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Riku7

macrumors regular
Feb 18, 2014
208
95
Well, the same thing goes for archive.org. But if it's not public content, why put it on a public web server?
That's not how copyright works.
Compare it to the physical world: Pieces of artwork are on display in publicly accessible spaces which are being rented, but it's obvious to everybody that it's someone's intellectual property and that someone is also a copyright holder. If the copyright is infringed, the law will be on the copyright holder's side. The digital world is a subset of the physical world, where laws also apply.
 

Macbookprodude

Suspended
Jan 1, 2018
3,306
898
OS 9 is not on Apple's radar, besides its now Public Domain.. Apple wouldn't care if someone reverse engineered MAC OS.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,659
28,435
OS 9 is not on Apple's radar, besides its now Public Domain.. Apple wouldn't care if someone reverse engineered MAC OS.
Do you have a source that says OS 9 is public domain?

The last I heard public domain of Apple's OS is System 7.5 and below. Meaning 7.6 and above are all still under copyright.
 
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Macbookprodude

Suspended
Jan 1, 2018
3,306
898
Do you have a source that says OS 9 is public domain?

The last I heard public domain of Apple's OS is System 7.5 and below. Meaning 7.6 and above are all still under copyright.
Wouldn’t something over 21-22 years old by now be classified as abandon ware though ? I am just stating the idea, that Apple I am sure would not care today about OS 9.
 

repairedCheese

macrumors 6502a
Jan 13, 2020
632
835
@eyoungren @Macbookprodude So, none of that is how copyright works. Apple never said the Mac OS was in public domain, they just made older versions available on their site for a while there. And abandonware isn't actually a thing legally, just because they don't say anything about it, that doesn't mean they lose any rights over it. The reason ReactOS, the open source, clean room design remake of Windows XP, isn't called Windows is because it's all still covered under trademark and copyright law.

All that said, it seems like Apple really only cares if you try to sell it.
 

Madhatter32

macrumors 65816
Apr 17, 2020
1,479
2,951
Wouldn’t something over 21-22 years old by now be classified as abandon ware though ? I am just stating the idea, that Apple I am sure would not care today about OS 9.
No -- you are probably thinking of patents. OS 9 is still most definitely protected by copyright. A copyright for hire lasts for 95 years from date of publication or 120 years from creation. No one can take Apple software and sell it for commercial gain.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,659
28,435
Wouldn’t something over 21-22 years old by now be classified as abandon ware though ? I am just stating the idea, that Apple I am sure would not care today about OS 9.
My disagreement with you has nothing to do whether they care or not. You stated it's in the public domain…it's not. Making assumptions simply because something is no longer being used can hurt you legally should someone decide to do something about it.
 

Macbookprodude

Suspended
Jan 1, 2018
3,306
898
No -- you are probably thinking of patents. OS 9 is still most definitely protected by copyright. A copyright for hire lasts for 95 years from date of publication or 120 years from creation. No one can take Apple software and sell it for commercial gain.
95 years from now, Apple may not exist, we may not exist :( But in all seriousness, If I reversed engineered OS 9 to run modern stuff, I bet Apple wouldn't give a damn. hell ! Most of their new staff (which most are horrible btw) don't even know or remember OS 9 as most of them were in diapers.
 

Macbookprodude

Suspended
Jan 1, 2018
3,306
898
My disagreement with you has nothing to do whether they care or not. You stated it's in the public domain…it's not. Making assumptions simply because something is no longer being used can hurt you legally should someone decide to do something about it.
understood.. My mistake.. I was making a point that Apple's employees hardly know what Cheetah is much less OS 9 or OS 8, as most of the new staff post-steve jobs were all in diapers or not born. Bottom line, I don't think Apple cares about os 9 anymore and if someone wanted to reverse engineer it, not sell it or market it - still, don't think they would give a .... if you know what I mean. OS 9 to them is an ancient relic of a computer era long gone.
 
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alex_free

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2020
1,103
2,357
95 years from now, Apple may not exist, we may not exist :( But in all seriousness, If I reversed engineered OS 9 to run modern stuff, I bet Apple wouldn't give a damn. hell ! Most of their new staff (which most are horrible btw) don't even know or remember OS 9 as most of them were in diapers.
fun fact, if you are correct and Apple does not exist (I'd almost bet money on it, IMHO due to a variety of reasons I am happy to discuss if others are interested), you would not be able to use any M1 Mac or Mac OS X version newer then 10.14. However, technically, you could use anything older then that (due to always online verification on installation of the OS).
 

Macbookprodude

Suspended
Jan 1, 2018
3,306
898
It counts as abandonware in my book, and I really doubt Apple cares about OS9 at this point, but it's still not open source.
Agreed ! But, if someone wants to reverse engineer it, Apple I bet wouldn't even care, as most who work at Apple today never grew up during OS 9 era or OS 8 for that matter. Most were in diapers.
 
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alex_free

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2020
1,103
2,357
Agreed ! But, if someone wants to reverse engineer it, Apple I bet wouldn't even care, as most who work at Apple today never grew up during OS 9 era or OS 8 for that matter. Most were in diapers.
It's always good to respect licensing however. I specifically license everything I make entirely myself under the 3-BSD license, and I expect it to be respected (GitHub doesn't seem to care with co pilot, but GitHub has such good discovery of projects I guess I don't have a choice, although I do disagree with copilot immensely). There is a reason I don't directly distribute SM64EX mac ppc binaries, Nintendo can do nothing if I play the game right and just have an app that compiles SM64EX for mac ppc after the user provides the copyrighted game assets to sm64ex leopard compiler.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,659
28,435
understood.. My mistake.. I was making a point that Apple's employees hardly know what Cheetah is much less OS 9 or OS 8, as most of the new staff post-steve jobs were all in diapers or not born. Bottom line, I don't think Apple cares about os 9 anymore and if someone wanted to reverse engineer it, not sell it or market it - still, don't think they would give a .... if you know what I mean. OS 9 to them is an ancient relic of a computer era long gone.
Agreed ! But, if someone wants to reverse engineer it, Apple I bet wouldn't even care, as most who work at Apple today never grew up during OS 9 era or OS 8 for that matter. Most were in diapers.
The people at Apple you keep mentioning aren't the ones in charge. Is Tim Cook a Millennial or Gen-Z? What about the corporate lawyers who work for Cook?

Even if these people were in charge they have a responsibility to protect Apple history, culture and IP.

Again, if you aren't trying to profit off it I don't think you have anything to worry about. But I just don't see how you can reason that young people in low level positions without any authority to make decisions means that older employees who are actually in charge and running Apple won't do anything to those who try to profit off old IP.
 
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CooperBox

macrumors 68000
Dronecatcher's probably correct. I see that the OP (a newbie to the forum at the time) has not been seen here since May 2021. He may possibly have been a fatal Covid victim - who knows, but someone as genuinely as keen as he initially sounded would surely have been back to provide an update, even if he'd experienced unsurmountable difficulties and abandoned his project.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
29,659
28,435
General rule - with the exception of @wicknix @alex_free and @z970 when someone announces on here they are going to start some fantastic, much anticipated project, you can assume that they'll disappear quickly and the project will never be heard of again...
Dronecatcher's probably correct. I see that the OP (a newbie to the forum at the time) has not been seen here since May 2021. He may possibly have been a fatal Covid victim - who knows, but someone as genuinely as keen as he initially sounded would surely have been back to provide an update, even if he'd experienced unsurmountable difficulties and abandoned his project.
Skill level + ambition ≠ to difficulty + time required.

Once people realize that they do not have the skillset required to match the difficulty and time required of the project, their ambition departs them. Having made bold, public statements they rarely have the desire to return and face the humiliation of their overreach.

So they disappear and as @ww2_1943 stated, their project becomes Vaporware.

It's never smart to make declarative statements when you don't know anything.
 

doscore

macrumors member
Sep 24, 2020
46
21
there's nothing wrong with clasilla and current applications on os9, if you want to make something for the old systems might I suggest a new (old world) platform?a few years ago I was toying around with a video alternative website for any old system that can support embedded videos (flv, mp4, avi etc). (vediio.com kinda not working now)

the plan was to have a retro social web platform that would allow users to upload videos, mp3's, comment, irc and share content based on technology of that time and/or era.
 

ww2_1943

macrumors 6502
Nov 25, 2021
422
285
North NJ
there's nothing wrong with clasilla and current applications on os9, if you want to make something for the old systems might I suggest a new (old world) platform?a few years ago I was toying around with a video alternative website for any old system that can support embedded videos (flv, mp4, avi etc). (vediio.com kinda not working now)

the plan was to have a retro social web platform that would allow users to upload videos, mp3's, comment, irc and share content based on technology of that time and/or era.
I like the idea of a retro social media platform!
 
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