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Microsoft Laptop Recipient Auctioning Laptop

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the something-for-nothing dept.

Salvance writes "While most bloggers who received the controversial Vista powered Acer from Microsoft are keeping them, Laughing Squid has decided to auction off his free laptop from Microsoft and donate all proceeds to the The Electronic Frontier Foundation. (EFF) He saw this as a great opportunity to support a worthy cause, and some other bloggers are following suit. What's funny is that Microsoft is now backpedaling and telling bloggers to send back the laptops. Do they even have a legal right to do so?"

4 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. Hey by Deliveranc3 · · Score: 1, Troll

    Any publicity is good publicity...

    cough

  2. Re:huh by drsquare · · Score: 0, Troll

    But then again, Microsoft have to actually write their own entire OS, they can't just get everyone else's programs and put them together in a 'distribution'. They also have to make money.

  3. Re:Slashdot shows its skirt again by SoulRider · · Score: 1, Troll

    I think what the blogger is doing is noble, he doesnt need the laptop so he is selling it and donating the money to a worthy cause who has helped him in the past. Where is the anger on the bloggers website? (I dont even need to look to find the anger(angst) on slashdot) In fact laughingsquid states right in his blog that he is not sure why he was sent a laptop, he also states that he is going to buy Vista when it comes out, how is this slamming MS in any way? Personally I think this makes MS look like a bunch of children who are angry because the other kids arent playing the way they want to so they want their toy back.

  4. Re:huh by elgatozorbas · · Score: 0, Troll

    If Microsoft wasn't so bent on keeping everything proprietary, there really would only be the cost of the media. Look, for instance, at organizations like Debian -- you don't see them paying for "key management," now do you?

    Duh! What did you expect? When I am not mistaking, Debian/Fedora/... do NOT develop software of their own (except maybe an installer or so). They are in the business of distributing something other people (volunteers) make.

    Microsoft is in the business of creating software. Maybe it is unstable, maybe you don't like it, maybe they steal ideas - I don't know. But does Autodesk give its software away for free? With what money would they pay their developers (.. developers... developers) if they didn't try to sell as much of their OS as possible (instead of seeing it copied)?