On Fri, Feb 09, 2007 at 03:39:57AM -0500, Jude DaShiell wrote:
> If you buy a computer and you have any doubt at all in your mind as to the
> legality of the copy of windows that is already on the machine's hard
> drive, erase entire hard drive and install Debian on machine.
Sorry, but that is the wrong advise IMHO. OK, putting Debian on a
machine is the right thing to do, to free the PC. But why the heck
should i wipe the other OS off the disc. I paid for it anyway, so it
would just be the same as if I took let's say a $50 banknote and set
it on fire.
Or let's put it in the good old car analogy. I am also not going to
remove the engine of my brand new car just to be save it is not a
stolen one.
The right way would have been to not buy a preinstalled Windows in
the first place, or if one needs to use Windows take car from whom it
is bought.
> Had a
> Russian Principal done this he wouldn't be being prosecuted for pirating
> Microsoft's property today.
He is not sued because he bought those PC's with the illegal windows
version. But after there was an audit in his school he was ordered to
no longer use the OS without proper licensing but he did not follow
the advice.
Lacking an english source of information on that I have to translate
from the german site [0]:
"[...]
Laut Fursenko wurden die Schulen der Region im Frühling letzten
Jahres kontrolliert. In zehn Schulen sei dabei eine rechtswidrige
Nutzung von nicht lizenzierten Computerprogrammen festgestellt worden.
Während acht Schulen ihre Software legalisierten, taten dies zwei
Schulen, darunter die von Ponossow geleitete, nicht.
[...]"
"[...]
According to Fursenko the schools of that region were audited in the
spring of last year. Ten schools were stated to illegally use Computer
programs without licenses.
Whereas eight schools legalized their software, two schools did not,
amongst them the one governed by Ponossow.
[...]" (hard to guess: Ponossow is the prosecuted school principal)
So to me it looks as if that principal did know about the illegality
of his acting, at least from spring last year on. So he is not sued
because he bought those "pirated copies" of the software (maybe he
really did not know back then) but beause he knowingly acted against
applicable law.
[0] http://russlandonline.ru/schlagzeilen/morenews.php?iditem=33684
And BTW, one does not necissarily need an extra HD to run both Windows
_and_ Linux. Windows isn't even capable of messing with linux, since
it can't interact with any of the filesystem types or partitions. The
only thing that can be done by Windows (but AFAIK only during
installation) is to wipe the partions which then would be a stupid
action by the user since Windows won't do that on its own. But if one
already has a linux installation and uses a bootloader windows will
erase the bootloader record during its installation, but that can be
fixed easily.
Regards
--
Marcus Blumhagen
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more
violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move
in the opposite direction."
-- Albert Einstein
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