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Story: Windows piracy must not harm Linux

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Gartner's Logic has a hole big enough to float an oil tanker through it.

The article is about a situation that exists in markets where retail buyers can buy PC's with NO OS on them at all.

If they want to install a pirated Windows OS on those machines they can do so without pretending they are going to run Linux on them.

Since the PC's w/no OS are cheaper (No install charge) than those with an OS on them, why would they bother to pay for something they don't have to buy and won't use? In the parts of the world where a PC costs 8 month's wages, saving money matters more than you can imagine.

As for Windows user's not being able to deal with using Linux, I point you at the following:

In Norwich Connecticut, near resorts (casino's) that have a number of international visitors, Linux thin clients are installed for use by the public for Internet Browsing and Word processing.

Both the local patrons, and international drop-ins (who use the computers to send emails and make travel arrangements) are able to use the Linux systems without any training.

Why? Because everything they need to know about how to use the Linux system, they have already learned when they learned how to use a windows system. Everything they see on these machines behaves exactly as they expect it to. It is just like the windows machine they are so familiar with.

Oh, there are "some" differences. These don't crash or get hung up. And the user's can't mess up the systems configurations or settings. They restore that information (without being rebooted) each time a new user session is started.

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