Piracy Built the Romanian IT Industry

An anonymous reader submitted a link to a Washington Post article about a very interesting press conference. Romanian President Traian Basescu stood up in front of international press and discussed the role pirated Microsoft software played in bringing about the IT industry in the country. The other big player at the press conference was Microsoft chair Bill Gates. Gates' company was opening a technical center in Bucharest, and he declined to comment on the president's remarks. Romania passed anti-piracy laws nearly 10 years ago, but nearly 70 percent of software used in the country continues to be of an illicit nature.

Comments

Does that mean...

[Taagehornet]

70 percent of software used in the country continues to be of an illicit nature

Linux accounts for the remaining 30 percent?

Re:To whom is piracy most damging?

[Eskarel]

No, they would not. Most people would not learn linux, most people could not learn linux. Linux is designed for nerds by nerds, always has been, and until the majority of the people writing the OS and the software that runs on it grow the hell up, it always will be.

I like linux, I use linux, but then again I'm a nerd. I like fidding around with stuff and learning how it works. The idea of a computer that "just works" isn't something that appeals to me. That said, even I hate a lot of the garbage that ccomes with linux.

Why is it virtually impossible to configure a decent firewall without knowing everything there is to know about every interface on your PC(I know this and can do it, at least with gui help, but your average user can't).

Why is Redhat(at least the enterprise edition) still using the same craptastic package manager they've been using for the last 15 years?

Why are there always 25 versions of the same basic program type, none of which is actually fully functional, and most of which are clones of windows versions anyway?

I love linux, but it isn't ready for prime time, it's just not, and if you really think that having to pay for Windows would mean that people would use linux, you're insane. Would your parents be able to use linux? How about your grandparents?

As much as I hate to say it, if Microsoft started enforcing their licensing, and didn't reduce the cost thereof, you'd just see a whole lot more people without PC's, without access to the internet.