Psystar licenses Darwin Universal Boot Loader to third parties, chaos ensues
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted October 7th 2009 11:54AM
posted October 7th 2009 11:54AM
Like the proverbial kid brother, Psystar has amused us for years now, following Apple around, mocking it, claiming some sort of moral high ground for its Open Macs. Now, hot on the heels of Snow Leopard, the company is back with yet another ambitious project. For a fee, Psystar will license you its Darwin Universal Boot Loader (providing you're an OEM). By shipping machines with the DUBL pre-installed yet relying on the consumer to install his own Snow Leopard disk (which he obtained legally, of course) you should theoretically be able to avoid any sort of sticky legal situation of the sort that has dogged Psystar for years. If that weren't enough, the boot loader supports up to six different operating systems per machine and apparently configures itself, ahem, "automagicly." Is this the last nail in the coffin, the final puzzle piece that will bring us a world where third party machines running OS X fly off the shelves with abandon? Somehow, we doubt it. But it would be amusing to buy a computer with a "Psystar Certified" sticker next to the one that says "Intel Inside." Your move, Apple. PR after the break.
[Via Apple Insider]
[Via Apple Insider]
PSYSTAR Announces OEM Licensing Program
Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
In an effort to spread the Snow Leopard experience to an ever-expanding number of people, the licensing initiative will allow manufacturers to have their hardware Psystar Certified and have their computers pre loaded with our unique technology including the Darwin Universal Boot Loader (DUBL). Qualifying products must fall in Desktop, Server or Mobile categories. Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD.
Psystar's vision of open computing is to provide users with the freedom to choose which OS's they install on their hardware. The Licensing Program will allow computer manufacturers the opportunity to ship the certified systems pre-configured with DUBL and OS of choice including Windows 7, Windows Vista and several flavors of Linux. These systems would also be compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and receive normal software updates through the use of "Safe Update" technology. The customer can install the Mac OS themselves simply by inserting the retail DVD or choose to install several other OS's with no manual boot configuration. DUBL supports up to six different operating systems on a single machine and configures itself *automagicly*.
Manufacturers can benefit from this unique licensing opportunity with minimal expense and in several hardware markets. In most cases Psystar will tailor the technology to a specific hardware profile(s) at no additional engineering cost, allowing manufacturers to save time and money by utilizing our familiarity running the Mac OS X on generic hardware.
If you are interested in participating in the Licensing Program, head over to Psystar.com or send an email to Licensing@psystar.com.
OS X, OS X Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard and Macintosh are products and trademarks of Apple, Inc. Psystar purchases copies of these operating systems to resell as part of its Open Computer systems. Psystar has no other affiliations with Apple, Inc.
Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Psystar Corporation announced today their OEM Licensing Program. Psystar will begin certifying manufacturer's hardware to allow the licensing of Psystar's new virtualization technology, effectively making their systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar's virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.
In an effort to spread the Snow Leopard experience to an ever-expanding number of people, the licensing initiative will allow manufacturers to have their hardware Psystar Certified and have their computers pre loaded with our unique technology including the Darwin Universal Boot Loader (DUBL). Qualifying products must fall in Desktop, Server or Mobile categories. Once a product is certified, consumers can purchase it off the shelf or through standard channels and when labeled Psystar Certified would allow the installation of Snow Leopard simply by inserting the retail OS X DVD.
Psystar's vision of open computing is to provide users with the freedom to choose which OS's they install on their hardware. The Licensing Program will allow computer manufacturers the opportunity to ship the certified systems pre-configured with DUBL and OS of choice including Windows 7, Windows Vista and several flavors of Linux. These systems would also be compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and receive normal software updates through the use of "Safe Update" technology. The customer can install the Mac OS themselves simply by inserting the retail DVD or choose to install several other OS's with no manual boot configuration. DUBL supports up to six different operating systems on a single machine and configures itself *automagicly*.
Manufacturers can benefit from this unique licensing opportunity with minimal expense and in several hardware markets. In most cases Psystar will tailor the technology to a specific hardware profile(s) at no additional engineering cost, allowing manufacturers to save time and money by utilizing our familiarity running the Mac OS X on generic hardware.
If you are interested in participating in the Licensing Program, head over to Psystar.com or send an email to Licensing@psystar.com.
OS X, OS X Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard and Macintosh are products and trademarks of Apple, Inc. Psystar purchases copies of these operating systems to resell as part of its Open Computer systems. Psystar has no other affiliations with Apple, Inc.
Psystar will never give up will they ?
Should they?
I don't see why they should. I know a few people that have them and they make a decent rig at an okay price.
@Look_Around_You
If they think they have a case to answer and money to spend then they should go for it. By the looks of the law docs I've seen at Groklaw they won't be around for long.
bwaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....oh man i love it! psystar is absolutely the greatest company. its like poland sitting there mocking russia, but actually making sense.
Please pass the popcorn?
What ABOUT OS X and unix? In case you hadn't noticed, when you buy OS X you don't get a CD with unix on it. You get OS X, which is something Apple developed. Psystar did NOTHING to develop their bootloader. They simply took it form the x86 people and are now SELLING IT.
Can you not see the difference there? The x86 people worked hard and made it free (and you'll notice Apple is not going after them), and then the Psystar jackasses take it and sell it like it's something they invented. Classy.
I understand what you are saying Jack, but you have to remember Psystar is trying to go mainstream, and a bootloader you have to install yourself is never going to get there. Of course it doesn't make it legal to steal software from x86, but they are progressing the market.
@jack
Apple didnt develop all of OSX, its largely butchered BSD unix.
@Newone
Give me a break, "butchered"? NeXT took the advantages of BSD and meld it with the best desktop environment of its day. When Apple bought it, they enhanced on the ease of use of the desktop environment even more. Want a list of things Apple brought to BSD? Like .. QuickTime, Time Machine (version control), OpenCL, Grand Central Dispatch .. etc.
These are just the more fundamental things, the last 2 mentioned were made open source as well as their Mach kernel, Darwin.
So please, don't be so ignorant, OS X and GNOME or KDE are not even in the same category. Operating System v.s. X Window Manager
I'm not saying OS X is better than Linux or Windows, but merely that Apple has spent significant resources on making OS X their own creation. No company should be able to essentially just rip off another company's intellectual property. You can argue about whether Apple should out license or even make OS X open source, but until they do, what Psystar is doing is not only illegal, but their justification is completely ridiculous.
That's like Hyundai buying a stock Mercedes engine and putting it into a Hyundai, then advertising the fact that Hyundais perform like Mercedes for 1/3 of the price and expect Mercedes to "compete fairly" on Hyundai's ground.
Brad: No. Just no. There is no defense for what they're doing. Making excuses for them is ridiculous. If they want to make it in the market so badly, they can do it the hard way like everybody else, rather than stealing other people's work and claiming it as their own and then making a profit from it.
Newone: Largely? No. OS X is a combination of BSD, NeXT and older Mac OS technologies that have been re-implemented. BSD is only the foundation, Apple built everything else on top of it. Further, it's Apple's highly customized implementation of BSD. So yes, the vast, vast majority of OS X was developed by Apple.
I'd like to know how this Darwin Bootloader is different from Grub? Hell, they even stole the word "automagically" from the Debian/Ubuntu edits to menu.lst. That's low.
Sounds good, it seems like they build good machines for the price. I would build a hackintosh myself but I definitely do not have the time.
and you would be breaking the law, just as Psystar has and continues to. the DMCA makes it a criminal act to disseminate information or technology that breaks the access controls put on anything by another company. Without even installing OSX, Psystar's boot loader is a violation.
what's even funnier is that this new stage shows that Psystar doesn't have any more respect for the open source community which made their clones possible. they are pulling the same move against them that they did on apple. selling what they don't have a right to sell and using someone else's hard work without creating a speck of added value
breaking a term of use != breaking the law
Apple isn't the government lol
DMCA != EULA
AWESOME! I LOVE THE ANTEC P183 CASE!
That's the case i'm rocking. I love it, front door is kind of flimsy though
I've got the Mini P182. Looks awesome in white.
I'm using an Antec Sonata III - been using Antec products for years, they are great quality stuff and the customer support they have is phenomenal for the rare times I have needed assistance.
Oh, back on topic...this is cool? Go Psystar!
Mini P180 is made of pure awesome, and as such, so is the P183. It's just gigantor.
Regular p182 is the bestest. It has a spoiler, therefore it is the fastest case.
I hope they burn for attempting to milk the devs at x86 project for all their hard work and giving Apple a reason to actively hinder them.
Really? Burn, like actually die by FIRE???
Good God make sure you tuck your MacBook in tonight!
N900, you do realize that Pystar is basically selling something, that the community wrote and gives away for Free, as their own product. Pystar is no longer stealing from Apple, they're now stealing from the hackintosh community. One would think someone like you would be against that sort of thing, but I'm starting to think you are a true Microsoft Fan boy.
I have no opinion on this issue whatsoever, nor did I weigh one into this article.
He said these people should burn. Don't you think that's a little over-the-top?
Kind of like Apple taking BSD/Unix? ... sounds like you are a true Apple fanboy Shyam D.
If you have no opinion on something then don't post comments. I believe everyone just lost 5 IQ points from reading your nonsense.
If someone tried to screw me over, I would want them dealt with, or at least recognized as a sham. But I wouldn't want them burned. That's just anger-displacement, it makes you look like a psycho IMO. Do you mean like burn-in-hell burn? Save that for people who commit crimes like GENOCIDE, not ripping people off a Dual-Boot computer...
@Shyam D
They are selling the work they put into it. Selling the rig and the configuration. No one who is going to build their own rig will buy one of these. They are buying psystar because they don't want to configure they don't want to muck around with ktexts and they don't want to build a machine themselves. the same way if you want linux support you can pay redhat silly amounts of money.
Posted from a rock stable hackintosh thats be running for 2 years. Q6600, BadAxe2 mobo, 4 gigs ram
And then darbear5610 comes from left field and knocks another 5 IQ points off..
@darbear5610 .. seriously could you be anymore goddam stupid. I mean how on earth did you learn to operate a computer with that brain ?!?
Whatever, should I burn too for "knocking another 5 IQ points off.."?
Probably, and not figuratively as my first post implies.
Ok, look all this bullshit came from me being an ass and taking a comment too seriously alright? darbear5610, stop trying to be a hero, 'cause you're FAILING. Bill, sorry for flooding up your comment thread.
Apology accepted. Sometimes a joke can be taken seriously and start an avalanche of stupid.
I thought we were all supposed to be kind to each other, don't mock other people, unicorns and rivers of flowing chocolate and all.
I thought the point of open source was...you know.
What about OSX and Unix?
Actually I have qualms with Apple taking the BSD base as well, but that's a different story with a shit ton more complications. My problem here is really with the fact that PyStar used code written by the community and never gave them credit. Netkas and others then made it clear that they did not want Pystar to continue to use their work and Pystar didn't listen. This really isn't grey area. This is clear and simple theft from the community as a whole.
Btw. I have an iPhone. Plan on selling to get a N900 once it's available. I own a MBP and a Window 7 Desktop. I also work/manage a Linux Computing Cluster. Each has it's pros and cons. I take devices for their utility not their name and I'm not stuck to any one company ( either then my damn Utilities ). I don't consider my self a fanboi of anything but Free Markets and Rational Decision Making.
@N900
The whole Engadget forum is over the top, that's what it is. It's like 30% comic madness, 30% rabid fan boy, 20% trolling and 20% facts and thoughts jazzed up with one of the first three
The most interesting thing is that all the regulars, which there are plenty of slide freely between the 4 states often within the same article comment stream. I no longer take even the most ardent troll or fanboy comment with much seriousness, they are just as likely posting that way as part of the 30% comic madness.
It takes time to adapt to the style around here
If they ship machines that just have a bootloader and no OS X installed (or even included with the system) then Apple really doesn't have anything to pursue them on.
And if they can't do that, then there's no reason to buy from them. You'll never see them in stores, and it'll be too much work for anyone but people who could do it themselves as it is.
Farewell Psystar, and nothing of value was lost.
pretty sure it is illegal to sell the ingredients to make drugs.
[Citation Needed]
A day after the article appears two responses roll in.
@Joseph
Ha, no it's generally not. For instance, every chemical in methamphetamine can be purchased at either a drug store or at a hardware store. Apple can't do anything to stuff that doesn't violate their copyrights.
In all, your response was pretty blindingly stupid.
@neofolklore
Citation for what, exactly?
the DMCA prohibits the use or distribution of knowledge or technology for breaking access controls placed on a product by the creator (regardless of actual copyright infringement).
So putting the bootloader on the computer is the issue. Not whether they install the OS or not.
Well Apple this is what happens when you use Intel EFI to "secure" your hardware.
This is just history repeating, exactly the same thing happened with IBM BIOS being reverse engineered.
Back in the good 'ol days before the #%$# DMCA existed.. now companies have paid off the government for the privilege of being able to tell us what to do with our purchases.
Yeah not that Intel EFI was a superior alternative to that nearly 30-year old legacy oddity called BIOS that the generic PC industry is still clinging onto. There's very little reason why Apple would want to use ancient technology in a modern computer.
The situation with Apple is not exactly analogous. With Compaq and IBM, Microsoft was sitting on the sidelines ready to deliver a copy of DOS to anyone who came knocking, regardless of IBM's feelings on the matter.
Wow, a completely ignorant post gets Highly Ranked on Engadget, go figure.
Intel's EFI has nothing to do with "securing" the system and everything to do with Apple deciding to ditch the BIOS because they could. But go ahead and spew misinformation regarding new technology in favor of the crusty old BIOS.
Every other manufacturer could go EFI if they wanted to, but thanks to 32-bit windows and 64-bit vista not supporting it none of them will use it. I love it when actual, good progress is held back by Microsoft.