Controversy is raging over the first test release of CherryOS - a paid-for Mac emulator which allows PC users to run Mac OS X for the first time. Hawaii-based company Maui X-Stream has released the software, at the cost of $50 per download. The problem? Well, it's claimed much of the code comes straight from PearPC - which is free and released under the GPL.
Sebastian Biallas, PearPC's main developers, spoke briefly and exclusively to Neowin on the release - and it looks like the group is still shaping up for its response. "There are some people who have copyright on (parts of) PearPC, and it depends on how the react on this," he said. "The basic rule is: You either must release PearPC derivates under GPL or you must obtain a licence for other use." Aside from that, he couldn't comment further on it - but it looks likely there will be more movement on this from the PearPC side over the coming weeks.
Biallas admitted development on the project was currently "a little bit stalled, since I didn't have time" but accepted there was certainly a lot of interest in his project. "It seems a lot," he added. "I haven't actively read the developers mailing lists, but there were a lots of postings in the last months."
Updated: Jim Kartes, Maui X-Stream's president, has responded to some of the criticism. He told The Mac Observer the evaluation version had been downloaded 100,000 times in around 24 hours; The interesting bit, however, is his comments on the PearPC similarities: "That is simply not true," he said. "They know not what they speak. This is an entirely different architecture and code from PearPC. That's why we're able to achieve such higher speeds than they have. These are simply a bunch of lies."
Mr. Kartes said his developers "never ever" copied code from PearPC. Just because they introduced their code months before Maui-X Stream did, he said, "doesn't give them a claim on certain technical aspects of our product".
View: Neowin discussion of CherryOS release | Full Mac Observer coverage
