I want to install MAS to my clubhouse’s computer so I can share MS Office with our member, but I wonder if it’s really safe.
Some people on Reddit say that it’s a trojan
https://www.reddit.com/r/pchelp/comments/1crolj9/reinstalled_windows_10_and_windows_security/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/16rdsc4/regret_using_microsoft_activation_scripts/
They say that I can check the source code since it’s open sourced, but I’m not sure. It’s too complex, and downloading several files inside a script. I haven’t checked yet but it can be downloading some blobs, idk.
Also the domain of the official page sounds suspicious… “mass grave”??
Edit: I use Debian btw
The source code is even hosted on GitHub which is owned by Microsoft.
Interesting. I wonder why they don’t take it down immediately when they absolutely can
It’s probably just not worth it. MS makes the vast, vast majority of thier money on Windows licenses from the corporate sector and OEMs. Any revenue “lost” to MAS is a rounding error on thier toilet paper budget for thier offices.
Both those posts on reddit are people being paranoid (especially the pchelp post, that user is self-admittedly ignorant), perhaps not wrongly, but it is open source and used frequently enough I’d imagine someone would have said something if there were issues.
Personally, I’ve used it probably 3-4x without any issues. Take that for what you will.
EDIT: Manual instructions are here if you wanna be really, really sure.
Ensuring everyone runs Windows maintains their monopoly and also keeps the user data siphon net as wide as possible. They don’t give a shit as long as you are feeding them personal data and are using Windows.
Because they don’t make Jack shit on consumer licenses.
Microsoft has always had a strange relationship with piracy. They’d obviously prefer everyone pay for their software, and will crack down on stuff that seriously threatens this - but at the same time, their real power and profit comes from their monopoly (well, came from their monopoly; things are weird now due to their failure to win the browser wars and mobile device markets.)
If the alternative is you using a competitor’s software, they’d prefer that you pirate windows.