Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
1–10 of 85 posts
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#2I do recall several HN commenters called it back them when it was announced Broadcom would take over and cause a shit show.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#3You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one.
You paid for the product, fuck them.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#4You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
I have long since believed this to be legal, though I'd like to understand if it is.
Effectively: Software mechanisms are not the litmus of legality, as if you buy a working key, it may not be legal to use since there are country restrictions.
So I would surmise the opposite stance: if you have a license sitting on a shelf and you "assign" it to a system; using a keygen at that point is fine, since you do own a license and you are not oversubscribing it.
IANAL, but one or the other must be true.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#5You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
Honestly that's the sad story behind drm in a nutshell. Pirates get a better product.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#6No great surprise there.
Orders/renewals for Symantec products were effectively impossible for about 18 months following their Broadcom experience.
IIRC, in the end they just gave everyone a 1-year subscription extension.
Edit: Ooops - that gets a mention at the bottom of the linked article...
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#7You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
Honestly that's the sad story behind drm in a nutshell. Pirates get a better product.
> Pirates get a better product.
Your comment reminded me of this classic article: https://blog.codinghorror.com/oh-you-wanted-awesome-edition/
"If I choose open source, I don't have to think about licensing, feature matrices, or recurring billing."
That is, it's not just pirates who get a better product; open source users get a better product too.
(Going back to the context of this thread: those who chose an open source alternative to the products in question have avoided all of this mess, even if they had to forsake some useful features for that.)
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#8You can find working vSphere keygens on some sketchy site. I encourage anyone in a tough spot to use one. You paid for the product, fuck them.
I have long since believed this to be legal, though I'd like to understand if it is. Effectively: Software mechanisms are not the litmus of legality, as if you buy a working key, it may not be legal to use since there are country restrictions. So I would surmise the opposite stance: if you have a license sitting on a shelf and you "assign" it to a system; using a keygen at that point is fine, since you do own a licen…
Certainly an interesting one.
IANAL, but I believe the terms of the purchased license would be to use the product with only the license key provided. Therefore using an alternative key would be a breach of the license terms, meaning you're using unlicensed software and subject to all relevant laws.
I can see an argument that the vendor is in breach of contract by failing to provide a valid key with the license, and therefore the contract is void and the vendor should refund.
And yet again, I can see an argument that the license has been paid for, and a different key is used in the interim to access the paid for software, therefore no loss has occurred to either party rendering the whole argument moot.
Would be interested to know if this has been tested in the court system.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have long since believed this to be legal, though I'd like to understand if it is. Effectively: Software mechanisms are not the litmus of legality, as if you buy a working key, it may not be legal to use since there are country restrictions. So I would surmise the opposite stance: if you have a license sitting on a shelf and you "assign" it to a system; using a keygen at that point is fine, since you do own a licen…
Certainly an interesting one. IANAL, but I believe the terms of the purchased license would be to use the product with only the license key provided. Therefore using an alternative key would be a breach of the license terms, meaning you're using unlicensed software and subject to all relevant laws. I can see an argument that the vendor is in breach of contract by failing to provide a valid key with the license, and t…
Depending on jurisdiction there may be rules or case law related to re-engineering and patching of purchased software to keep it working. This is again a reminder how important the right to repair is.
Re: Order/license chaos for VMware products after Broadcom takeover
#10I do recall several HN commenters called it back them when it was announced Broadcom would take over and cause a shit show.
Not much of shit show, but the speculation back then what that BRCM will split VMware into pieces, keep the most profitable parts and milk them as much as possible.
So far two things happened: - a lot of people were laid off - VMware will turn into a subscription service, no more perpetual licenses on which you can bolt a support contract for updates.