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Thousands of Illegal Downloads of OS/2?

Started by BigWarpGuy, 2008.01.28, 21:25:59

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BigWarpGuy

http://www.reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=40698#40698
In one post there is mention of 'thousands of illegal downloads of OS/2'. I was unaware of this happening. Is there any truth to this? ???  If OS/2 is an obsolete as many say it is, why do they bother?  ??? Since OS/2 it is a great os, I can see why some one would. 

I mentioned that since not as many use OS/2 - like the numbers that use Windows or other similarly used os's - that it is safer. I was told that it was not true. I was told that crackers break into all os's. Since there are fewer OS/2-eCS users than other main os's, why would they want to? Was I wrong to make this conclusion?  ??? 

What do you think?  ??? Inquiring minds want to know.  8)

DavidG

Even if it was true, OS/2 Warp will not install on most modern machines. End result is that they would never get past the install process and would just delete the files since they consider the operating system old and unusable.

John

Hi,

Thought I'd just mention that I read somewhere in the slashdot forum re the petition to open source OS/2, someone mentioned the popularity of Dos and Windows on the home desktop pc (besides the fact that it was preloaded) was due to the many pirated copies. I should know... I too know of many people with pirated copies of both WinXP and Vista and obtaining cracks is very easy via any P2P network.

By the same token, searching for eCS on above P2P networks, you could come across at least 2 torrents being seeded at any 1 time.

Re my 1st comment, there being such a huge user base of Dos and Win$ ( and the fact that M$ didn't really implement any strict copyright protection I suppose ) so developers saw the opportunity to publish software for said OS's. Also - off topic, I notice a resemblance here in SA between the thugs and thieves treated as heros the same way that everytime M$ appear in court for this n that yet they manage to turn their offences into something positive for themselves and gain even more press coverage and ultimately treated as heros.

Just some random thoughts

Cheers,


John.

kim

Free copies or not doing anything about copies floating around on the net is one way of getting your product out to the masses and one could say that this might been a strategy from Microsoft; they did after all get their money from the OEMs and corporate customers.

IBM did their fair share of giving away they Warp 4 by having magazines sending out copies of the CDs and as well I recall when working at IBM in Stockholm we found boxes with Warp 4 give away CD that no one really cared about distributing out to whom ever wanted a copy. Must been a couple of thousands copies and most of the went down the bin and I took one and had under my desk :-)

Saijin_Naib

OS/2 has a bunch of copies on my school's file-sharing network, or rather, the file-sharing network AT my school, but most certainly NOT affiliated with my school :P People seem to like trying it out in Virtual Machines more than anything. As far as I know, I am the only person on campus with eCS-OS/2 in hardware, and the first to register my MAC ID using OS/2 :D

RobertM

Quote from: John on 2008.01.29, 00:14:08
Hi,

Thought I'd just mention that I read somewhere in the slashdot forum re the petition to open source OS/2, someone mentioned the popularity of Dos and Windows on the home desktop pc (besides the fact that it was preloaded) was due to the many pirated copies. I should know... I too know of many people with pirated copies of both WinXP and Vista and obtaining cracks is very easy via any P2P network....

I'd say there were a bunch of contributing factors... those were some of them. The other MAJOR contributing factor is that an OEM could NOT install/offer another OS on their hardware if they wanted to get decent prices on Windows from Microsoft... while that practice has been deemed "abuse of monopoly" or some such, MS has just come up with another way of doing the same thing. If you read through the DOJ case in the U.S., it brings to light a whole bunch of interesting games that MS played to ensure that Windows - and Windows only - was the OS of choice for most PC manufacturers.


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Kirk's 5 Year Mission Continues at:
Star Trek New Voyages
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kim

Among other Microsoft claimed that they couldn't guarantee the functionality and stability of Windows 9x if another OS was installed on the same drive. As some of you might remember IBM offered a dual OS installation on the Aptivas where the customer could make their pick of OS. Well, then there also was something about a lower price if Windows was the only OS delivered on a PC and as well that the earlier OEM agreements stated that the vendor couldn't offer different version of their system with different OS.

lwriemen

For those who need a refresher on Microsoft's anticompetitive actions against OS/2, go to http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm

The IBM section, starting at paragraph 115, gives the gory details.

The last section sums it up:
"132.  In sum, from 1994 to 1997 Microsoft consistently pressured IBM to reduce its support for software products that competed with Microsoft's offerings, and it used its monopoly power in the market for Intel-compatible PC operating systems to punish IBM for its refusal to cooperate. Whereas, in the case of Netscape, Microsoft tried to induce a company to move its business away from offering software that could weaken the applications barrier to entry, Microsoft's primary concern with IBM was to reduce the firm's support for software products that competed directly with Microsoft's most profitable products, namely Windows and Office. That being said, it must be noted that one of the IBM products to which Microsoft objected, Notes, was like Navigator in that it exposed middleware APIs. In any event, Microsoft's interactions with Netscape, IBM, Intel, Apple, and RealNetworks all reveal Microsoft's business strategy of directing its monopoly power toward inducing other companies to abandon projects that threaten Microsoft and toward punishing those companies that resist."

BigWarpGuy

It would have been nice if IBM used the money it won from the lawsuit to continue to support and improve OS/2 to spite Microsoft.  ;D    8)

lwriemen

Quote from: BigWarpGuy on 2008.01.30, 15:30:14
It would have been nice if IBM used the money it won from the lawsuit to continue to support and improve OS/2 to spite Microsoft.  ;D    8)
Which lawsuit is that?

The findings of fact talk about a settlement where IBM paid Microsoft $31 million, and there is an estimate that IBM lost $180 million in revenue due to Microsoft's practices. (I'm assuming over the three year period cited.) Spiting Microsoft was costing IBM a lot of money.

OTOH, it was a drop in the bucket to the revenue OS/2 was generating from this quote, "OS/2's estimated 11 million users are a fraction of the 140 million users of Windows, according to the International Data Corporation of Framingham, Mass. But Mr. Thompson said that the 3,000 largest OS/2 customers, which include big banks and insurers, generate 25 to 30 percent of Big Blue's $72 billion in annual revenue, with purchases of other types of computers, services and software.", at http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E7D91F3DF936A1575AC0A960958260

BigWarpGuy

IIRC - IBM had won a major lawsuit against Microsoft for using its monopoly against OS/2 Warp.
http://www.news.com/Microsoft-settles-IBM-antitrust-claims/2100-1014_3-5771535.html
http://www.os2world.com/content/view/8453/2/ OS/2 Worlds announcement of it.  ;D

lwriemen

Quote from: BigWarpGuy on 2008.01.30, 22:30:53
IIRC - IBM had won a major lawsuit against Microsoft for using its monopoly against OS/2 Warp.
http://www.news.com/Microsoft-settles-IBM-antitrust-claims/2100-1014_3-5771535.html
http://www.os2world.com/content/view/8453/2/ OS/2 Worlds announcement of it.  ;D

Forgot about that one. Thanks for the link!

Of course, two weeks after that news, IBM announced withdrawal of support for OS/2. Maybe that was an unstated part of the settlement.  :'(