OzHub, the Macquarie Telecom-led cloud computing alliance, has come down firmly on the side of Optus over the copyright controversy surrounding Optus TV Now, warning that any moves to change the law "risk branding Australia a global luddite state."
Mac 'cloner' Psystar originally shipped complete systems. Now it's taking a new tack with its announcement of Rebel EFI, a software package designed to allow the installation of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on other vendors' hardware.
The action is still working its way through the courts.
Despite a spell in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Psystar is still trading. Its latest product is Rebel EFI, a $US49.99 collection of software that purportedly simplifies the installation of Snow Leopard and other operating systems on certain generic hardware configurations.
The package comprises DUBL (Darwin Universal Boot Loader, supporting multiple operating systems on multiple drives), Safe Update (screens out Mac OS X updates from Apple that aren't Psystar-safe, and collects new hardware profiles from Psystar's servers), and a built-in support feature.
One problem is that Psystar doesn't provide a list of supported hardware. It appears to be a case of 'buyer beware' because although the package can be downloaded and trialled for two hours, the company warns that in this mode there is only "limited hardware functionality".
Psystar's support program is said to give users "the opportunity to send in hardware components that are not working correctly and have our engineers build a profile for the device", but not everyone will be prepared to risk $US50 on that basis.
Mixed reactions from early purchasers can be found in various forums. Some claim success, others report failure. There are also suggestions that the product may be derived from open source software in breech of the licensing terms.
You'll find other instalments in the Psystar saga here.
David Frost
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