is WINE Illegal

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Vigilant_Mr_Doe

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Is it illegal to run windows or Mac OS software on Linux, not meaning Mac.'s operating system or software made by the company Apple itself?
 


Not if you own that software. Why should you throw away older copies of say Adobe software you used to run on Windows that still work perfectly well. This is what wine is for.

If you buy the software you own it full stop.
 
My hypothesis: It depends on the terms and agreement of the particular software. Macintosh software, made by Apple, is either free or illegal to run on anything else. The terms and agreement to Mac OS X states, -it's illegal to install this on any computer, which isn't made by Apple.
I'm presuming that there are programs of which are legal to run in WINE. Running a program in WINE isn't backwards engineering or plagiarism of code.
 
Not if you own that software. Why should you throw away older copies of say Adobe software you used to run on Windows that still work perfectly well. This is what wine is for.

If you buy the software you own it full stop.

Well, you still have to obey the copyright stipulations, by law. You are right, however, that it is probably legal to run it in WINE, as long as the terms and agreement doesn't stipulate what type of computer can be used, such as Mac manufactured computers only, this is just another method of earning money.
 
What software do you need to run in WINE that there isn't an open source alternative to? The only software that, in my opinion, a person use WINE for is perhaps MS Office. It's not a fair statement as I haven't really used and only glimpsed at is LibreOffice. OpenOffice was a joke when I tried it 10 years ago, but it LibreOffice is a close second to MS Office. I am sure once I learn how to program in LibreOffice I will find that it's just as good as MS Office.

Oh, and I have read that people who use WINE also play computer games.

Every software that is not made by Microsoft or Apple has it's own TOS, so there is literally hundreds of thousands of different software in question when you ask "is it legal". Just check with the software company for the program you want to run.
 
I have never heard of any EULA (End User License Agreement) or TOS (Terms of Service) for any application that disallow it's installation or use on Linux, using WINE or Cross-Over Office. If I am incorrect, please let me know.
 
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It is true that there are some very good alternatives in the foss world but sometimes what you have proprietary wise works best and if the older version you used on Windows works use it.

The point is you bought (Unless it is the new rent system Microsoft is employing), and you paid to register with your money - simple you own it.

Avoid software that puts you in a jail - otherwise a violation of your freedom. Of course you should respect the copyright but the question is the freedom to run it and again you can under Wine simple as that.
 
Just because they put something in a legal-sounding document, doesn't mean it'll withstand a court challenge. If that was the case, I'd be driving around with a sign that says "Not responsible if I hit you".

Only problem is, it can be ruinously expensive to defend yourself.
 

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