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cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
Now up to $20, and buying anything from Craigslist with a promise to ship it is a very bad idea. There is no protection when you get ripped off.
 

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
Gray discs won't work anyway.

You're right, these are specific system discs, not upgrades or full OS discs, although others here have claimed there are workarounds to use them on non-supported systems. I don't know how accurate that is.

But also note for anyone thinking of doing this, the system discs are the OS version that your Mac shipped with. Most of the time it can run a newer OS than that, which is not on those discs.

And again, buying anything off Craigslist with a promise to ship it is a red flag. Even Craigslist warns not to do that. Don't expect to receive anything.
 

skateny

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 19, 2012
448
0
New York, NY
Now up to $20, and buying anything from Craigslist with a promise to ship it is a very bad idea. There is no protection when you get ripped off.

True enough. Through the years, many/most of us have learned to be suspicious of deals that seem too good to be true on eBay, Craig's List and countless other Web sites. And with good reason. Years ago I got a 300 MHz Wall Street PowerBook that was filthy and otherwise in bad condition. eBay basically told me "tough luck." Though I never used this resource, I found this ad months ago. In my experience, Craig's List is very vigilant when it comes to scams. Typically, it's one complaint and you're gone. At least that's been my experience, and I can't vouch for anything beyond New York.

Years ago when I was looking to do some extra work, more for fun than money, I posted an ad to help people learn to use Macs. I broke no TOS rules, but the ad was pull in a day without explanation. I don't recall if there was a means of getting an explanation, but if there were, I didn't bother.

I didn't mean to suggest that this is fool-proof, but if I ever need Leopard, I'd risk the fifteen bucks on this offer, or just go meet him and pay $10. After all, the guy includes an address and phone number in the ad, and he isn't asking for a hundred bucks.

I also understand that the gray discs have their limitations, but I thought that this might help some people.

Didn't mean to get people riled up. I assumed that most people on this site are pretty savvy when it comes to making online purchases.
 

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
You're right, these are specific system discs, not upgrades or full OS discs, although others here have claimed there are workarounds to use them on non-supported systems. I don't know how accurate that is.

100% accurate, but that same legal as torrenting (if you care about this).
Gray discs are not for resale.
 

skateny

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 19, 2012
448
0
New York, NY
100% accurate, but that same legal as torrenting (if you care about this).
Gray discs are not for resale.

Huh. I wasn't aware of this. So if I purchase gray discs from my neighbor, I'm breaking the law? And is this also the case when I purchase OS discs for an unsupported architecture?:eek:
 

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
^^^I'm not sure how this would be interpreted by lawyers, but your computer is the license for OS version that was shipped with it. You can legally use this version, no matter if you have original install discs or not. But gray discs are allowed to be sold only with machine which they belong to.
So, for example: you do have Dual Core G5 shipped with 10.4.3+, you can use only 10.4.x legally. It makes no sense to buy gray discs with, let's say, 10.4.10 from Intel Mac and modify OSInstall.pkg, when you can torrent 10.4.6 Retail and install it on your G5 without a hassle (and for free). BTW, modifying install files could be also considered as breaking law ;) This was Psystar case AFAIR.

In real world it's a matter of your conscience, because Apple never investigates who runs which system on his machine.

I don't advocate piracy, but there is a paradox: you can legally use 10.4 because your computer is a license for it, but if you're lost Install discs, only 101% legal way to obtain a copy is to buy another license i.e. Retail disc.
 

cocacolakid

macrumors 65816
Dec 18, 2010
1,108
20
Chicago
The gray, system specific discs get pulled from sale on eBay all the time. Sometimes some slip through and run a full 7 days, but whenever Apple sees them, they notify eBay and the seller gets a message that the item has been canceled along with a warning to not list prohibited items again. Repeat warnings result in a suspension or ban.

The full retail discs, like the black Leopard discs, are not pulled from eBay. I've sold a couple of Leopard discs in the last 4-5 years, as well as a Tiger disc and a Snow Leopard disc that no longer needed and they ran their full course without any problems. I don't know Apple's policy on the retail discs and reselling them, but in my limited experience, Apple doesn't have those auctions pulled from eBay, while they do strictly enforce not selling the gray system discs.

----------

I don't advocate piracy, but there is a paradox: you can legally use 10.4 because your computer is a license for it, but if you're lost Install discs, only 101% legal way to obtain a copy is to buy another license i.e. Retail disc.

As someone in another thread said, if you call Apple they will normally send you (sell?) the original system discs for your machine. However, if you're trying to install a later OS than what it shipped with, that's of no help. But you can supposedly still buy the retail OS discs from Apple, you just have to call them.
 

666sheep

macrumors 68040
Dec 7, 2009
3,686
291
Poland
As someone in another thread said, if you call Apple they will normally send you (sell?) the original system discs for your machine. However, if you're trying to install a later OS than what it shipped with, that's of no help. But you can supposedly still buy the retail OS discs from Apple, you just have to call them.

Sometimes it works... Not worldwide, though.
 

92jlee

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2009
277
0
Cardiff, Wales, UK
People in this forum get so touchy about the legality of osx.
Leopard is (without googling) a 4/5 year old OS now? Apple is worth billions of dollars.. Do any of you seriously think they care if you download or otherwise obtain an OS that they don't sell anymore? They aren't loosing out on sales.. if anything it could potentially improve sales if people like leopard on ppc they may buy a new mac.

How long until software is considered abandonware? And surley the licence says you get a copy of mac OS with any mac you purchase, so if you own or have owned a mac that came with leopard, you should be allowed to obtain a new copy if you loose yours?

Don't get me wrong, I won't be burning hundreds of disks and selling them on eBay as real versions, but I don't think its morally wrong for an individual to obtain the OS.
 

SuperCyborg

macrumors member
Dec 7, 2012
42
0
How long until software is considered abandonware?
When the author releases it to the public domain. There is no such thing as "abandonware".

Just because software isn't updated or sold on the market for X amount of time doesn't give anyone the right to copy/steal it.
Even if the company that wrote it goes belly up, somebody still owns the rights.
 

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
People in this forum get so touchy about the legality of osx.
Leopard is (without googling) a 4/5 year old OS now? Apple is worth billions of dollars.. Do any of you seriously think they care if you download or otherwise obtain an OS that they don't sell anymore? They aren't loosing out on sales.. if anything it could potentially improve sales if people like leopard on ppc they may buy a new mac.

How long until software is considered abandonware? And surley the licence says you get a copy of mac OS with any mac you purchase, so if you own or have owned a mac that came with leopard, you should be allowed to obtain a new copy if you loose yours?

Don't get me wrong, I won't be burning hundreds of disks and selling them on eBay as real versions, but I don't think its morally wrong for an individual to obtain the OS.

They wouldn't care if you downloaded, but it's not right for someone to sell a restore disk for a computer by itself, Those disks also come with all the pre-bundled software too, so it's not just Apple's copyright, it's the licensing of the other software on the disks that come to play.

Comic Life and StuffIt Expander come to mind, as they were pre-loaded on the 2006 Intel Macs.
 

rabidz7

macrumors 65816
Jun 24, 2012
1,205
3
Ohio
depends

People in this forum get so touchy about the legality of osx.
Leopard is (without googling) a 4/5 year old OS now? Apple is worth billions of dollars.. Do any of you seriously think they care if you download or otherwise obtain an OS that they don't sell anymore? They aren't loosing out on sales.. if anything it could potentially improve sales if people like leopard on ppc they may buy a new mac.

How long until software is considered abandonware? And surley the licence says you get a copy of mac OS with any mac you purchase, so if you own or have owned a mac that came with leopard, you should be allowed to obtain a new copy if you loose yours?

Don't get me wrong, I won't be burning hundreds of disks and selling them on eBay as real versions, but I don't think its morally wrong for an individual to obtain the OS.

Well, I take it to be when the software is no longer sold, but legally it is when the author releases it into the public domain.
 

92jlee

macrumors 6502
Sep 11, 2009
277
0
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Well, I take it to be when the software is no longer sold, but legally it is when the author releases it into the public domain.

I agree. Lets say you want to buy a game from 2004, you cant find it in any retailers because they dont sell it anymore, you can only find it on ebay second hand.

If you buy it you dont give the company who made it any money

If you torrent it, its exactly the same.
 
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