Windows95 snap

Since everyone was raving about it, i took a moment during my lunch break to make a snap of the windows95 electron app…

https://snapcraft.io/windows95

in case there are any issues, let me know …

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When will an ARM version be available?

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Tried, not experiencing problem except from missing audio (though, does that even supported natively?)

the snap has alsa and pulseaudio interfaces enabled, but i think the windows install inside is actually missing the soundblaster driver it would need. (same goes for any networking)

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Without wishing to be a buzzkill. What’s the license on this? It’s shipping a copyrighted, non-free bundle of binaries from Microsoft and partners, surely? How is this legal?

Yes, I know Windows 95 is out of support, and yes, I know github (where the original is hosted) is owned by Microsoft and probably some people don’t care. It just surprised me how nobody seems to care. I’ve seen lots of mainstream press and internet luminaries talk about it, but not seen anyone cite where permission was given, did I miss that?

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The snap simply re-packages the provided .deb …
The bottom of https://github.com/felixrieseberg/windows95 (which is the site providing the deb) says:

License

This project is provided for educational purposes only. It is not affiliated with and has not been approved by Microsoft.

I guess i somehow need to refer to this in the store … (unless i’m officially asked to remove it, which is fine too)

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I don’t think that’s an acceptable answer. How is that any different from taking any other proprietary software that you don’t have permission for, and shoving it in the store? Just because it’s available as a download elsewhere, doesn’t make it okay in our store.

I expect this is just under the radar, and nobody has actually asked for permission because they will almost certainly hit many lawyers saying “no” before anyone says “yes” at Microsoft. Still doesn’t make it right.

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I agree to unpublish it, even when it is fun and majorly unharmful.

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I agree with @popey.

Despite the Windows 95 Electron app getting lots of online media coverage the last few days, it does include applications that can’t be redistributed even though they are 23 years old. Our terms state in section 2d:

“You agree that Apps you submit to the Developer Site do not infringe any intellectual property right of any third party or any applicable law or regulation, and will not contain any material from a third party, unless you have permission from the rightful owner of the material or you are otherwise legally entitled to distribute the material.”

We have unpublished Snaps in the past for not complying with that clause and I feel we should be consistent in adhering to policies. And, also not wanting to be a killjoy, I would like to see this Snap unpublished and its channels closed.

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Done … all unpublished … sorry to everyone who wanted to play with it …

Note: the source for the snap is still avaiable under:

Since this only contains snapcraft.yaml, .desktop file and an icon you can at any time build your own local snap for personal purpose from it by cloning it and running snapcraft in the toplevel of the source tree.

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Right decision, friends :hugs:. Microsoft being kind enough to look the other way when it comes to windows95 doesn’t mean it should be in an app store.

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Instead of being directed to a 404 page when clicking on the link to the snap in the snapstore that has been enshrined in the search results of the various engines, would not a short text indicating the reason for the take down be preferable?

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