[ben_faulkner]

for what is essentially a website of how to hack computers, people seem to be taking a rather moral high ground on not using pirate software.

what is that all about?

[JoshMcMadMac]

http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell...tml#post129016

If it were me, I would just ban you...but that is just me.

[holmes4]

We modify computers to make them do things not envisioned by the manufacturer. We buy licensed copies of operating systems we want to install. How hard is that to understand?

[ben_faulkner]

yeah that is exactly the kind of thing i am talking about, thanks for proving my point.

and if you do go to that thread you linked to, what exactly is it that i should be banned for? REALLY? BANNED?

im actually not interested in having any arguments, or causing any trouble im just genuinely intrigued as to what the problem is... i dont get it.

Holmes4, thanks for your reply. but are you seriously trying to tell me that you dont have anything on your computers that you have not paid for? a movie, some music, some software?

[bmcclure937]

What exactly is your point here? I guess someone decided to "spread the Holiday Cheer" a little early... lol.

First of all, the forums are not dedicated to hacking anything. As Holmes4 stated, there is a fine line between hacking and modifying your property. Modifying something you own to accomplish a task that it was not completely intended for would be considered modding. Hacking usually has negative connotations associated with the word. In fact, many people dislike the word "Hackintosh" because of that very reason.

I have purchased a retail copy of Snow Leopard because I feel that is the right thing to do. I do not really care what the next guy does... as long as they do not come to the forums whining and complaining why their non-retail disk is unsupported or not working properly.

As for understanding why the moderators and forum in general has an attitude that discourages pirating and illegal copies... that is the safe thing to do for the benefit of the site. Do you realize how much attention MyDellMini gets as it is?! Now imagine if we did not discourage the use of pirated copies of the OS or, worse yet, encouraged it. Then we would be under a lot of scrutiny and would surely receive legal notices. Last I heard, NBI does not play nicely with hacked distros either... and this makes sense for the developer to do that. As it stands, NetbookInstaller is a perfectly legal suite of applications. If they allowed for use of pirated material or encouraged that behavior, then it may be walking a fine line between legal and illegal.

Honestly, do as you wish. I do not think that the views of the forum are incorrect, but I am also not your lawyer or your mother. If you do wish to persue illegal methods, please do not discuss them on the forums or attempt to receive support after they fail.

Thanks for understanding and have a very Happy Holidays!!

[TobyRhino]

+1 bmcclure937

It's not illegal to shove a gps in or put a 3g card in your mini, but it is illegal to pirate software.

A public forum that relies on the financial goodwill and support of participants and of advertising can't really condone illegal activities without possible repercussions - most forums follow that guideline.

[mechdrew]

I'd like to know what your title means, ben_faulkner. It's not very clear.

But here's what is clear: We don't discuss pirated software here, doesn't matter whether it is Windows or Mac. If you didn't purchase it, it's pirated.

You may not like this policy since we do have quite a few members who are running Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware, and somehow in your mind that equals piracy, but it does not. Many of us have purchased the software ourselves. To place us in the same category as someone who just steals the software outright is just wrong.

If you want to talk about pirated software, go ahead, but just not here.

[dirtymoney]

Originally Posted by holmes4

We buy licensed copies of operating systems we want to install. How hard is that to understand?

We do?

What about software you cant buy anymore?

[mechdrew]

Originally Posted by dirtymoney

We do?

What about software you cant buy anymore?

Yes, we do. At least, that's what you need to do if you hope to get any help here.

Old software is a whole other issue. It could have been abandonware, pulled for patent/trademark reasons, etc. Some companies release their programs as open source or free when they shut down. You'll have to find a legit way to get it.

[atm153]

Ben, if you're bothered because you were told off for trying to use a illegitimate copy of Snow Leopard, you'd probably be more at home on another forum. Here, as others have said, we don't help out anyone who is using a pirated copy, because we simply can't afford to. Not only does it introduce numerous headaches when considering the validity of the rip, I.E. it could have other modifications that are actually the cause of the bugs the user is seeing, but as MDM is now very much in the public eye, it would be bad publicity to have us supporting pirates.