From: Tom Brinkman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2003 20:29:26 -0500
I believe there's a crack in this theory
I gave up that theory of operation when I quit winsux 'Sides, the good cracks were gettin harder to find anyhow ;>
Linux has made an honest man out'a me Seriously
I agree with your sentiment about cracks in general. But, it seems that everything that is involved with MS (and you have to have a licensed copy of ms-win to run as a guest) gets tainted.
After I received Stephen's message about the time-limited s/n, but before his hint, I gave VMWare a telephone call to see what they had to say for themselves and how long the time period would be for.
The salesman confirmed that I had a legitimate user license and was entitled to an s/n to use the software. However, according to him, vmware only provides them for the current version. So to get an s/n, I'd have to download a version that I didn't need or want and then install that version instead of the one I had.
He confirmed that Workstation 4 had only been released in April and that Workstation 3.2.0 would also be entitled to at least 18 months of web site support (no telephone or anything like that) beginning in April -- this is written on their web site.
He then carefully explained to me that the "hash" in the user license was not the s/n, the s/n was 20 numbers in four groups of five, the hash was in four groups of eight.
Frankly, I felt that VMWare was doing a "bait and switch" which is illegal in the country and state in which they have their corporate headquarters. After the salesman's description of the s/n, I was prepared to play around a bit with the hash to see what I could come up with. However, I had no intention of buying their software under those terms.
By their own admission I am in legal possession of a licensed copy of their software, and they refuse to honor that.
In general, even when dealing with MS, I abide by terms of the agreements. That's one of the reasons I've begun migrating all my systems to Linux. I can't deal with MS's licenses -- their terms are outrageous and unfair.
In any event, my two cents on the subject :^).
deedee
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