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Apple Hides Warning to Hackers in OS X

Apple Hides Warning to Hackers in OS X

by , 4:25 PM EST, February 15th, 2006

Apple has hidden a poem inside OS X that warns users not to pirate the operating system, according to OSx86 Project. The Web site noted on Tuesday: "a few pieces of OS X look for a secret message in 'commpage' that gets decrypted via the TPM... basically a decoder ring for geeks. " The poem reads:

Your karma check for today:
There once was a user that whined
his existing OS was so blind,
he'd do better to pirate
an OS that ran great
but found his hardware declined.
Please don't steal Mac OS!
Really, that's way uncool.
(C) Apple Computer, Inc.

Thanks to MacDailyNews for the link.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: Who wrote this cute poem?

Yeah, fess up, Jobs!

Actually, this bit of poetry may better as warning than all these stern and terminally boring legalese.

Guest, now celebrating his Intel iMac (20 inches!)

Close Name:Guest
Subject: ... stick to computers

After reading that I am soooo glad that Apple's core business is compters and software and not poetry. Even microsloth can write better "poetry" than that.

Close Name:Guest
Subject:

Is an iAngelou app in the future. Perhaps an iLimerick or iHaiku?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: what a sad comment... "What a bunch of faggots"

I enjoy the fact that when I need to re-install the OS on a Mac, I don't need a serial and validation code to do so, and don't have a limited number of re-installs, as with the latest Windows, and assumably also with Vista.

Therefore I appreciate the humor of putting a silly little poem into your code, as a humorous reminder that the OS is LESS CONCERNED WITH BEING HACKED, THAN WRITING A GREAT OS (with only 5% of the resources of its major competitor)

...and I wonder in what hole a person must live to think "faggot" is an effective insult. Better look in the mirror mister (or madam), and perhaps learn to enjoy life rather than lash out at it.

nuff,
kEvin

Close Name:Intruder -   TMO Mac Specialist Posts: 3149 Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Subject:

What does a bundle of sticks have to do with the topic at hand?

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Poetic reply

Mac on Intel is great
To hackers it's served on a plate
So Mac wrote an ode
Please stay out of our code
Xerox, I'm sure, can relate

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Who is really the one doing wrong?

Well now that's funny: If anyone needs a "karma check," it should be Apple's boss, Steve Jobs. The way he abused his girlfriend and some of his employees back in the "early days" was REALLY "uncool" -- and so was the way this greedy bastard refused to share his stock with engineers who helped Apple get off the ground. Those engineers are the only ones who made the company WORTH taking public in the first place. Steve is just a salesman who became fantastically rich at the expense of others who did the real work. Then of course there are all the unsung heroes who made Unix (and therefore OS X) what it is today. Most of the folks who poured their blood, sweat and tears into that project were never paid a dime... and now Apple is profiting from their work. In fact, everything that makes our computers run today was built on work that people did for NOTHING (or for much less than what they deserved to receive). Likewise, much of what makes OS X better than Windows was "ripped off" from others! The fact that it was done LEGALLY makes no difference -IF- you are talking about "karma." That's why this little poem is an outrageous, shameful, embarrassing hypocrisy. They speak of blindness, but there is a blindness in the "soul" of the Mac that doesn't originate with the OS. Furthermore, people would not have to "steal" MacOS if Apple would sell an authorized version for generic PC's. They don't even have to support it if they don't want to... the user community is self-supporting. (The "pirate" OSX86 communities have demonstrated that already).

If Apple's management wasn't so greedy, and Steve wasn't such a control freak, the company would be more successful: By trying to prevent MacOS from running on other hardware, Apple's share of the personal computer market has steadily and consistently declined, to the point where it is now 1/8 of what it was originally. When will they ever learn?! Apple's advertising is a sham: they are not competing with Microsoft at all, they are only PRETENDING to. Apple is not even in the same BUSINESS as Microsoft (that is, the business of selling operating systems to the general public, with no strings attached). Yes, Windows sucks--but Apple hardware is ridiculously overpriced, compared to its actual cost (while parts, service and support is scarce). That does not make for a winning combination. The small number of people who go to the trouble to install MacOS side-by-side with Windows should be the LEAST of Apple's concerns! If anything, they are doing the company a favor by giving the platform exposure which it cannot obtain in any other way:

I know plenty of people in Apple's home country who have never seen a human being actually using a Mac in their daily work. Yes, they know they can buy one mail-order, but that's not the point: if people don't see MacOS in action, and their neighborhood computer technician does not support it, they are not interested. The computers they see in the chain stores all ship with Windows pre-installed. They have no idea what makes MacOS that much better. They see no reason to switch when no alternative is readily available (and when they don't have a friend or family member who can assist them with MacOS). When their PC breaks, most people are in a hurry to replace it and re-install their personal data from a back up. That is the worst possible time to convince them to adopt a new OS. If Apple doesn't get MacOS onto the PC desktop, they are not going to sell Apple hardware to PC owners when they are ready to upgrade. This is just common sense, but 2 decades of statistics have proven it beyond a reasonable doubt. Truth be told, Apple's management is the company's own worst enemy (not a tiny handful of hardware hackers who want an open platform to play around with). That pathetic, whiny poet really should re-examine his priorities: this free advice is worth BILLIONS IN PROFITS to Apple, and I will probably never be paid for my consulting work here, either. I support Windows AND MacOS... but from my experience, trying to help others is really a thankless job!

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