Morph OS license questions

[amigadave]

Not aimed at any one person in this thread:

The MorphOS2.x licensing model is not ideal from the users POV, but no one has come up with an alternative model that is better and still provides an equal amount of protection against piracy for the Dev. Team.

AROS users have no problem with licenses, but OS4.x users are not much better off than MorphOS2.x users, as they can't transfer their OS4.x license when they upgrade their SAM440ep/flex to a new SAM460 (or can they), or to a Pegasos2, or to the X1000 if/when they are available to purchase.  Linux users are in the same boat as AROS users, but Windows users often run into problems some time down the road with updates, after they have moved their license from one machine to another.

The current MorphOS2.x license model is not for everyone, but I have no problem with it and find it laughable that so many people try to make a big deal of it.  If you don't like MorphOS2.x, or if you don't want it to prosper because you prefer another alternative, then just say so and use the advantages of your preferred OS to convince others to try it, but don't try to dissuade anyone else from trying MorphOS2.x just because the license model is different than Windows, or not needing any license like AROS, or Linux.

@Duce,

Either don't register your MacMini and use it in the free mode until you find and purchase the more powerful PPC Mac in the future, or buy the license for the MacMini and then when you upgrade to a more powerful PPC Mac, sell the MacMini and the MorphOS2.x license together to pay for the new license.  Like I said, it is not the best solution for us users, but unless you have a better solution for both users and the MorphOS Dev. Team, nothing is likely to change.

[kolla]

The MorphOS2.x licensing model is not ideal from the users POV, but no one has come up with an alternative model that is better and still provides an equal amount of protection against piracy for the Dev. Team.

Who would pirate MorphOS? Is there really that much interest? I doubt it.

[runequester]

I dont know if its ridiculous at all. Obviously its a common concern.

[amigadave]

Who would pirate MorphOS? Is there really that much interest? I doubt it.

How many of the 1100 current licenses would have been paid for if they could have easily pirated it?

When you are trying to get paid back some small amount for the hundreds, or thousands of hours of coding you have done in such a small market (as you often point out), any amount of pirating can be very detrimental.

Your persistence in posting negative comments regarding all things related to MorphOS2.x has been very consistent, so it is obvious that you have some interest in doubting and discouraging any interest that anyone else might have in MorphOS2.x.

[maffoo]

I have a related question - I have just got a Mac Mini and installed MorphOS on it. I'm considering registering but I was wondering, if the hard drive failed or I decided to upgrade it, how easy would it be to transfer the licence to the new installation? Is it just a case of keeping a backup of a keyfile and copying it across to the new drive? I'm assuming a change of drive wouldn't be a problem as the rest of the machine would be the same.

Thanks in advance.

Matthew

[runequester]

Its weekend so probably slow, but just a heads up, that I am still wondering about whether VAT is charged to US customers.
 
Alternatively, anyone in the US who can confirm or deny ?

[Kronos]

Keyfile is bound to the MAC-address of the onboard ethernet-chip, so you can change anything but the motherboard.

True for all supported systems (except some early Pegasos1 which hav an invalid MAC-Address).

[maffoo]

Thanks for clearing that up Kronos. I'll see about registering after payday

[yakumo9275]

Its weekend so probably slow, but just a heads up, that I am still wondering about whether VAT is charged to US customers.
 
Alternatively, anyone in the US who can confirm or deny ?

VAT is charged for EVERYONE regardless of location because they are too lazy to set it up correctly. So living in the USA, you still pay the +VAT price.

[Matt_H]

Its weekend so probably slow, but just a heads up, that I am still wondering about whether VAT is charged to US customers.
 
Alternatively, anyone in the US who can confirm or deny ?

As I recall, it is. I think the rationale is that there's some extra layer of tax/income reporting they'd have to deal with otherwise.

[runequester]

Nyeh.
 
I've dealth with very niche companies in the UK (tabletop wargaming stuff) that don't charge it to US customers.
 
 
In the end, I think I'll pass, but I appreciate the information that has been given.

[Matt_H]

@ runequester

Yeah, it's a little frustrating for us on this side of the pond, but in the end I feel as if I'm paying for a labor of love, so it doesn't bother me much

[zylesea]

German tax system is probably the most complicated and one of the worst of all countries. It's a major hassle to do anything with the tax here...

[pampers]

Who would pirate MorphOS? Is there really that much interest? I doubt it.

There is still Amiga OS 4.1 for Sam on torrents so i presume there might be some idiots to be able to pirate MorphOS as well.

[SimonV]

Why are some people always ranting about the license ? If you want a free OS, use linux. And don't bother using AROS, because you probably end up ranting it isn't good enough or x86 is evil and that "the" other OS is so much better... blah blah. Boring. We all know the supposed pros and cons, ridiculous ones or not ... we have heard them by now.

Or you support the devs for the work they have done or you just leave it and look elsewhere. OS4, MorphOS, Microsoft, Apple ... work has to be paid. Or do you work for free for your boss ? But going on how bad YOU find the chosen method of licensing again and again... that's just "under the belt"

If your machine is broken, they are ready to listen. And I know that because it happened to myself. If you want another machine for whatever reason ... fine, sell the old one with the license. I did it with my Efika and I really had no trouble at all getting rid of that (in my opinion) little piece of cr*p.

About the tax .. what's that 20 euro ? Stay away from the booze for a weekend or quit smoking... or maybe they can work with a reseller for licences in the USA, Australia, ...

Long story short ... if you still like using your A1200 or A4000 and you still pump money in it, you sure can afford an old powermac and a MorphOS license and you will like that also.

[runequester]

About the tax .. what's that 20 euro ? Stay away from the booze for a weekend or quit smoking... or maybe they can work with a reseller for licences in the USA, Australia, ...

yeah, most people are fine with arbitrarily paying more money, based on where they live.
 
As far as the licensing, either you care about user freedoms or you don't. Given that Microsoft and Apple are the business models being emulated here, I am guessing they don't.