onlyonemac wrote:zdz wrote:onlyonemac wrote:Which is illegal.
If you keep your code for youself it is not...
It's still illegal to reverse-enginner/disassemble the software and modify it, even if you keep the modifications to yourself. Practically every proprietary software licence agreement prohibits disassembly, and whether you're using a tool to perform the disassembly or disassembling it in your head as you read the hex codes makes no difference because you're still disassembling it (and using the disassembly to produce a modified version).
On a personal level, I don't have any problem with people reverse-engineering/disassembling proprietary software, because usually the proprietary software's crap and the people modifying it make it a lot better, but it's still an illegal activity which shouldn't be necessary (and which shouldn't be used in an argument that "we can change the behaviour of Windows").
That's not true. Windows' own debugging tools will show you dissasembled code without limits. It is illegal to do this in order to gain an advantage (i.e, use it for profit, or hacking, or etc). And actually things are a bit more complex than that, and the law isn't the same everywhere (note that there is a difference between what the law forbids you to do and what your license forbids you to do). This is actually a course in some universities, but who pays attention to those?
I have a problem with people that say "proprietary software is crap". Let's discuss this for a moment. As someone who is a system programmer for a company that has mostly closed-source products I take offense in that. If I screw up and some client is in turn screwed up I am responsable for that. I (and my collegues) can't just go and deliver low quality / buggy products, like you can't add a buggy patch to a open-source project. The difference is that I can actually suffer some serious consequences if I'm lazy / plain stupid at my job.
So, on a personal level, stop insulting other programmers.
It's still coming preinstalled on new machines, unless you are actively looking for alternatives. While I would make an argument of using Linux being easier than using Windows, installing Linux is not as easy as just using the Windows that's already installed.
You have to wonder why. If Linux is better and free why do PC vendors give you Windows?
Sometimes you need help, with any system. Windows is what most people are using, right? So it's easier to get help when your Windows acts up, right? (Wrong, but that's what people are thinking.)
If you have a Windows license you are entitled to support. You can't go easier than that.
(Just this weekend I repaired a faulty Windows installation. A sticker on the laptop read, "you may not be able to use all features unless you are using Windows". FUD added at the assembly line. You can't really fight that crap.)
Go ahead and use my GTX 960m on any Linux you want. I'm not talking about gaming, I'm talking about actually having a driver that works for it. So that _might_ actually be true.
Even if my main OS is Windows, when I'm buying a PC I'm looking for something that has Linux pre-installed or at least Free DOS and that is as easy as going to the vendor and picking what you like.