@aki,

Basically, for better or for worse, Apple pays developers to write code which runs on Apple hardware.  They haven't taken away any of your liberties by not creating a version which works on non-Apple hardware; they never advertised that it worked there in the first place.  They've obviously made a business decision that it's not worth their time and effort.  It wasn't always like that, though...  In the 1990s there were lots of Mac clones (manufactured by people who weren't Apple, like Motorola etc). See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_clone#Official_Macintosh_clone_program

Regarding iTunes... look no further than the ridiculous state of the United States legal system.  In order to sell music on iTunes Apple has to run around appeasing recording labels, and agreeing to give them a cut from the sales.  That's why they put their music in a restricted format as well; they want to make sure that once you buy, you can't sambaza to other dudes who didn't pay.  Simple!

About iPhone being restricted.  I dunno.  I hack on Android cuz it's more fun, CyanogenMod to be specific.  I was never attracted to Apple's "walled garden"... :)

Adios,

Alan

On 11/11/2011 01:31 PM, aki wrote:
Guys, we can go as much into the license and technicalities or the so called hardware advances of the totally closed system. Of course such customised views will produce very good and high spec products, but the shame is that the Open and Free Ware world have embraced the totally closed system with a religious passion. I'd think the biggest offenders are those who know the kernel well enough to know that they are over paying and the the ideals of the closed system goes against their passion for open or free software. 

If you are not religious enough or share a passion about what Open Standards, Systems and the core of Free Software foundations are, then this thread is not going anywhere. So far I've read justifications for a closed system, and that there is a middle ground for the third world. I support pro-closed system because it takes me a long time to put together a code for a specific function so it gives me a chance to appreciate how much efforts have gone into any OS or software production. However, If I supported Open Systems, I'd do it with the same passion. 

The bottomline is this :

Learn OpenSource+FreeWare>Become Good at Open Source+FreeWare>Love the Unix Kernel>Buy and Sell Services on the Unix Kernel>Finally, buy the most expensive and closed system!

@Alan,

Care to comment on why iTunes and IPhone apps are so restrictive?

Cheers. :-)









On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 1:05 PM, Alan Orth <alan.orth@gmail.com> wrote:
@aki,

FreeBSD and Mac OS X both use kernels which are derived from Mach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_(kernel)), but the two are only cousins.  Also, the kernel is only a very small part of the operating system.

Mac OS X is much more than just a "pretty" version of FreeBSD!

I'm curious... what got you thinking about running OS X on your netbook in the first place? :)

Alan 




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-- 
Alan Orth
alan.orth@gmail.com
http://alaninkenya.org
http://mjanja.co.ke
"I have always wished for my computer to be as easy to use as my telephone; my wish has come true because I can no longer figure out how to use my telephone." -Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of C++