OSIA Dismisses Gartner Linux Piracy Claim

Anonymous Coward writes "The Inquirer is reporting that a claim by Gartner that Linux desktops are used for pirated copies of windows has been dismissed by the Open Source Industry Association (OSIA). OSIA told The Sydney Morning Herald that 'if Gartner's conclusion that pre-installing Linux encouraged people to steal copies of Windows were correct.... It would be possible to state that pre-installing Windows encourages people to pirate application software.'"

Comments

Re:There should be an MS tax, no there shouldn't..

[Stevyn]

Exactly. I have a dell laptop. I had no choice to get windows installed on it. I had no choice not to pay the fee. I had a choice to install Linux and that's what I did. I'd like to get a refund since I'm not using this software that I'm leasing from microsoft, but that's not going to happen. If I simply had a checkbox available on my next purchase to not install an operating system I'd be a happy camper. However, I believe the agreements the OEMs have with microsoft to get windows at a discounted rate is to require an OS shipped with the PC. I'm sure there is some free DOS sitting out there they could throw on.

Feh...

[Xpilot]

In Malaysia (a country where the XP lite crap edition is targeted), most small vendors have a pirated Windows preloaded anyway. Gartner would have us think in 'emerging markets', buying a computer with Linux installed is an excuse to pirate Windows, but the reality is nobody needs an excuse to do so... heck most PC's probably come with a pirated Windows preinstalled :).

Over here in Malaysia, if anyone were to buy a computer with Linux pre-installed, you can bet it's because they were interested in Linux and didn't want to install it themselves (possibly due to inexperience with such things).

I don't know why, but all these "analysis" things all seem to stem from the arrogant assumption that everyone wants to use Windows, and will do anything to get it.

OSIA spin?

[andy1307]

Do they have any data to counter the gartner claim? I agree that Gartner's logic is tenuous but they claim to have data to back up their conclusion. As much as I support open source, the open source movement can't afford to be in denial. Waht if the Gartner data really does prove that a lot of people who buy PCs with pre-installed linux wipe out the linux installation and install pirated windows.

They exist but

[einhverfr]

I don't know a person in the world who runs Windows who doesn't have some pirated software on their machine.

I do. I have customers for whom I have certified that all the software on the system is properly licensed. They are not common but they do exist.

The real issue is that you have a difference in cultures which is fundamental. You have a "Windows Culture" in which "piracy" is largely OK in part because tracking licenses is pretty onerous, and because it is just easier to "pirate" software than to purchase it often.

On the other hand, you have the free source culture eschews piracy and appreciates software that gives them the freedom to modify and redistribute it (some software culturally qualifies,such as Qmail, without really meeting the FSF's Free Software Definition in its strictest interpretation).

When a person who likes one culture buys a computer with an OS from the other culture preinstalled, they will react. In some cases, this means that Microsoft gets a license fee for nothing, in other cases it means that Windows gets pirated.

In the balance, however, Windows encourages piracy much more than Linux because it is inherent in the popular culture of Windows users.