Microsoft Yanks Windows 7 Download Tool
Microsoft has pulled the Windows 7 download tool from its online store do to GPL allegations.
Consumers wanting to upgrade to Windows 7--and don't have an optical drive--may be out of luck for a while. According to CNET, Microsoft has pulled the Windows USB/DVD Tool from its online Microsoft Store due to allegations that it makes improper use of open-source code. Microsoft said that it is now conducting an investigation on the matter.
"Microsoft is looking into this issue and is taking down the (Windows 7 updating) tool from the Microsoft Store site until its review is complete," the company said in a statement. "We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience."
The allegations appeared last week by Rafael Rivera on his Within Windows blog. He said that Microsoft's tool uses code from the Codeplex-hosted Image Master project which is licensed under the General Public License v2. Rivera says that Microsoft violates the GPL because it did not offer or provide source code for the modifications. Microsoft also "glued in some of their own licensing terms," he said.
Rivera initially reported that he grew suspicious of the tool while poking through its code. "I had a weird feeling there was just wayyyyyyyyy too much code in there for such a simple tool," he said. Currently there's no word on when the Windows 7 tool will return to the online store.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Zoonie ReplyMicrosoft has pulled the Windows 7 download tool from its online store do to GPL allegations.
'due to'
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Now why am I not one bit surprised?Reply
Used the tool myself to create a Windows 7 setup Flash drive for a system I was working on and the first thing I saw when running the tool was The Microsoft Store label on the dialog window.
The first thing that sprang to mind was WTF!!!
Granted, the tool was easy enough to use, but there was nothing transparent about it.
It was more like a Creating Windows 7 USB/DVD Setup for IDIOTS tool. -
skittle I looked at the "infringing" code... it was nothing more than one function that had a similiar name and provided a similiar function. How many different ways can you read bits from an ISO? This claim is not only false, but completely basless and just flat out wrong. The code looks NOTHING alike.Reply -
papasmurf ReplyRivera initially reported that he grew suspicious of the tool while poking through its code. "I had a weird feeling there was just wayyyyyyyyy too much code in there for such a simple tool," he said. Currently there's no word on when the Windows 7 tool will return to the online store.
If the source code was not offered publicly by Microsoft how did this guy look at it? Some sort of disassembler? -
papasmurfIf the source code was not offered publicly by Microsoft how did this guy look at it? Some sort of disassembler?On his Windows Blog, Rivera listed this tool as what he used.Reply
http://www.red-gate.com/products/reflector/
RedGate offers a Free copy on their website.