[CadetStimpy]

Interesting. As of this morning, http://www.cherryos.com comes back as a non-existent URL. Seems the reports of this being a scam were correct.

[strictlyplaid]

Originally posted by CadetStimpy:
Interesting. As of this morning, http://www.cherryos.com comes back as a non-existent URL. Seems the reports of this being a scam were correct.

Actually, even earlier this morning (~8:00 AM) it was still coming back as valid.

But then again, I'm just a shameless CherryOS apologist... or, at least, a shameless not-willing-to-immediately-conclude-this-is-a-scam-and-congratulate-myself-ologist. But I have to admit, they haven't done anything to shake that image yet. I'm certainly not sending them any money.

[Xeo]

Offline again. No IP associated with the hostname.

[piracy]

They keep digging themselves deeper and deeper:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/15/news/story2.html

Note how they also blame Mac users for their misfortunes.

The truth will be known soon enough; I wonder how they'll try to weasel out of it.

[msuper69]

Originally posted by piracy:
They keep digging themselves deeper and deeper:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/15/news/story2.html

Note how they also blame Mac users for their misfortunes.

The truth will be known soon enough; I wonder how they'll try to weasel out of it.

These guys are nuts if they think Apple will let OS X run on PC hardware. No way in h?ll.
Assuming this is legit which doesn't seem likely.

[piracy]

Originally posted by msuper69:
These guys are nuts if they think Apple will let OS X run on PC hardware. No way in h?ll.
Assuming this is legit which doesn't seem likely.

You're forgetting that PearPC already does this (albeit not extremely effectively at this point in time).

Also, there's nothing illegal about making a PowerPC motherboard emulator. There are no ROMs nor is any other Apple-proprietary information required.

However, if someone were to make a product that could effectively, efficiently, and easily run Mac OS X on PC hardware, and it was promoted with that as its sole purpose, you can be sure that Apple would explore legal avenues, since Mac OS X's EULA specifically prohibits installing Mac OS X on non-Apple-branded hardware. This DOES NOT IMPLY that the emulator itself would be "illegal". In theory, someone could build non-proprietary PowerPC hardware, today, with the ability to run Mac OS X. However, Mac OS X's EULA turns it into a hairy issue. Even if the license or click-thru EULAs haven't been fully tested in court, Apple still makes the stipulations about Apple hardware in Mac OS X's license. No company wants to invest millions of dollars in R&D, design, and manufacturing for a product that may be barred from being sold, or at the very least, delayed in the courts for a significant period of time.

[msuper69]

Originally posted by piracy:
You're forgetting that PearPC already does this (albeit not extremely effectively at this point in time).

Also, there's nothing illegal about making a PowerPC motherboard emulator. There are no ROMs nor is any other Apple-proprietary information required.

However, if someone were to make a product that could effectively, efficiently, and easily run Mac OS X on PC hardware, and it was promoted with that as its sole purpose, you can be sure that Apple would explore legal avenues, since Mac OS X's EULA specifically prohibits installing Mac OS X on non-Apple-branded hardware. This DOES NOT IMPLY that the emulator itself would be "illegal". In theory, someone could build non-proprietary PowerPC hardware, today, with the ability to run Mac OS X. However, Mac OS X's EULA turns it into a hairy issue. Even if the license or click-thru EULAs haven't been fully tested in court, Apple still makes the stipulations about Apple hardware in Mac OS X's license. No company wants to invest millions of dollars in R&D, design, and manufacturing for a product that may be barred from being sold, or at the very least, delayed in the courts for a significant period of time.

I agree with you completely. I'm just saying that Apple is going to do whatever they have to do to protect their investment and hardware sales.

Of course, if this turns out to be legit then the fact that the company is showing Mac OS X running on non-Apple branded hardware is enough to initiate legal action against them as they are showing to the world that they have violated the terms of the OS X EULA. The emulator is perfectly legal; using it to run OS X is not.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by piracy:
They keep digging themselves deeper and deeper:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/15/news/story2.html

Note how they also blame Mac users for their misfortunes.

The truth will be known soon enough; I wonder how they'll try to weasel out of it.

Ahaha, "hackers" indeed. It's called posting your crap on slashdot. You don't do that unless you want your server to go down.

[siMac]

And what's at the top of the StarBulletin page?

A picture of "Web developer Crystal Kryeziu [reviewing] Maui X-Stream's new VX30 product."

Strange.

[piracy]

http://forums.pearpc.net/viewtopic.php?p=7613#7613

CherryOS is a fraud. I'm one of the lead developers of PearPC, and that's why I took the time to register, and post in a manner that allows credibility and accountablity to be attached to my statements.

Believe me when I say this. CherryOS is a fraud. They are using plenty of PearPC code, and have done a poor job hiding it. There are many people who have the CherryOS program already.

For those of you, who already knew this. The evidence is there, just be patient.

For those of you, who are telling everyone to shut up until they've released something, they have. And it's in capable hands. And they are already certain that it is using PearPC code.

For those of you who are making CherryOS, properly release your code under the GPL as it is required by law, and admit, at least to the developers of PearPC, that you've used PearPC.
_________________
Daniel Foesch
AltiVec Developer for PearPC

[Horsepoo!!!]

Originally posted by piracy:
http://forums.pearpc.net/viewtopic.php?p=7613#7613

Well...there you have it. Thanks to piracy for bringing this to everyone's attention.

And now I'm gonna go back to eating a product that is real and hasn't been ripped off from anyone.

[Horsepoo!!!]

...mmm, Cheerios.

[lookmark]

Originally posted by piracy:
http://forums.pearpc.net/viewtopic.php?p=7613#7613

What scuzz.

[kupan787]

One more quickie, but someone over at AppleInsider caught this:

Hmmm Simpson reference... one more hint to the worst cover up of a scam ever?

This is from the Virtual Springfield FAQ, the old CD-ROM Simpsons game that ran on Macs and Wintels.

http://www.wetware.demon.co.uk/simpsons/vsguide.txt

2.8 CHERRY OS AND SOL

The computer in Principal Skinner's office is, as you may all have
noticed, a reference to the Macintosh class of computers. Instead
of an apple, the Computer Art Director of this game decided to put
a cherry as a logo and also creating a desktop similar to that of
a Mac. Some icons were also created for the faux OS, but
unfortunately, they can't be seen because of the SOL window
covering it. And, as we all know, SOL is a parody of the widely
used online service.

[TETENAL]

There is a new "analysis" about CherriOS:

http://www.artworxinn.com/alex/arben.htm

[theolein]

Originally posted by TETENAL:
There is a new "analysis" about CherriOS:

http://www.artworxinn.com/alex/arben.htm

I'm famous

[piracy]

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,65368,00.html

[Horsepoo!!!]

When will Arden be taken to court?

[theolein]

Originally posted by Horsepoo!!!:
When will Arden be taken to court?

Arben will probably never go to court, but I also doubt that he's going to be able to sell products in the future.

The guy must have been fantastically stupid to believe that people wouldn't care if he just repackaged the PearPC code. Stupid fu�king lying bastard. I bet that he is now busy sitting there days and night renaming function and variable names in order to "prove" that he didn't steal PearPC code.

[siMac]

Originally posted by theolein:
Arben will probably never go to court

And that's what stinks the most.

It really pisses me off that people like him think they have come up with some cunning new marketing stategy when what they're really doing is something else. Fraud.

[Horsepoo!!!]

The absolute funniest part of the Wired article has got to be this one and makes Arben look fantastically stupid:

Sebastian Ballas, PearPC's lead developer, said a screenshot of CherryOS shows a variable named "SPIRO MULTIMAX 3000," a nonsensical term Ballas claims to have invented for use in PearPC.

"It is absolutely unlikely that someone uses exactly this name for the same purpose," he said. "The way he (Kryeziu) is lying is making me angry."

When told that variables with the same names had been found in both CherryOS and PearPC, Kryeziu said programming logic often leads to variables and functions with similar, or identical, names.

"There are some functionalities that can only be done a certain way," he said. "Names are going to be similar or identical because there are only certain ways to do things."

"Names are going to be similar or identical because there are only certain ways to do things." Hahahahahahaha! That's the funniest damn sh!t I've heard in months. It was inevitable, it had to be named Spiro Multimax 3000! There is only one way to give funny names.

[jamil5454]

This is all I have to say regarding the general state CherryOS must be in:

[Lucidwray]

Originally posted by Lucidwray:
After visiting theire site and watching the pointless java based video, what this seems like to me is a publicity stunt to get lots of people to visit theire site and watch the view (which is created with their 'technology'). It's a total marketing stunt. Who cares if they piss off every end user in the world. If they can convince 10 IT guys to buy and use their video products for some pointless corporate use like showing company video newletters over an intranet, then their stunt worked. Once its proven to be fake, they can turn around and say, "You're right, it dosen't really exist. But look how awesome our new video serving technology held up under the load of Slashdot.org!" (Which, by the way, it didn't at alll). At that point, they convince 5 morons to buy their 'other' software and they are all the better for it.
The end justifies the means.

Damn im good...

"To further add to the tale, someone who was likely Arben was specifically asking for video server load testing for their vx30.com video codec/server product, even specifically mentioning slashdot as a great candidate, and in the days following the CherryOS story unfolding, went back and deleted the posts. The first day, all that was left online were two videos, one of which was subsequently removed because of PearPC-specific strings in the boot process shown in the video..." - slashdot.org

[piracy]

There's a followup in the Honolulu newspaper about this today...it appears that the CherryOS folks are still pushing forward:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/10/19/news/story3.html

[siMac]

Originally posted by piracy:
There's a followup in the Honolulu newspaper about this today...

Oh look! Another vx30 link at the bottom of that page! Freaky...

[Spliffdaddy]

They wouldn't be getting this kind of attention even if Cherry OS was real.


Gotta give 'em credit for a darn good publicity stunt.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by theolein:
I'm famous

-t

[Tsilou B.]

Everyone seems to assume there are only two possibilities:

1.) CherryOS is real, Arben has developed it from scratch (highly unlikely, if one considers things like "SPIRO...3000"
2.) CherryOS is not existant or it's PearPC repackaged.

I think there's a third possibility. Let's assume Arben downloaded PearPC and found that it was unusable for real work because it's so extremely slow. Setup is also quite complicated. So he sat down and developed a faster emulation, maybe a real graphics driver and a better user interface and setup. In the end, he had a version of PearPC that was usable (800MHz G4 on Pentium IV 3,2GHz - PearPC runs slower on such a machine than a first-generation iMac/233). He has invested a lot of work (he says four months) and knows that he could make a lot of money with the application. But unfortunately, since he has based his work on PearPC, he has to release his work under the GPL. He can still charge as much money as he wants to, but all his customers have every right to distribute the application and even the source code (for free). He knows that as soon as legal copies of CherryOS are available for free, no one will buy the product anymore. He doesn't want to miss out on the big profits, however, and so he decides to conceal that CherryOS is based on PearPC. He's probably really changing variable names and other things at the moment.

BUT: While this means that Arben is not a nice person and he clearly violates the GPL, it does NOT mean that CherryOS is non-existant or that it's not much better than the current version of PearPC.

[Eriamjh]

There is another possibility:

4.) This is all the big stunt to send traffix to vx30.com.

[piracy]

http://cherryos.com is back...

[Brass]

Originally posted by piracy:
http://cherryos.com is back...

And the only link on their front page that is not an email address is to the VX30 web page.

[theolein]

I'm happy for the Albanian that the evil Mac hackers have now relented and allowed him to bring his innovative site back up.

[LORL]

It's not a "fake", but it is a "hoax"

All the guy did was take the source code of PearPC, a PowerPC hardware emulator for x86 based systems, and code a few little fake boxes on top of it to make it look different.

The guy has a reputation for stealing GPLd code and trying to sell it for a price.

[absmiths]

This is funny:

"Kryeziu said the CherryOS site was often unresponsive because of attacks from crackers and traffic. The site was unavailable most of Thursday because a cracker changed administrator passwords and key settings, he said.

"It's getting hacked like crazy," he said. "

They must be hosting it in IIS. This is what NetCraft has to say:

- - 18-Oct-2004 Failed to resolve hostname -
Windows Server 2003 Microsoft-IIS/6.0 17-Oct-2004 69.44.56.142 ServerBeach
Linux Apache/1.3.31 (Unix) mod_auth_passthrough/1.8 mod_log_bytes/1.2 mod_bwlimited/1.4 PHP/4.3.9 FrontPage/5.0.2.2634a mod_ssl/2.8.19 OpenSSL/0.9.6b 16-Oct-2004 69.44.59.142 ServerBeach
Windows Server 2003 Microsoft-IIS/6.0 14-Oct-2004 69.44.56.142 ServerBeach
Windows Server 2003 Microsoft-IIS/6.0 14-Oct-2004 69.44.56.142 ServerBeach
unknown Microsoft-IIS/6.0 13-Oct-2004 69.44.56.142 ServerBeach
Windows Server 2003 Microsoft-IIS/6.0

So it was most likely IIS which allowed them to change the admin password.

[1800-whatever]

Their website now mentions Cherry OS being available on November 25th...

[Eriamjh]

Originally posted by 1800-whatever:
Their website now mentions Cherry OS being available on November 25th...

Yup. Fake.

[DVD Plaza]

Meanwhile, the product's Web site at www.cherryos.com crashed after taking 300,000 hits a day from interested buyers and hackers alike, according to company President Jim Kartes ... We had a bunch of servers up for this, and they just destroyed them

You've got to be kidding me - 300,000 hits a day? That's nothing more than an average web site on an average day. A BUNCH of servers couldn't handle it? A single server could handle that kind of load without even putting out a sweat. Idiots...

[TimmyDee51]

Originally posted by DVD Plaza:
Idiots...

Well, what do you expect from these guys?

[piracy]

Now the lying sacks of sh*t at CherryOS have change the release date of the trial and full version (of a product that was supposedly "1.0" several weeks ago) from November 25 to "early 2005":

http://cherryos.com

[Tsilou B.]

Originally posted by piracy:
Now the lying sacks of sh*t at CherryOS have change the release date of the trial and full version (of a product that was supposedly "1.0" several weeks ago) from November 25 to "early 2005":

http://cherryos.com

"lying sacks of sh*t"

[chris v]

Originally posted by piracy:
CherryOS is a scam, folks.

Nothing to see here.

I predict this is how it's going to play out:

They're going to delay for another couple days because of being "hacked". Then they're going to come up with some story why it's not available, along the lines of:

"Due to the incredible demand and lots of feedback, we've decided to make the first release of CherryOS even better! Keep checking back often for news!"

As of 11-24-04:

"As a direct result of the overwhelming response to our October 12 announcement, and in order to provide current and future customers with the timely service and attention such high-volume demand requires, MXS has chosen to extend the beta development for CherryOS."

Not word for word, but... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[MacGorilla]

Originally posted by piracy:
Now the lying sacks of sh*t at CherryOS have change the release date of the trial and full version (of a product that was supposedly "1.0" several weeks ago) from November 25 to "early 2005":

http://cherryos.com

More waiting??? How will I live???

[iFrankie]

Originally posted by piracy:
Now the lying sacks of sh*t at CherryOS have change the release date of the trial and full version (of a product that was supposedly "1.0" several weeks ago) from November 25 to "early 2005":
http://cherryos.com

Yep, just saw that too!

I kept checking their site becuase I really wanted to test the software. Those bastards...

[piracy]

Originally posted by iFrankie:
Yep, just saw that too!

I kept checking their site becuase I really wanted to test the software. Those bastards...

There's nothing to test.

It's just PearPC with a really, really sh*tty GUI.

And yes, I've seen/used it.

He stole GPL code without acknowledgment for his PDF viewer, he used LGPL code from JORBIS for his vx30 video codec, and he stole GPL code without acknowledgment from PearPC for CherryOS.

[Spirit_VW]

I have a feeling that if we ever do see this thing set free on the world, they'll delay it as long as they need to rename the PearPC references. I'm sure that's what they're doing right now, if in fact they're still working on this "thing."

[ApeInTheShell]

Scenario 1: The PearPC developers limited themselves on a faster emulation developed by this guy because they saw it as impractical and impossible. Therefore, he took the code and continued his work until he had to give it a lame name like Cherry OS.

Scenario 2: He stole the code from PearPC and with some more dabbling he got it to work faster. He didn't want to label at as "a work in progress" because he felt it was done and therefore decided to sell it as a product. Only now it is on the shelf because of hackers.

Scenario 3: Microsoft decides to put the download on their servers if he allows them to integrate the code into Virtual PC. Microsoft releases Virtual Mac by the end of the year running Mac OS X 10.3 with Apple's permission of course.

Scenario 4: Cheerios is sold for cheaper at the supermarket but in a regular plastic bag with an off brand logo. More cereal knockoffs soon follow like fruity stones, irish charm, and cocoa balls.

Scenario 5: It goes into the shareware bin of things that should be free on versiontracker.

[Person Man]

Originally posted by ApeInTheShell:
Scenario 1: The PearPC developers limited themselves on a faster emulation developed by this guy because they saw it as impractical and impossible. Therefore, he took the code and continued his work until he had to give it a lame name like Cherry OS.

Scenario 2: He stole the code from PearPC and with some more dabbling he got it to work faster. He didn't want to label at as "a work in progress" because he felt it was done and therefore decided to sell it as a product. Only now it is on the shelf because of hackers.

Scenario 3: Microsoft decides to put the download on their servers if he allows them to integrate the code into Virtual PC. Microsoft releases Virtual Mac by the end of the year running Mac OS X 10.3 with Apple's permission of course.

Scenario 4: Cheerios is sold for cheaper at the supermarket but in a regular plastic bag with an off brand logo. More cereal knockoffs soon follow like fruity stones, irish charm, and cocoa balls.

Scenario 5: It goes into the shareware bin of things that should be free on versiontracker.

Scenario 6: He stole GPL'd code and released it as his own (as he has done on numerous occasions), without acknowledging it or contributing the changes back to the open source community.