WineHQ should discourage the use of cracks

[TheBlunderbuss]

Tomas Carnecky wrote:
> Vincent Povirk wrote:
>   
>> On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 12:53 PM, Alexander Nicolaysen Sørnes
>> <alex at thehandofagony.com> wrote:
>>     
>>>  I'm not sure if we should remove the option for 'fully functional, requires
>>>  hacks'.  A lot of people come to the AppDB to find out how they can make
>>>  their apps work, and are more interested in the end result as opposed to how
>>>  to get there.
>>>       
>> In practice, is there really enough difference between "fully
>> functional" and "mostly functional" that we need another rating?
>> People who only care about the end result would know that anything
>> Silver or above will just about work.
>>
>> I've seen Gold applied to software that is really "mostly functional,
>> requires hacks", i.e. there are some other minor problems that can't
>> be worked around (and Platinum for software with minor problems as
>> well).
>>
>>
>> Then again, if we add a few more variables, we can express the ratings
>> with radar charts. ;)
>>
>> http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/9466/screenshot5ec1.png
>>     
>
> Yeah, use a multi-dimensional rating system. Have different criteria and 
> not just one. Rate each with zero to four stars. The overall rating 
> (platinum, gold, garbage) is then a function of all the criteria ratings.
>
> Rating:
>   - 0: Does not work
>   - 1: Works but ...
>   - 2: Works but requires dlls (download from internet)
>   - 3: Works but requires local changes in winecfg (sound settings etc)
>   - 4: Works with vanilla wine
>
> Criteria:
>   - Installation
>   - Functionality
>   - Usability
>   - ???
>
>
> The radar chart is not a bad idea. smartvote.ch, a site that helps you 
> find out who to vote for (in switzerland), creates nice charts:
>
> http://dbservice.com/ftpdir/tom/smartspider.png
>
> tom
Yay nested quotes.

I think adding this kind of rating is exactly what the Appdb needs. It 
has enough flexibility and simplicity to concisely inform what's needed 
to run the program.