Psystar Activation Servers Down? 245
An anonymous reader writes "I purchased Rebel EFI in support of Psystar's crusade back in October. Just 3 short months later, I have no support. I found this out when I upgraded my hard drive and installed Snow Leopard using Rebel EFI. The program can no longer 'phone home' to activate or download/install drivers. This is a direct contradiction to Psystar's promise posted on their website: 'Psystar will continue to support all of its existing customers of hardware and software through this transitional period. Warranties on hardware will continue to be honored as long the customer has a valid warranty. Rebel EFI support for existing customers, as always, will remain exclusively available through email and the built-in ticket interface.' Has anyone else run into this issue? It has been 9 days with no response from Psystar by e-mail or phone."
Never pay money... (Score:5, Insightful)
How could the outcome be good? (Score:4, Insightful)
Please tell me you're kidding... (Score:1, Insightful)
You're a bloody moron. (Score:3, Insightful)
2. This is why you don't buy anything that you can just do for free. It really isn't difficult to make a Hackintosh these days. You bought something that only simplified the process marginally, if even that.
3. This is why you don't be really, really stupid about buying things.
Re:Lol macfags (Score:2, Insightful)
Obviously you've never really owned one. Or you are a verrrry slow learner.
The irony is thick enough to choke you (Score:5, Insightful)
The whole idea that Psystar was using strong DRM to protect their code to strip the honor-system-level protections from OS X installs was mind-meltingly ironic in the first place. The fact that they're so quickly demonstrating why buying anything protected by strong DRM is a bad idea just adds salt to the dish.
Really. (Score:1, Insightful)
This is what you get for giving money to Psystar. Anyone could have told you it's a bad idea.
Re:Good for you (Score:3, Insightful)
Switch to EmpireEFI (Score:3, Insightful)
RebelEFI was just copyright infringing code. They pissed off Apple and they also pissed off the development community behind EmpireEFI. This can't end well for them. It would seem that Psystar is just a scheister organization.
No surprise here .. from Psystar's front page: (Score:4, Insightful)
December 22, 2009
Psystar has voluntarily suspended the sale of our Rebel EFI software product. Psystar feels it would be prudent to halt the sale of Rebel EFI while we explicitly ask the court for clarification on the legality of Rebel EFI. Our patience has been tested but our resolve is unwavering. Psystar's vision of bringing the Mac OS to generic PC hardware is and always will be unyielding. Although Rebel EFI may be temporarily unavailable for purchase on the Psystar online store, those who purchase a t-shirt or donate over twenty dollars will receive one free copy of Rebel EFI once the court has ruled in our favor on this issue. ... (more moaning and groaning) ...
Any and all information regarding Rebel EFI, future software products and all other things Psystar should be directed to press@psystar.com or legal@psystar.com.
Calls for truth in advertising ring in the hallway (Score:2, Insightful)
Would you like Psystar to find the money to continue by a) looking under rocks along the highway b) selling plasma with the bums downtown c) rooting around in their asses until something is found?
Or maybe you think the promises of people who predicated a business on breaking the law* are actually worth something? That's almost endearing.
(*save your spiel about the laws being unjust. They were fairly well understood and the court upheld them, so reality wins over idealism here.)
Re:Good for you (Score:1, Insightful)
If you want decent software, yes.
Re:Good for you (Score:4, Insightful)
Interest and Property (Score:3, Insightful)
Psystar had no respect for Apples intellectual property, why do you think they had hany interest in supporting you? After they were killed by the courts, who did you think would keep their systems operating? The magic IT fairies?
Psystar were just ripping off other open EFI emulators anyway. Search around, there are plenty of legit free ones, not stolen copies like Psystar were shipping.
Psystar's crusade was to make money! (Score:2, Insightful)
Silly monkey, did you actually think Psystar was fighting Apple on some idealogical grounds other than justifying making money by ripping Apple off? The irony is thick. Psystar's infrastructure, which was to protect their profits, takes you down with them on the ship when things go south. Nice.
But, who knows, maybe somebody will start a company reverse engineering Psystar's DRM so for a small fee you can get your computer working again? ;')
Re:Live and learn (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:first post (Score:4, Insightful)
"Also, seriously? What kind of retard would send those ass clowns money?"
That should be modded Insightful, not Flamebait.
Some things are so monumentally stupid the only appropriate response is scorn and contempt.
Also relevant:
Slashdot doesn't feature ways to crack Windows activation, but it does feature workarounds to Apple restrictions. Why?
Those not wanting to be a corporate bitch should not buy corporate software, water is wet, and the sun rose in the East.
Re:Good for you (Score:5, Insightful)
Err, what?! Apple "fanbois" pay money to Apple, abide by the EULA - why would Apple want to screw them over?! You're not thinking.
I adore the way people on your side are so "self righteous", let's look at the facts:
Psystar sold PCs, with some software derived from Open Source, with Apple's upgrade version of their OS, thumbing their nose at the EULA, and argued because you COULD do it, then it SHOULD be legal. How the heck they ever thought that was going to fly I'll never understand. And no it wasn't a "full version" of the OS - you obtain the right to run Mac OS X when you buy a Mac, and at no other time, so unless there was a Mac in the box too (wiped) I don't see how they ever thought it was going to be "OK".
You're right companies exist to make money, Apple "cares" about it's customers because it knows that doing this will mean they'll return to buy more product. Yes, they'll even be happy to pay a little more for it. This is a recipe for success that the rest of the industry seems to have forgotten, in their "race to the bottom" they've cut everything. You want a decent PC? You probably need to build it yourself, because you buy one prebuilt it'll have horrible build quality and more bloatware than any sane person can stand. You build it yourself, you get to choose the quality (maybe a keyboard that isn't totally horrible). I mean think about a new PC, what's the first thing you need to do? Burn a set of recovery disks - what the hell?! How much does not supplying a restore DVD actually save? You pay more for the blank media!
So let's not talk nonsense, if you know nothing about computers, don't want to build one, but actually want something nice - a Mac is probably your best bet. That horrible Psystar? No so much.
Re:Should really pay attention to the news... (Score:4, Insightful)
Err, who really wants their computer to last forever? (Hell I won't last FOREVER) What's really wanted is a reasonable life expectancy, AND the ability to take my junk off the computer and onto my next computer (where it must make some sense).
Mac OS X does that (even if my next computer isn't a Mac). Now you could argue that Linux does that (and I'll concede the point). What you probably don't do is buy from a company that is sure to get sued into oblivion (that's just not smart).
Since when did the creator of something have no right to say how their product can be used?! Microsoft sell academic versions of some of their stuff... How is this different? All Apple have done is say: Macs come with Mac OS X, and Mac OS X can only (legally) be used on Macs. Apple don't sell Mac OS X on it's own (they sell upgrades... but that's a different thing). Microsoft sell OEM versions of Windows - is that different?! Even the GPL (maybe I should say "Especially the GPL"?) makes stipulations as to what you can and can't do - ignore those at your peril! If I create something, I should be allowed any license I feel appropriate. I don't see how Windows users or Linux users can argue (I should know - I use all three). I wouldn't want to be told that Linux couldn't enforce the GPL, or that Microsoft couldn't distribute with a PC (no OEM pricing).
Re:Good for you (Score:4, Insightful)
But you never lose the right to say "stuff that" and not buy the product - just because you don't like the deal offered doesn't mean you have the right to ignore the terms! If I create something, and say "you must x to have my product" you've got a choice: "Do x" or walk away... You don't get the right to have the product just because you want it!
And if you do, I want a Ferrari (I just happen to think the price is unreasonable).
Re:Good for you (Score:3, Insightful)
Actually, during discovery, Psystar failed to produce any proof that they did purchase the copies of OS X they sold. Not to mention everyone of the about 700 PCs they sold was imaged from an imaging server and thus used a single copy (which was unlawful).
Finally, they were found guilty of copyright infrigment because they made a derivative work (changed Apple's copy protection kext, "Dont Steal MacOS X") which they put on this imaging server, thus engaging in unlawful distribution of an unauthorised derivative work.
So maybe you should get the facts about the case before you judge Psystar as some kind of good guy.
Re:Good for you (Score:3, Insightful)
The section of the EULA you're complaining about is printed on the outside of the box... The typeface is reasonably large.
The car analogy is broken (they pretty much always are) and yes, I take full responsibility as I did it first (I was actually making a joke - but clearly I failed).
Re:Never pay money... (Score:2, Insightful)
Because Pystar shut down their activation servers?
Re:rouge movement (Score:1, Insightful)
vee haf vays of making you vear ze cheek makeup!
You are not really getting it, are you? (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no legal trick, no dirty tactic. Yes, EULAs are horrible, blah, blah, blah, I agree with all of that. But that is totally beside the point.
The point is that the software is Apple's. Period. They can do whatever they want with it. If they want to sell it, they can. If they want to open-source it, they can. If they want to attach a EULA, they can. If they want to _refuse_ to sell it to you, they can. If they want to bundle it with hardware, they can. If they want to add DRM, they can. Get it? It's theirs. They can do whatever they want.
Now, what can you do? You can: (1) Play by Apple's rules and do whatever their license allows you to do or (2) Feel free to create your own OS. When you create it, it's yours, and you can do whatever you want with it -- sell, refuse to sell, add DRM, not add DRM, etc.
Apple can do whatever they want. You (and psystar, and everyone else) can't do jack besides whatever is allowed by Apple's license. It's that simple. Tough luck.
Amazing. (Score:5, Insightful)
People really are amazing.
In other words, you did so for reasons that were, at least in part, ideological. Unwilling to pay the price Apple sets for the hardware/software combinations it sells, and seemingly unable to use any of the available open source solutions for installing a retail OS X disc onto commodity hardware, you chose to patronize a company whose business model was widely known to be legally questionable at best, and which was engaged in an ongoing legal battle with a company with the intent and resources to defend their assertion that Psystar's business practice was illegal.
Now, having ignored those who posted that they felt Psystar was doing something wrong by selling their so-called "Open Computers" as well as those who suggested that the core of the Rebel EFI product itself was code copied without license or attribution from existing open source projects designed to accomplish the same aim, you wish to take Psystar to task for failing to meet the promises on its website.
What made you think this was a company that intended to keep its promises?
What made you think this was a company that would be able to stay in business long enough to keep any promises it actually did intend to?
You didn't spend your money on a product, and you didn't pay it to a going concern. You made your purchase to make a statement-- that you believed Psystar was doing something good, or at least something right. Your voice was heard; unfortunately, things did not turn out that well.
What more can you possibly ask? This is like picking a lame horse to win because of the great payoff odds, and then beating it into glue when it fails to place.
Sorry, I don't have a car analogy for this. Give me a minute.