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The End of Naked PCs in China?
fishter writes "The Chinese Government is calling on PC manufacturers to ensure that a properly licensed operating system is installed on their products before they leave the factory. One manufacturer has already signed a deal with Microsoft to install its operating systems on all its personal PC products. The edict would also apply to foreign manufacturers supplying PCs to Chinese companies and residents."
I don't see anything in this that precludes pre-loading of OS's other than Windows. They just need to be properly licenced. A copy of RedFlag Linux for example should be perfectly acceptable.
I hate the way this whole 'naked PC' thing is painted as purely a piracy issue. We just bought 10 Workstations from HP that come with WinXP Pro and no way to buy them without despite the fact that they are intended as Linux machines and HP advertises them as fully Linux compatible.
"I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
In Beijing, where bootleg software is the norm, now PCs come with a surplus, legal (possibly) version of MS DOS 6 installed. It just measn that for a while the bootlegs will be under the counter instead of in the shop window.
Will governments decide that all cars must be sold with properly licensed tires on them? Maybe DVD players should be sold with properly licensed DVDs to play in them.
.... no lobby money needed per se, no court costs needed for fighting pirates, no money needed to influence governments... wow, when you think about it, I wish F/OSS groups were given the equivelent of what MS has spent lobbying courts, governments, and other groups and entities. That should give us all a very nice OS.
Yeah, I get the point, and I can see how this 'should' help MS and others fight piracy... one day, these people will wake up and see that pirates simply don't care and are going to use illegal copies of things anyway. This is why F/OSS has a strong advantage over MS
Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
So, will this mean that the Chinese government will officially let MS spy on them? This would certainly help. I can't imagine the chinese government being at all comfortable with that prospect. You'd think they'd develope their own distro with wine already set up to run those windows apps they'd think there to be a need for.
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
The intent of the law is that Hu Jintao won't feel embarrassed when he has dinner at Gates' mansion next week. Once he's finished his jaunt, no one will care what you do any more. Also China does have its own officially sanctioned OS, Red Flag which all true Party members should use.
Does nobody build their own PC in China?
Just because the government doesn't intend to follow the law doesn't mean they'll let the peons do the same. "Do what I say, not what I do..."
I can't speak for China, as I've never been there, but in Thailand, you can go to the mall and find stores (actual stores, not booths) that have nothing but spindles upon spindles of CD-Rs with 'pirated' software. The disks go for the equivilant of $5 US and probably cheaper if you're Thai. It's quite an interesting thing to see.
Now that IBM/Lenovo is a Chinese company, does this apply to them as well? How many computers/parts are actually made in China?
(( (CRAYON) )) >