OSIA disputes Windows piracy claim
OSIA disputes Windows piracy claim
Open Source Industry Australia has lashed out at UK Gartner for suggesting that pre-installing Linux on PCs opens the way for pirated copies of Windows to be uploaded illegally.
Gartner analyst Annette Jump claimed that 80 percent of machines with Linux end up with a false copy of Microsoft Windows.
OSIA spokesperson Steven D'Aprano said: "Firstly, let's get the key fact out of the way. There is no advantage to PC resellers in using Linux as a means of shipping lower price PCs, which in turn are used to pirate Windows.
"These PC vendors can simply ship a PC without any operating system at all! This would make the resulting computer even cheaper than deploying Linux on it, as zero effort is needed to image the system. If PC vendors are selling computers with Linux pre-installed, that can only mean there is demand for Linux on the desktop."
OSIA said that logic for this does not make sense since such a loophole would only be advantageous to Microsoft.
It also claims that other application-level software would also be pirated if this was true, including Photoshop, Microsoft Office or Deamweaver which all need Windows in order to be used.
D'Aprano added: "If Microsoft has a problem with piracy, it shouldn't be blamed on OEMs who sell PCs with Linux pre-installed or no operating system at all.
"Should we discourage supermarkets from selling plain bread, because shoppers might steal butter from elsewhere? To discourage vendors from selling PCs with Linux installed because of the hypothetical loss of revenue to Microsoft goes against the spirit of the free market.
"While Microsoft seeks to avoid competition in the market, the Linux community believes in the free market. We have a better product at a cheaper price and Microsoft can't compete except by blaming us for piracy."
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