rang@cs.wisc.edu (Anton Rang) (06/14/90)
In article <1990Jun13.065704.26063@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us> alex@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Alex Pournelle) writes: >People I trust, and who know the code intimately, are not scared of >cloning the ROMs. And that's the only part that's protected. The o.s. >is just a tad bit of work. Cloning the Mac ROM functionality would be a lot of work, and people could probably not use standard system files with cloned ROMs (none of the patches would work). It could be done, given time and money; I don't know what parts of the Mac system are copyrighted/patented and could lead to trouble. (I'm not a lawyer.) >Wake up and smell the caffeine. How many suits does IBM have extant >against clone computer makers? When was the last one settled? Remember Apple v. Franklin? It's possible to clone products and maintain compatibility (i.e. the Laser, in the Apple world). But proving that it doesn't infringe copyrights/whatever could cost quite a bit of money. (Apple has big pockets.) I still think this would have to be a very well-funded, and fairly long-term project. Think about some of the things which would need to be dealt with: * Figuring out how to maintain compatibility with system patches, or incorporating them into the new ROMs. * Re-implementing large and complex subsystems (Quickdraw and HFS, for example). It could be done, certainly. Whether it would be economically feasible, I don't know.... Anton, thoughtful +---------------------------+------------------+-------------+ | Anton Rang (grad student) | rang@cs.wisc.edu | UW--Madison | +---------------------------+------------------+-------------+
cy@dbase.A-T.COM (Cy Shuster) (06/15/90)
In article <RANG.90Jun13164944@derby.cs.wisc.edu> rang@cs.wisc.edu (Anton Rang) writes: > Cloning the Mac ROM functionality would be a lot of work, and people >could probably not use standard system files with cloned ROMs (none of >the patches would work). It could be done, given time and money; I >don't know what parts of the Mac system are copyrighted/patented and >could lead to trouble. (I'm not a lawyer.) There's a company called Screenplay Systems in Burbank that has done it (all except the SCSI and Sound Managers)... and done it for the IBM PC! Their product is called MCP -- it's a set of libraries that you link with. The Inside Mac calls are identical, but the interface as shown is Open Look. I saw it running at the Showbiz Expo down here. Awesome... --Cy-- cy@dbase.a-t.com
rang@cs.wisc.edu (Anton Rang) (06/16/90)
In article <597@dbase.A-T.COM> cy@dbase.A-T.COM (Cy Shuster) writes: >There's a company called Screenplay Systems in Burbank that has done >it [ ... ] it's a set of libraries that you link with. That's not the same thing; that helps you port applications you're writing, but doesn't let you use existing software, disks, etc. (Several people have done these, I believe.) Anton +---------------------------+------------------+-------------+ | Anton Rang (grad student) | rang@cs.wisc.edu | UW--Madison | +---------------------------+------------------+-------------+