OS X licensing and the necessity of media

progmacprogmac
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
okay, here are two situations. the first is theoretical and the latter is my situation.



1) i want OS X but have no DVD drive. i know i can get an official media replacement for $10, but i don't want to spend the money. i can get on any P2P network and get the CD disk images and burn my own CDs and just keep the DVD elsewhere.



2) i live in a developing country and can't get tiger shipped here reasonably, plus all my credit cards are tied to my US address. so, i want to order Tiger and have it shipped to my US address. Of course, I'm not there (but someone is to take the package) and won't be for a long time and I don't want to risk shipping Tiger through the local prone-to-theft mail system. So, after buying and shipping, I want to get on P2P and download CD images and install Tiger to my computer here on the other side of the world without having any of the physical stuff.



Are both these situations legitimate and not violations of the license agreement or likely to raise any red flags? Also, is there a risk to my system or future value if I download the P2P image and install from that?



Alternatively, I could have family make a disk image of the actual DVD and I could get download it from them...but, I don't have a DVD burner.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    Any particular reason Macedonia is a 'stinky' country?
  • Reply 2 of 12
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by progmac

    i want OS X but have no DVD drive.



    There are two active threads by people who want to do this.



    Here's one.



    Here's the other.



    --B
  • Reply 3 of 12
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Any particular reason Macedonia is a 'stinky' country?



    while it may not actually smell in most places, i can't get os x easily.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bergz

    There are two active threads by people who want to do this.



    Here's one.



    Here's the other.



    --B



    thanks, i read through these and they helped some. no one talks about licensing or answers any of the speicific questions i asked, but it was of some help.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    fahlmanfahlman Posts: 740member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by bergz

    There are two active threads by people who want to do this.



    Here's one.



    Here's the other.



    --B



    That's one long FireWire cable!
  • Reply 6 of 12
    rogue27rogue27 Posts: 607member
    Personal opinion: If you're serious about buying it, I would consider this fair.



    However, if you can afford $100 or so for Tiger, would it really be that hard to pay an additional $10 for the CDs?



    Also, couldn't the person at the US address who takes you package just take out the CDs and send them to you in a smaller box that is (hopefully) less prone to theft?
  • Reply 7 of 12
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rogue27

    Personal opinion: If you're serious about buying it, I would consider this fair.



    However, if you can afford $100 or so for Tiger, would it really be that hard to pay an additional $10 for the CDs?



    Also, couldn't the person at the US address who takes you package just take out the CDs and send them to you in a smaller box that is (hopefully) less prone to theft?



    Yeah, paying $10 for CDs isn't a big deal. I have a DVD drive anyways, so that isn't the issue.



    I could have them sent here, but it would be no fun. The package would take about 4 weeks to arrive and whether or not the DVD would still be inside is anyone's guess.



    I might try to find a friend in the US with a DVD burner who could make me a copy of what I buy and then send the copy over .



    That's probably my best idea, but i don't think i know anyone with a DVD burner. If any AI folks are in the mood to go to a bunch of hassle to help me out, let me know.



    Also, I'm talking with the embassy folks to see if I can use a diplomatic pouch.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    bergzbergz Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by fahlman

    That's one long FireWire cable!



    Here's the situation as I understand it:



    You have the capacity to obtain and install using original Tiger install DVDs on your computer, however your geographical situation makes it inconvenient to obtain them through normal means. So, you wish to obtain Tiger through abnormal means, which are available to most any of us, but, due to your conscience, you would like to "pay" for the pirated software.



    This becomes then not a technical but an ethical discussion (apart from your question about the pirated OS being unstable, which I can't see why it would be.)



    By downloading the pirated OS, apart from the automatic uploading of your torrent (or equivalent), you're not really fomenting further pirating of software (like those who buy pirated music or movies).



    Would it make a difference if you downloaded the pirated software and instead of buying Tiger made an anonymous donation to AAPL?



    If I steal your car and leave you a winning Lotto ticket is it ethical?



    You're the only person who can decide this. It won't make or break the company and if you downloaded it and forgot to buy the "real" Tiger, you would probably never know the difference.



    Don't think that I don't sympathize. Shipping this stuff sucks. The local government here tried to squeeze $1000 out of me for bringing my powerbook into the country by holding it in customs. They also sent back the PB Backpack I ordered without ever trying to deliver it to me here. You read about how 3rd-world the USPS is, and then realize that there is no 1st-world snail mail. It all sucks.



    The honest thing to do would be to wait for a month for Tiger. If the embassador is an Apple enthusiast, then he might be able to give you a hand.



    But what price honesty? We're talking about $100 bucks, here. That's 3 shares of AAPL.



    --B
  • Reply 9 of 12
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    Just download it and use it. When you get back to US, buy a copy. What's the big deal?
  • Reply 10 of 12
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by skatman

    Just download it and use it. When you get back to US, buy a copy. What's the big deal?



    It's a big deal to me. Plus, I won't be back to the US for another year and a half, so i'm not going to use it illegally until then.



    BUT, this is all moot now!



    The man agreed to let me use the diplomatic pouch! Free shipping, no customs, no local post system. Woot woot!
  • Reply 11 of 12
    gene cleangene clean Posts: 3,481member
    Maybe that system is prone to theft too. Everybody wants Tiga'.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    Quote:

    so i'm not going to use it illegally until then.



    Says who?
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