

Well done.

busbus wrote:Where can we hear about a person doing this as their one and only machine, i.e. they have to be productive with the machine, don't care how, just not games, endless configuration tweaks, or run on sentences? I don't want to hear about your sys admin at work who says they did it.

that's pretty much it.

happyandbored wrote:

galanter wrote:If someone steps forward and says "yes, I'm a thief.

You're assuming the software is pirated.

No, you're assuming using the Mac OS on non-Apple hardware is not pirating. It is.

happyandbored wrote:Point is, if you had argued about the ethics of breaking the EULA you would have been on slightly more solid ground.

And people accuse *me* of being pedantic.

happyandbored wrote: However, instead you've decided to turn an interesting technical discussion on hacking OS X into a boring, condescending rant on software piracy.

Well done.

Then my work here is done.

go away gerber baby. you give me gas.

galanter wrote:

happyandbored wrote:

galanter wrote:If someone steps forward and says "yes, I'm a thief.

You're assuming the software is pirated.

No, you're assuming using the Mac OS on non-Apple hardware is not pirating. It is.

I guess if you chose to stretch the definition of piracy as applying to the manner in which it is used then yes. Then again, I could call apples oranges. Most reasonable people would not define piracy this way.

To then make the jump that using *purchased* software in an unathorised way should be described as theft is just plain silly. If we assume that someone has purchased a copy of OS X for their Hackintosh (and no one has suggested otherwise), then breaking the EULA aside, the financial damage caused to Apple is precisely zero.

Which leaves me mystified as to why you're so keen to use loaded words like "thief" against the people who do this kind of stuff. Their actions aren't affecting you - the price of your mac hasn't been put up because some computer geek gets his or her jollies from installing OS X on a PC.

Who cares if it's technically still against the law - it's not harming anyone. Why are you being such a cock?