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Ernie Ball - Model For Open-Source Transition?

Posted by simoniker on from the minus-the-piracy-bit dept.

fr0z writes " Ernie Ball is a company that makes guitar strings. After being raided by the BSA in 2000 without warning and fined $100,000 for a few unlicensed copies of software, CEO Sterling Ball vowed not to give another cent to Microsoft and within 6 months, according to CNET News, had the whole company switched to Red Hat Linux, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, and other free software."

1 of 869 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oh come on by wagemonkey · · Score: 2, Flamebait
    Read the article:
    San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based company that turned up a few dozen unlicensed copies of programs.

    If he's using a few dozens copies of high-end business software, it could EASILY amount to the price he had to pay.

    It's nice to see a business move to open source, but it's not like this guy didn't deserve what he got.

    From the Article:
    How did that happen?
    We pass our old computers down. The guys in engineering need a new PC, so they get one and we pass theirs on to somebody doing clerical work. Well, if you don't wipe the hard drive on that PC, that's a violation. Even if they can tell a piece of software isn't being used, it's still a violation if it's on that hard drive. What I really thought is that you ought to treat people the way you want to be treated.

    Perhaps you should read all the article?