Or is Microsoft unfairly targeting and discriminating against customers attempting to run Windows programs on Unix and Linux?
Microsoft"s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program has had its share of critics. But this week, a number of open-source advocates joined the ranks of those questioning Microsoft"s methods for thwarting software piracy. On Wednesday, a developer of Wine — an open-source implementation of the Windows application-programming interface that allows Windows applications to run on Unix and Linux — said he discovered that Microsoft"s Windows validation tool checks for Wine and generates an error when it is found.
Wine developer Ivan Leo Puoti"s e-mail was linked on the Slashdot.org site and immediately generated a flood of comments. While some posters said they believed Microsoft was within its rights blocking users who were running older versions of Windows, others said they believed Microsoft was unfairly targeting users running legitimate Microsoft software on top of non-Microsoft operating systems.