Why InsanelyMac does not support tonymacx86

[PookyMacMan]

Many users wonder why we do not support tonymac's products here at InsanelyMac. The reason is that we believe he is a commercial spin-off of the OSx86 scene, and it's not in the spirit of OSx86 to have commercial intents with development.

These are the main reasons why we don't approve posting his material here (why he's a commercial spin-off):

 

1. His software is not open source. This is often confused because most people equate open source software with free software. This is definitely true, but it doesn't grasp the entire scope of open source; open source also includes releasing source code for the product, which tonymac fails to do. The OSx86 community believes everything should be open source.

 

2. The construction of his site is set up with emphasis on donation buttons and (affiliate) links to Amazon and Newegg, hinting at interests of profit.

 

3. The intent of gaining profits is basically confirmed by marketing his projects with suggestions of donations as though he deserves it, even though his products (most notably #####) is a compilation of products/drivers developed by others (not himself) that any non-programmer could put together.

 

4. You must pay for the tonymac software. Although this may seem reasonable considering the effort involved in building a customized installer for specific computer builds, again, it is not in the spirit of OSx86 to charge for software development, so the wiser idea would most likely be not to offer that service at all. Even though it may be nice for newbies, in my opinion it does not encourage education but rather laziness. I say this because the OSx86 movement is designed as an educational movement, where by hacking Mac OS X you can learn more about the operating system works, how computers work, etc., like how many of us do. However, the purpose of OSx86 is not a way to get a cheap Mac, which I personally believe is encouraged by tonymac's software considering it is marketed to perform a task without any sort of explanation of how it works.

 

From another perspective: http://prasys.info/2011/01/tonymac-seriously/ This covers one of the issues brought up by developers.

 

In two sentences: at InsanelyMac, we want to keep moral standards high and safeguard genuine developers.

At tonymacx86 they take from others without giving credit.

 

In order to make sure that it doesn't happen any longer, staff have now a new guideline:

 

Quote

 

Staff members should apply a total ban on any topic encouraging the use of tools produced by sites with commercial interests (such as tonymacx86).

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Allan
Junction of the other topic.