Re: [cobalt-users] RE: all the negative attitude towards the exploration of the Qube

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Jason Ebacher" <jasone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I think this is odd for a group of people to talk so bad to users of the
> same systems, that just want to know more about it and explore the inner
> workings

I don't recall Rafael Azevedo stating that as part of his motivation.  He
referred to his project as the Cobalt "cracking" service (you do know what
the term "cracking" means, don't you?) and mentioned his motivation was to
get the Cobalt software to run on other machines b/c it's cheaper.

> Yes the cobalt stuff is property of Cobalt, But what is wrong
> with making a distro that emulates the use and function of the Cobalt
> products

Nothing.  But he wasn't talking about reverse engineering the software or
building a better system from scratch.  He was talking about violating
Cobalt's license by installing it on another machine.  Whether he intends to
package it as a new distro and give it away for free or to charge for it
hasn't been addressed to the best of my recollection, but both are clearly
illegal.

> I would think that the users here would like to see a alternative to a
> Cobalt product if it cost them one forth to half the price.

There are already plenty of alternatives.

> Most users of
> the Cobalt products want a easy, cheap, stable server.... that's why they
> bought the thing in the first place

If by "cheap" you mean the cost of the hardware/software, there are
comparable systems available without an admin GUI that cost much less.

> The guy who is trying to take the cobalt files and drop them on a linux
> box, It may work - it may not

4 days ago Rafael Azevedo didn't know how to handle a partition that's
getting full.  That's basic Linux administration.  Not to be rude, but it
doesn't seem like he has the expertise to pull this off, especially since
some brilliant people have looked into doing this and attempted to do so
since the RaQ1 came on the market.

> Why are you guys so quick to flame him when
> he just wants to see if it can be done...he didn't threaten to put cobalt
> out of business...when he threatens Cobalt's business he will get burnt in
> a lawsuit.

So your logic is that it's ok to try something that's clearly illegal
because in the end the justice system will prevail?  I hope most people
don't share your sentiments.  Cobalt has spent years and millions of dollars
developing their software and improving it.  If someone illegally makes the
software available, it will likely cost Sun a lot of time and money and will
likely result in additional costs being passed on to Cobalt customers such
as many of the people on this list.  I don't like that.  And I don't like
paying hundreds more for my business software b/c so many copies are
installed illegally and the software companies have to pass on higher costs
to the paying customers as a result.

> ...easy as that....  He at least has the gumption to try
> something, Just think if Linus didn't try to emulate Unix we would be
> running our Qubes on Winblows and having the thing crash all the time

Many of us on the list have the "gumption" to try things.  And most of those
things happen to be *legal*, unlike installing the Cobalt software on a
machine other than one built by Cobalt (and sold as a hardware/software
combo).  I'm all for creating newer and better software in legal ways, but
totally against stealing other people's work.  If you put your time and
energy into building a software application that is your livelihood I'm sure
you'd feel the same way.  It's funny how many people don't consider it
stealing b/c it's bits and bytes and not something physical.

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/