appdb rating inflation

[Dan Kegel]

On 1/3/07, Tony Lambregts <tony.lambregts at gmail.com> wrote:
> First off I think that the AppDB is for users. It is meant to help them run
> their programs and the rating system is meant to help people know how
> well that program can be made to run

Yes, absolutely.

> No-CD cracks are not in themselves illegal. Using them can only be illegal if
> you use them to use a program that do not have the right to run.

The DMCA makes nearly all copy protection circumvention illegal in the USA,
iirc.

> Gold is for programs that _can_ be made to run _flawlessly_ but require a how-to
> (If that is changing winecfg to override dlls or use a no-cd crack then I am OK
>  with that)

Hmm.  I can see the logic of that, but "gold" seems to me to imply
"really good",
and anything that requires a howto can't be great for the average user.
I think it's worth considering making "no howto needed" be a
requirement for gold.

> > How about this:  I hear that Alexandre is going to
> > be working on implementing copy protection soon.
> > Once he has that implemented for at least one
> > popular application, how about we revisit the appdb
> > ratings question?
> >
> It won't change things much except that some programs will be elevated
> from gold to platinum.

It might be a good time to consider purging all mention of cracks
and no-cd hacks from the appdb, to make it less likely that Wine
be associated with potentially illegal or unsavory activities.
- Dan