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How Pirated Software Impacts Free Software

Posted by kdawson on from the free-as-in-cracked dept.

jmglov writes "Dave Gutteridge has an unusual take on why people are not interested in saving money by using a free-as-in-beer OS like Linux or *BSD: because Windows is free. At least, that is an all-too-common perception, thanks to bundling and piracy. Bundling is a well-known problem to the adoption of open source operating systems, so Dave takes a look at the piracy issue in depth. His title may offend you, but his well-written article will most likely get you thinking hard about the question, 'how much does Windows cost?'"

4 of 530 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Very true.... by Verteiron · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually that doesn't always work. In fact, unless something has changed in the past couple of years, this -rarely- works. When I was doing this often, I found that the installed key would almost invariably fail to validate the OEM setup unless you had a copy of the XP OEM disc from that manufacturer. Same revision of XP, same everything except for the manufacturer. It got to the point that we had to make copies of the OEM discs for each manufacturer just to do re-installs.

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    End of lesson. You may press the button.
  2. Re:Very true.... by ShaggyIan · · Score: 5, Informative

    They usually charge extra for the disk anymore. They now like to use a separate partition on the HDD to store the restore image. It's frequently accessible via a boot menu.

    I've never gotten a good answer about what's supposed to be done when the HDD dies out of warranty.

    Depending on your make/model or bitchiness level, many of the OEM's will ship you a disk. . . for a price.

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    This sig was generated randomly by one million monkeys with Speak 'n Spells. . .
  3. Re:Very true.... by hawkbug · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, no, no - you're misunderstanding what I'm saying entirely. Don't ever use the discs that come with the computer. Get your own copy of an OEM disc, whether borrowed or purchased like here:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 2E16832116049

      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 2E16832116059

      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8 2E16832116056

    I have one copy of each and they are most widely used discs as a person who fixes computers for people for a living. The sticker on any OEM computer will work with the appropriate disc, and that's all you need.

  4. Those wanting to help the world... by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Informative

    ... to get rid of the Microsoft monopoly, and happen to be proficient at C programming:
    you could cooperate with the ReactOS project (a windows compatible OS) and lend them a hand or two.

    I'd love to help them, but I have little spare time and I'm not very good with C - just C++.