Apple Seeks (Poetic) Justice

[Swad]

Oh, Apple, how do we love thee? Let me count the ways...

 

We reported a few weeks ago about Apple’s hidden message to hackers within the hardware restrictions of OS X. It wasn’t much, but “Dont Steal Mac OS X.kext” was a shot across the bow of would-be hackers. (Perhaps it should have had the extension .kthnks?)

 

Today, maxxuss sends word that a few pieces of OS X look for a secret message in “commpage” that gets decrypted via the TPM… basically a decoder ring for geeks. It seems that Apple wasn’t just content with sending an obvious message – they wanted one that sounded pretty too.

 

Your karma check for today:

There once was a user that whined

his existing OS was so blind,

he'd do better to pirate

an OS that ran great

but found his hardware declined.

Please don't steal Mac OS!

Really, that's way uncool.

© Apple Computer, Inc.

 

While this is obviously not the work of Milton or Wordsworth, you’ve got to give mad props to the Apple designers for taking the time to put their warning in verse.

 

In this spirit, we would like to humbly offer up our own poem to the developers of the “OS that ran great.”

 

Rime of the Ancient Hacker

There once was a hacker named Maxxuss

who Steve did not think was a genius.

But Steve pondered awhile,

grabbed the phone with a smile,

and said “Bill, there’s a thing to discuss…”

 

[Digg this article]

 

Write your own poem here!

[xiberia]

choice is good, choice is key

why stick to one OS when you can choose from three?

OSX, Linux, Windows too

The freedom to choose is good for you.

Apple could sell it in its shop

but its afraid its shares would drop

though they could have millions more in the bank :

and yet it's Maxxuss we have to thank

for giving us what Steve will not

Come on Apple - I'd buy a copy like a shot!

 

(early mornings and no coffee do-est not good prose maketh - Bill Gates Shakespere)

[MTRecords]

yay, first post!

 

i love the poetic stuff, but apple seem to be taking this as a joke. maybe this is there new security device, subliminal messaging!!!!

 

lol

 

dam you, u stole my post while i was typing. *stupid slow finger!*

[domino]

OMG!! please poets go on!!! Can't get enough of this

[drcreek]

Just wait for maxxuss' court order to arrive in poem form too....

 

 

But nice to see that apple are taking an intrest but not a quick lets DoS Attack and sue them all one.

 

So Apple to hide a poem in it.

[jbjonas]

I love it!

Twas once a grand hacker named Maxuss,

Paying Apple for {censored} hardware he tired of,

He decrypted with a grin, finding Jobs' message within,

"If you want OSX

come and crack us

"

I love limericks.

[slick]

This is more of a hip hop effort. I call it Karma Detect.

 

Karma Detect

 

deny me the right to stability?

cause my pockets torn, are running on empty

legit? {censored} {censored}, stop your whining

you locked the door again, i ain't crying

got the key off my boy maxxus

stuck your {censored} god damn wherever i wanted it

my box, your box, it is the same inside

your OS, my box, why it gotta hide?

i paid my way to support you when on the grind

i told my friends you were true i followed you blind

stop your flawed reasoning to see it for what it really is

you were just like me before you were the {censored}

too old to remember your phone scam?

too cold to remember the days you left behind?

don't talk karma for you know not what it is

look at your pricing and see if your "poem" fits.

[cyris ng]

OSx86 is great

I hope it doesnt propogate

Beyond the realm of the geeks

So Apple doesnt freaks

 

Apple cant take a financial hit

Unlike Billy's Micro{censored}

You know this is a fact

Come on buy a real Mac

[Swad]

Haha, those are great - keep them coming! Oh, and like yesterday, our server is holding up bravely against the tons of linkage from around the net. To those who are visiting, welcome!

 

EDIT: I just read a comment on the TUAW link. Just to clear things up, Steve would be calling Bill to say that he was about to license the OS. Just so you know. :-)

[junkjunk876]

Forget poetry. I prefer to quote Stephen King:

 

"Give me what I want and I'll go away."

[randomblame]

wintel user at heart

thought that I was so smart

linux windows whatever it would take

as long as my own box, I could make

electronic fruit thought different themselves

and intel and apple were together on shelves

hacking is fun I just had to play

and to my surprise nay to my dismay

I found that the os was really okay!

I love it so much, I'd use it each day

if only my wifi and audio would play!

please apple my apple write drivers for me

and then maybe I wont use tiger for free!

[JamesOSX86]

There once was an os that was great

but the hardware is too expensive as of late

my pc is more stable

with intel osx on the table

There's really not much else to state:)

 

My imac is acting like {censored}

there's only one thing I can do to get back

I'll find a bit torrent

and after 2 days of torment

My PC turns into a mac

 

Apple, you really can't complain,

You'll not get my money again

Oh, who am I kidding

Your systems are fitting

And I'll buy another when I can

[xPoWx Th3Myth]

I can remember, I've always wanted OSX

but for years I've been stuck with Windows and Linux.

No more use for themes in Windows to look like a Mac

And once OSX is meant for PC's, there's no looking back.

Right now theres no way to buy it, I won't deny that I did try it,

and since then, I've been on a Windows Diet. Steve might as well

make OSX a computer standard, instead of locking it to Apple like F*&%ing Bastards.

Doesn't matter, I wouldn't buy it because I don't like to pay Taxes,

So I say we should say F*$% Steve Jobs, All Hail MAXXUS

[fotpunk]

Your karma check for today:

There once was a user that whined

his existing OS was so blind,

he'd do better to pirate

an OS that ran great

but found his hardware declined.

Please don't steal Mac OS!

Really, that's way uncool.

© Apple Computer, Inc.

 

Why is every PC Jill and Jack

ga-ga over some new Tiger crack?

I've got 10.4.5

Running perfect 'cause I

Figured out you could … just buy a Mac!

 

Seriously, may I make a guess

why PCers still stuck with MS

would hack, crack and steal

an OS with appeal?

So Vista can learn from … the best?

 

OK, enough limericks for today. And I'm not PC/x86/crack bashing - just having some fun at Microsoft's (MS) expense, so don't get all bent out of shape.

 

I just think it's funny all the crazy steps people are taking to get Tiger on their computers … is it really that awesome? I don't think so, and I own a Mac!

[MustardTheoRy]

To bad I don’t believe in karma:

There once was some programmers that whined,

his OS was of the hackable kind.

So they tried to hide it behind ,

Psychological poetic warfare.

But I knew damn well they didn’t care.

Yes your OS is cool,

though far from great.

So why don’t you all buy some Ben and Jerrys,

listen to Garcia go to the park and skate.

Contemplate why Apple is always late,

like Steve Jobs is to Bill Gates.

I don’t need any more justified ammo,

I just paid two hundred for a forty five production cost two gig black nano.

© MustardTheoRy, ithink.

[Blackice]

There was once an overpriced PC,

with a fruity logo, so all could see,

that it ran the best OS in town.

That apple did Maxxuss shake down.

[f540xs]

Seriousely, Maxxuss needs to have Paypal link on his site! He has done so much for the community.

[Bloggerman]

These guys who ONCE came to be

 

Called themselves EMAGIC™ and came to be

 

Made good music for u and me

 

On either 'trendoid' Apple™ or trusty ol' PC

 

But the 'trendoids' grew into little niche hogging motherf***ers

 

and broke up a funky little Deutscher company

 

and repackaged the product in over-inflated plastic or metal boxes

 

Standed me here, out on 5.5.1 island

 

Those f***ers™ ;)

 

 

 

 

FWIW - 5.5.1 still kicks ass!!

[dreness]

Rationalize it

however you like. Theft is

theft is theft is theft.

 

Just because you can't

afford to buy a nice car,

do not go steal one.

 

People who care are

quite eager to support the

makers of cool stuff.

 

Believe it or not,

those makers use your money

to build more cool stuff.

 

Perhaps in todays

world of ridiculously

marketed {censored}-fests,

 

people are used to

buying things from the faceless

corps without caring.

 

Perhaps they view the

items they consume as cheap,

commodity trash

 

that surely could be

replicated easily;

so why support it?

 

If you don't agree

with the license for a thing,

do not use that thing.

 

People like this are

the ones we can thank for all

dumbass DRM

 

which restricts legit

consumers by treating us

like criminals. Thanks.

 

Thanks for giving the

various rights holders all

the ammo they need.

 

"Someone else will pay,

so I don't have to worry.

Let them deal with it".

 

News flash, yo. That {censored}

is simply pure, selfish, greed.

It's really quite sad

 

that you don't choose to

support the things you like by

funding creators.

 

If nobody paid,

guess what would happen?

That's right, it would fade.

 

Where do you get off

making other people pay

for the stuff you use?

 

What ever happened

to saving up to buy things?

Ah, I think I know.

 

People must have the

instant gratification.

Patience is dead, *sigh*.

 

By the way, just so

you know, I use OS X,

Win, and lots of *nix

 

Anyway, have fun

jumping through hoops every time

Apple posts updates.

 

I suspect that this

entire exercise will

fall right on deaf ears.

[Swad]

Wow, dreness, that was the most beautiful chunk of borderline trollbait I've seen in awhile!

 

Just so you know, not everyone on this forum is about the hacking of the OS. A lot of people agree with you.

[dreness]

Wow, dreness, that was the most beautiful chunk of borderline trollbait I've seen in awhile!

That's the nicest thing anybody's said to me all week

Just so you know, not everyone on this forum is about the hacking of the OS. A lot of people agree with you.

Good to hear!

[regularg0nz0]

There once was a PC named Dell

Whose life, it seemed destined for hell

Then along came 'ol Maxxus

With oodles of patches

but my *%##%$ video card still doesn't work!

 

 

 

Hmm... Maybe I didn't work hard enough on that finish.

[junkjunk876]

I suspect that this

entire exercise will

fall right on deaf ears.

 

Eh?

 

I don't plan to steal OS X. I will patiently wait until I can buy something at retail, and assuming that it can run on hardware that I already own, I will buy it and hack it.

 

You reply with license agreement, I reply with antitrust violation. It doesn't matter. Apple gets paid, I get (hopefully) what I want, an idiotic interpretation of the law gets ignored, and in view of "Apple gets paid", my moral conscience is clear.

 

"Give me what I want and I'll go away."

[jbjonas]

right on, junkjunk876!

and the ending is great regularg0nz0, it smacks you in the face (perfect for modern poetry in my opinion)

[Dave A]

Hacking does not necessarily equal stealing. Since 10.4.4 for intel isn't available in the stores yet, we don't have that choice. And say what you will about it still being wrong to run osx on a non apple box even if we have a license, but the legality of this and enforcability of apple's eula still has not been decided by the courts. Even if the courts were to rule this illegal however, illegal is not always immoral. Take for example deCSS, used for watching DVDs on linux. I plan to buy a shrink wrapped copy of osx86 when it comes out, but I don't have that choice yet. I wish people wouldn't assume that we're all going to pirate osx86, even when they finally start selling the thing.

 

And here is a poem of my own:

 

 

Mac on our box, steve won't permit

but our hacking is not quite legit

with all of his zeal,

steve assumes we would steal

but if we had the chance we would buy it

 

Please don't lock Mac OS to Apple hardware!

Really, that's way uncool!