Microsoft yanked its Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (WUDT) from the online Microsoft Store yesterday, allegedly because the program incorporated code from the GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project. Microsoft originally introduced the USB/DVD Download Tool as a method for netbook users, some of whom lack DVD drives on their devices, to install Windows 7 on their machines.
The ImageMaster project, hosted on Codeplex, is described on its site as “a .Net C# application for reading and writing disc images.” In his blog Rafael Rivera described how he had a “weird feeling” after poking through the WUDT’s internals that “there was just wayyyyyy too much code in there for such a simple tool.”
Rivera then claims he did some more digging. “A simple search of some method names and properties … revealed the source code was obviously lifted from the CodePlex-hosted (yikes) GPLv2-licensed ImageMaster project. (The author of the code was not contacted by Microsoft).
According to Rivera, Microsoft may have violated ImageMaster’s terms for use of the open source code, declining to provide “source code for their modifications to ImageMaster” and stapling on their own licensing terms, “further restricting your rights to the software”.
As Rivera’s blog posting gained traction in the larger media, it seems, Microsoft made the decision to pull the WUDT from the offerings on the Microsoft Store, although the “Windows 7 for Netbooks” page remains active without an “Add to Cart” link.
“We are currently looking into this issue and are taking down the Windows USB/DVD Tool (WUDT) from the Microsoft Store site until our review of this matter is complete,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”
Oops.
Well if you still need to know how to install Windows 7 on your netbook here’s our guide which still works.
via eWeek
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