Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft Denies Sabotaging Mandriva Linux PC Deal

Posted by Zonk on from the fair-market-etc-etc dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has denied sabotaging Mandriva's deal with the Nigerian government to supply Classmate PCs from Intel along with a customized Mandriva Linux operating system. 'From Microsoft's perspective it's a matter of choice. In the statement sent to InternetNews.com, Microsoft said it believes individuals, governments and other organizations should be free to choose the software and other technologies that best meet their needs. "We are seeing strong market demand for Windows on low-cost devices to help governments in the areas of education, local innovation, and jobs and opportunity," the Microsoft spokesperson said in the statement.' The company's denial is in response to Mandriva's CEO Francois Bancilhon expression of disappointment with Microsoft."

3 of 161 comments (clear)

  1. You can have any OS you like as long as it's ours by linuxci · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Microsoft said it believes individuals, governments and other organizations should be free to choose the software and other technologies that best meet their needs"

    That choice is Vista Basic, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate. Microsoft will do anything to make sure that they get a stronghold in emerging markets, they don't care what's best for the user (of course sometimes windows is the best option, doesn't mean it is all the time)

  2. You call thaT A DENIAL? by John+Jamieson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cmon, for a PR persn,that is effectivly an admission of guilt, with a statement of "too bad, it is not illegal" tacked on.

  3. Business as usual... by glug101 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've been reading the comments here and the comments on the previous article, and I'm surprised to see something missing.

    Show of hands:
    1. Who knows that Nigeria is an oil producing nation?

    2. Who knows the Nigerian people see barely a thin dime of the money?

    The government of Nigeria has shown itself to be easily corrupted at the expense of the people. See wikipedia and read the part about the government. It's not hard to imagine something crooked going on with this.

    Any word on how M$ is going to avoid massive amounts of pirating of software by unleashing their steaming pile of OS on a 3rd world nation? Or do they just assume that everybody there will pirate the stuff anyway so they just want to "sell" a few licenses in the process?