The Future of Windows Software Distribution

Diomidis Spinellis writes "Microsoft's Windows Marketplace Labs offer a preview of their Digital Locker technology. The Digital Locker uses Microsoft's Passport Network to allow Windows users to search, buy, and download software from multiple retailers, storing their product keys for future installations. Both retailers offering the service support digital rights management technologies: Digital River promotes its SoftwarePasport, and eSsellerate its Product Activation technology. Will this technology trigger an across-the-board adoption of DRM for Windows software? How will it affect the distribution of free and open-source software?"

Nice

[Anonymous Coward]

The first stop on the path to web services.

First they get you used to having no packaging, then they get you with the subscription service.

Passport?

[lachlan76]

Didn't Passport get cancelled? Are they building new systems based on a deprecated
system?

How are the 2 related?

[jkrise]

What does Passport authentication have to do with Open Source s/w distribution? Has Amazon or eBay affected s/w distribution? So why should an MS authentication scheme do it?

A search on sourceforge..

[rajeshgoli]

Would turn up all the software I need, and I dont need to manage my product keys because I dont have any.. Q1: "How will it affect the distribution of free and open-source software?" Q2: Does it affect the distribution of open-source software at all?

Middleman?

[Dr.Opveter]

From the Help [windowsmar...celabs.com]
Q: Am I buying my software directly from Microsoft?
A: The Digital Locker on Windows Marketplace Labs is not a software retailer. Microsoft, with your permission, communicates your purchase information to the retailers to help complete your transactions.

Seems they are just a store front using their name to sell 3rd party software. Keeping all the licenses of your purchased software in a Digital Locker on your system might actually be convenient for the average Windows user. The program is supposed to also be able to make backup cds of purchased software as well.

I'm sure there's something I'm not seeing but it doesn't seem such a bad move to me.

The Little Cents I've to Offer

[Quirk]

"Will this technology trigger an across-the-board adoption of DRM for Windows software?"

I've no doubt DRM will come on strong and dominate the marketplace. I don't think the geek crowd will deter the onslaught of DRM. Much of our western culture is based on conspicuous consumption. People like to have their purchases imprinted with some sign of authenticity and, strangely, high price. While I've difficulty finding the time to read /., the Reg and my mailing lists, there are many people who love junk mail and spam, the more so if it's personalized, so having their every move online sprout offers to buy this and that may be flattering to them.

"How will it affect the distribution of free and open-source software?"

I've pretty much said my goodbyes to Windows, my multimedia, web box runs XP, but I'm moving onto AMD 64 and freeBSD for everything else. Windows was grating enough to run but recently MS seems to totally own my web box, needing to authenticate every patch and update, (it's like a security firm that promises to protect your premises then has a break-in and theft at their headquarters and, follows up with a notice to its customers that it will be rummaging through each customer's house looking for its stolen gear).

Free Open source software will continue to grow by leaps and bounds, with more government agencies signing on. It's sometimes difficult to see the growth in FOSS adoption, but when I first bought Mandrake6 the brick and mortar places Linux could be found were few and far between, now it's readily avialable and every computer book store has aisles of books on FOSS.

Re:Monopoly webserviced ;-)

[aussie_a]

Microsoft has participated in illegal practices for quite some time. They are a convicted monopoly, and what's different about how they did business before and after their conviction? Absolutely nothing. That may be because Bush came into power soon after they were convicted, the Republicans all being supportive of big businesses of course didn't want to cause Microsoft any harm, damn the laws that it broke. Paranoid? Possibly. Co-incedence, doubtful. See the facts here. [wikipedia.org]

So when Microsoft was found guilty of breaking the law, and nothing happened. What incentive does Microsoft have to comply with other laws? What's going to happen? They'll be convicted again? I'm sure Microsoft is quivering in their boots.

Linux vs. Windows...

[cobrajs]

Why should this put a hamper on OSS distribution? Isn't this just Windows trying to be more like Linux, i.e. like apt-get or CNR for Linspire?

I don't think that this really would hurt OSS distribution at all, but would instead provide more of a reason to use OSS.

Re:A search on sourceforge..

[indifferent children]

This could be a good thing for OSS. If home-user license enforcement becomes easy, it will become widespread. If this works well enough, then MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc will start requiring these licenses to run. If it becomes difficult or impossible to run these programs, more people will stop using illegal copies, and start using OpenOffice, Gimp, etc. If MS were able to stamp-out copyright infringement (by any means), that would be a huge boost to OSS.

Re:limiting software use on windows

[richy freeway]

DRM takes all the rights away from the purchaser.

Apart from the right to use the software under the terms and conditions they accepted before purchasing/renting it.

I know it's easier said than done, but, if you don't like it, don't buy it. If the publishers don't make any money they'll have to listen.

I can think of something you're not seeing

[CdBee]

Security on the Passport network isn't great - hotmail accounts are generally quite easy to steal, as anyone who's had the misfortune to use MSN Groups will confirm.

Suddenly, stealing a hotmail account is a way of committing piracy !

Re:Nice

[kgruscho]

I think windows dominance relies on past piracy. Piracy was truly rampant back in the windows 3.11 days, back then I seemd to se 3-4 priate copies for each legit copy.

Now almost every copy of windows I see running is legit, because it came with the computer.

Windows became dominant by being pirated, but once it was entrenched, microsoft started selling it on every PC out there. And selling cheap upgrades to half the pirate copies.

Also please people do not kid yourself in thinking that prices and DRM will push people to linux. linux has some great merits, but most people do not build their system and get the OS preinstalled, to them windows is "free".

(Honestly I think the best bet for linux is if a manufacturer acts like apple, and puts together really nice hardware and ships a box that just works for the end user)

Re:The Little Cents I've to Offer

[g2devi]

> People like to have their purchases imprinted with some sign of authenticity and, strangely, high price.

If that were true, how does Walmart make a profit?

While it is true that some part of American culture is consumed with status and high price labels, the bulk of it would just as easily flock to a cheap knock offs if they were "good enough".

Less piracy is good for FOSS.

[miffo.swe]

The harder it gets to pirate Windows and all the various apps on it the more the value of OSS shines through. Today not many pay for their software in general. Even Windows XP Home is swapped out fairly quickly for a pirated version of XP Pro in many cases.

When you make a headcount and calculate what the total sum of all the installed software on a normal computer is OSS has a pretty great advantage that not many appriciates since they dont pay for their comercial software.

Re:How it will effect Open Source?

[TheRaven64]

I think it will affect F/OSS. At the moment, people complain that installing things on *NIX is complicated because they are used to putting in CDs and clicking on setup.exe. If the `standard' way of installing is via something like Synaptic, then the only difference between installing software on Windows and elsewhere is that it costs money on Windows.

Custom SourceForge?

[bjk002]

Feels like M$ is building a custom, personal sourceforge. There are many practical applications for this.

Restore and recovery comes to mind first. With ubiquitous broadband connections, its not as big a deal to d/l full version software packages.

Or perhaps, something even cooler, a full system mirroring, online.

As useful as this would be for an individual, think how useful this would be for corporations. Disater recovery from a corporations point of view would be a no brainer.

Building burned down? Just buy a couple servers and d/l everything from M$.

This could eliminate $1000s/yr off the company's bottom line in media storage, tape back up, etc...

That is, of course, until M$ jacks up the pricing once they cornered the market.

Re:Monopoly webserviced ;-)

[labratuk]

Wow, this is really exciting. It'll be like having apt only with a convicted monopolist in charge of the repository.

This is going to be so much fun. They're only a decade late getting a proper package management system.

Re:Nice

[miffo.swe]

I remember the piracy being pretty darned rampant with MS Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP too. And lets not forget that very many of the preinstalled XP Home gets swiftly exchanged for XP PRO. Piracy of applications on MS Windows isnt a small thing either. Take your own Windows boxes (if you own any) and calculate how much software you have there, including all the shareware you have used long beyond its trial period. I suspect that for most people that sum isnt something they are willing to part from. Windows may be free but all the applications is not and DRM may just make people painfully aware of that.

The sole reason prices dont drive people towards Linux/*BSD/Whatever New is that pretty much no home user really pays for their software and thus dont compare the two on price.

Software Distribution by Digital River

[Anonymous Coward]

Digital River was and may still be the preferred mail/shipping firm for SuSE, a major Linux distributer. It may be the preferred distributer for other Linux distributions as well. If Microsoft gets its hooks into this company, then Novell, who holds SuSE now and others may have to seek other distributers. This happens often enough and it will become difficult for Linux companies to ship their product through third party bulk distributers, especially in foreign countries. This is especially relevant, or was for SuSE, a German company that used Digital River for shipping its new products to customers in the United States. As for 'online distribution', the real answer is to not accept this form of product delivery, as it is not really a delivery. I use a dial-up connection that has a habit of going down quite often, interrupting downloads. There is nothing more useless than a broken download. I know that a windows shareware product called 'Lightning Download' can remedy this problem; but it is for windows users only; OK!, you can use windows to download a linux program and then copy it to your Linux system by whatever means. But what does this say for Linux if it has to be babysat by windows whenever it has a problem. Linux should be able to take care of itself if it is ever to be able to call itself truly a viable alternative to windows. This includes track and sector editors, secure deletion and shredding programs, easy formatters, registry and log file editors and secure deleters, internet cookie and intrusive spyware secure deleters, obsessive 'history' shredders, and other hardware and low level software utilities that windows has historically abounded with. Note that this above should all be GUI based, as handling hundreds of thousands of files scattered over thousands of directories and tens of networked CPUs with a command line oriented console application file by dreary file is a formula for a digital hell that we will not willingly subscribe to. Why do we use dial-up? Because the high speed internet companies in the locally available area are a monopoly, and this monopoly has decreed support only for windows systems using MSN if one wants high speed internet. We will use neither!

first step

[rubycodez]

The goal is to only have LEASED software, not software you own. They will get everyone using MS software locked into rental to provide a recurring revenue stream. Don't pay, your computer doesn't work anymore (unless you liberate yourself with Free Software).

Re:How are the 2 related?

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

I hate to break it to the Slashdot zealots, but here it is:
Microsoft wants one thing and one thing alone: money. It is not in Microsoft's best interests to restrict development for Windows. It is not in their best interests to break compatibility with older software. Neither of these things will EVER happen at Microsoft because the strength of their platform lies in its software library and ease of development. This news has NO implications for FOSS on Windows.

This article, in fact, is 90 percent FUD. DRM has existed for a long time in the shareware and commercial software world - this just standardizes it and provides centralized downloading and key storage. Not a bad idea, if I say so myself.

Re:Steam

[Jackie_Chan_Fan]

I hate Steam. I beat half life 2 a while ago, but i get the urge to check out hf2, the mods etc every now and then. Unfortunately i dont want to go through the hassle of installing steam to do so. I hate that it has to redownload it, or i have to tell steam to make it a transportable install exe etc...

It's just anoying enough to keep me from giving a dam about playing half life2 again.

And frankly i dont want yet another program running in memory that does absolutely NOTHING for me as a user. Steam is a program thats running on our computers, for valves benefit. Somehow we get the short end of the stick.

Screw it. I dont want DRM.