Kenya: Who Needs Free Software in a World of Dwindling Charity?
,----[ Quote ]
| In a world of dwindling philanthropy, who will believe Open Source tycoon and
| first African to the space, Mark Shuttleworth, when he says his operating
| system Ubuntu is free for all?
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http://allafrica.com/stories/200708241056.html
They seem to believe that everyone thinks like Ballmer and Gates (money).
Related:
Governments Must Reject Gates' $3 Bid to Addict Next Billion PC Users
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft's strategy of getting developing nations hooked on its
| software was clearly outlined by Bill Gates almost a decade ago," said
| Con Zymaris, CEO of long-standing open source firm Cybersource.
|
| Specifically, Bill Gates, citing China as an example, said:
|
| "Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but
| people don't pay for the software," he said. "Someday they will, though.
| As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours.
| They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to
| collect sometime in the next decade."[1]
`----
http://www.cybersource.com.au/press/gates_set_to_addict_next_billion.html
Microsoft's $3 software is a cheap stunt
,----[ Quote ]
| But one UK charity boss says the offer of cheap software is
| meaningless without any machines to run it on. "Without the
| hardware it's like donating the tyres but not the tractor," said
| Tony Roberts, CEO of Computer Aid International. "Currently
| the price of a new PC in developing countries is GBP600. That's
| higher than the average annual income per head in countries
| such as Malawi [GBP300] and Zambia [GBP500]."
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39336
Microsoft Happy with the Evolution of Windows Vista Piracy
,----[ Quote ]
| But the truth is that Microsoft is happy with the way Windows Vista
| piracy is evolving. Is there a catch to this? No. The fact of the
| matter is that Windows Vista has delivered a heavy blow to
| software counterfeiters. The reason for this is the new Windows
| Genuine Advantage security mechanism integrated into the
| operating system.
|
| You may not notice this on the surface. On the surface, the
| Internet is crawling with Windows Vista cracks, hacks and
| workarounds. On the surface, every Windows Vista edition has
| been cracked and is available for download via peer-to-peer
| networks. But this is not the true extent of Windows Vista piracy.
`----
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Happy-with-the-Evolution-of-Windows-Vista-Piracy-50577.shtml
Africa: 'Microsoft is Imperialistic' Says Open Source Advocates
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corporation's products have been locked out of the
| on-going World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi Kenya.
|
| With over 300 computers provided for participants and the press,
| organizers of the WSF have preferred to provide open source
| software products and blocked all Microsoft related products for
| the forum's usage and its related activities.
|
| [...]
|
| Activists at the forum also believe that since Microsoft is a
| corporate brand from the United States of America, a country
| they believe has intentions of maintaining the status quo of
| a unipolar world over which it is above international law and
| the UN, the brand should be locked out.
|
| [...]
|
| "The open source movement is providing Linux, a robust free
| software. Everybody owns it and it can be shared. And this
| is what WSF is all about - a free society, a movement
| fighting for ownership of free resources" he adds.
`----
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701230831.html
Buy Microsoft, it's your patriotic duty
,----[ Quote ]
| That seemed to be the message at the London launch of Microsoft Vista,
| Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 on 30 November 2006. Gordon Frazer,
| Microsoft's UK managing director, devoted most his opening speech to
| a gallimaufry of statistics and quotations intended to show that
| buying these new offerings would somehow make Britain more competitive.
`----
http://www.it-director.com/enterprise/other/content.php?cid=9038&ref=fd_itd
"Microsoft says open-source software is un-American. Has the company completely
lost its mind?
,----[ Quote ]
| Once upon a time, Microsoft executives confined
| their criticism of Linux and free software to old-fashioned FUD
| -- fear, uncertainty and doubt. Linux wasn't good enough for
| enterprise-class systems, they declared. You couldn't get
| quality support, and it was too hard and clunky for average users.
|
| Fair enough. But now, judging by comments made Wednesday by
| Microsoft's operating systems chief Jim Allchin (and reported
| by Bloomberg News), it turns out that free and open-source
| software is something far worse than anyone could possibly have
| imagined. It is nothing less than a threat to the American
| way of life! "
`----
http://archive.salon.com/tech/log/2001/02/15/unamerican/index.html
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