12.17.09
Wonderful News From Turkey: GNU/Linux In, Microsoft Out
Summary: Bad news for Microsoft (and particularly for Vista 7) in Turkey as OEM stranglehold gets cracked
BACK in April we wrote about Microsoft's attack on GNU/Linux in Turkey. A reader of ours (potentially from Turkey) has enthusiastically mailed us with this new information about a major development:
It’s a good day for free software. Why? Because Microsoft will no more be able to force Windows pre-installed PC’s onto Turkish citizens.
Lawyer Nihat Karslı -who is the president of Pardus Users Group (Pardus Kullanıcıları Derneği) and also a member of Linux Users Group- filed a lawsuit against Windows pre-installed PC’s. Consumer Court of Ankara (Ankara 1. Tüketici Mahkemesi) ruled for Karslı and banned the forced sales of Windows operating system with a new PC. We’ll see if this ruling will be taken seriously by PC stores.
This is a step in the right direction. Microsoft Windows is a very user-hostile operating system; nobody should be required to buy a Vista- or Vista 7-saddled PC.
Another reader, Marti, has tried Vista 7 and shared the following experiences, which we thought would be worth publishing here.
Vista 7 is is not only insecure it is malfunctioning as well. It doesn’t support Microsoft’s own proprietary implementation of SMB/CFIS, called “NetBUI”.
It is next to impossible to connect to “Windows shares” that use SAMBA or previous versions of NetBUI, like Windows XP.
In Windows 7 “Windows shares” are implemented in “The Home group” which is incompatible with its predecessors.
IMHO Windows 7 is the most user hostile OS ever. It is extremely complicated, even for a seasoned “Windows Tweaker”.
I am not kidding, it is even worst than Vista.
Wireless Internet is also very problematic.
This brings me to the conclusion that networking in general is a mess in Windows 7.
It is crystal clear: Windows 7 is Vista reloaded with a new paintjob and a few distractions (screwed up networking) all for the single purpose of Vendor Lockin(tm), making its predecessor (Windows XP) and interaction with competitive technologies (GNU/Linux etc.) next to impossible.
On top of that, the so called speed of Windows 7 as advocated by the Munchkins is fully made out of cloth.
Windows 7: the ultimate piece of junk!
I installed the RC1 build 7100, only to confront the Munchkins with facts. My conclusion is, that it’s not worth a single penny. It’s garbage, junk, trash.
Even my ex-lover “Julian” – a Microsoft Victim pur sang – agrees with me, regarding Windows 7.
My conscience requires me to spread the truth about Windows 7 and to warn potential users for wasting their hard earned money on that worthless piece of junk.
It is being reported that GNU/Linux gains in developing nations, new form factors (e.g. sub-notebooks), and emerging markets. Vista 7 cannot stop this. █
Robotron 2084 said,
December 17, 2009 at 10:19 pm
A ban of this sort would ultimately be bad for consumers. First of all, a large majority of PC users who purchase a computer expect or want Windows to be installed. This is an important matter of convince. They want to bring the computer home, plug it in, turn it on, and go. Very few users would want to install their own OS. Second, users may have to purchase Windows for a higher price then pay additional labor to have it installed. This deal means higher prices for the same product they were getting before, and that’s not good.
For many, GNU/Linux isn’t what they want to use and they shouldn’t be punished for not wanting to use it. That’s exactly what this lawsuit has done. It’s important to note that it was a Linux user who pushed this lawsuit forward. He is fighting for his own selfish interests.
It’s a good idea to give the buyer a choice. If they don’t want to pay for a pre-installed copy of Windows, they should be able to forgo the installation and install their OS of choice.
Regarding the rest of the article, the only reason Roy would publish Marti’s review of Windows 7 is because it’s a negative review. You will never see Roy publish a positive review. It reminds me much of the health care arguments in the USA. In debating the merits of socialized medicine, people will show interviews from people living in other countries with such a system. Those who are against socialized medicine will package news segments that only show interviews of people with something negative to say.
Jose_X Reply:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
>> You will never see Roy publish a positive review.
Occasionally he makes that mistake.
Actually, what motivation is there for helping out a monopolist who is responsible for higher prices, less control by users, and uses its market share leverage to pressure vendors into giving it privileges not afforded to any of its competitors?
Microsoft is very spoiled, and it’s about time they have to compete on a more fair playing field: at least as far as installation goes.
It’s good to pressure large, wealthy Microsoft sitting on so much cash to use some more of this pot of gold to improve their products instead of simply letting the cash sitting there and then being shuffled through into the pockets of people like Gates, Ballmer, and friends so these people can be that much more filthy rich and help distort that many more markets around the world.
your_friend Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:12 am
You express good intentions, bad reading comprehension.
The report claims what you ask for. If this ruling is upheld, the Citizens of Turkey are free of the Windows tax.
Genuine reports on Windows 7 are also out, perhaps you missed them? If you are interested in performance Ubuntu is better. there’s not that much difference between Vista and XP out of the box, though Vista is prone to rapid degradation, so Ubuntu is also faster than XP as well, especially for file system access. The performance gains of GNU/Linux over Windows is only news to people who have never used GNU/Linux. Ubuntu is also easier to upgrade than Windows 7, and Debian is easier still in my opinion. Application incompatibility of the Vista family is also old news, and there is no way to miss that. The upshot of all of this is that Vista and Windows 7 force users to replace their hardware and software for an unfamiliar GUI. Users might as well migrate to GNU/Linux and spare themselves the hardware replacement money. Stores that are interested in staying in business had better abandon Microsoft and learn about free software.
Jose_X said,
December 17, 2009 at 11:38 pm
I think a little competition will be good for Microsoft and ultimately lead to better products from them at better price points.
For example, Microsoft now has to make it easier to install their products in order to compete against the more easily installable Linux. Also, to help offset the costs of paying someone to install the operating system, Microsoft might have to do like Linux and lower their prices a lot more so that people will still want to buy their product.
It’s about time that Microsoft had to be on an equal footing with competitors (at least as far as installation goes).
Another good piece of news will be that Linux will likely now support even more hardware since it will grow in popularity somewhat more (since it is so low priced and installs so easily). In fact, Linux likely already trounces Windows 7 hardware support.
As Linux hardware support improves and more users contribute feedback, Linux will improve that much faster. For example, if with such small market share, Linux is competitive or better than Windows in so many areas, just imagine if more people adopt Linux and contribute to it? Maybe Linux market share will quadruple.
With more demand for Linux, vendors will have an incentive to create their own custom Linux distros. This will lead to a lot more innovation in Turkey since Linux offers many more opportunities for customization than does proprietary Windows. This will help the Turkey population get more innovative products at lower prices. Further, the vendors will have cut the expensive vendor Microsoft out of the picture OR Microsoft will be forced to lower prices a lot from their current monopoly pricing levels.
So what is the bad news? In fact, looking ahead enough, it looks like there will be a lot more opportunities to make money shorting Microsoft stock.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 4:32 am
Actually, since you brought it up, I heard two stories this week about Vista/7 deleting MBRs and thus discouraging existing GNU/Linux users (one of them gave up as a result). This made me wonder if Microsoft could be sued for it.
Jose_X Reply:
December 19th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Given their monopoly status, I think so.
You are supposed to respect other OS, especially if you have a monopoly; otherwise, you are leveraging your huge share to make sure competing products don’t have much or any room to sneak in.
I don’t have the money disposable so as to file suit (but this may not be necessary if you find a willing law firm). Also, perhaps I could put my time to better use as well. Maybe someone really motivated for this particular type of lawsuit will come forward. They can tap into the community to get help. Maybe lawyers feel it would be difficult to win such a case regardless of what is just.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
December 19th, 2009 at 4:01 am
“b) put a kind gentle message in setup. like an incompatible tsr message, but not everytime the user starts windows. [...] the most sensible thing from a development standpoint is to continue to build dependencies on msdos into windows.”
–Brad Silverberg, Microsoft
Jose_X said,
December 17, 2009 at 11:48 pm
A few more rulings like this one and Microsoft will really have to start investing money in Turkey.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 4:33 am
It’s already doing exactly that.
Microsoft uses the same tricks in Russia at the moment.
atomkarinca said,
December 18, 2009 at 6:39 am
I guess I should’ve mentioned this in the post. In Turkey -and this is true for the majority of the PC stores- when you buy a computer, the tech guys at the store install the operating system for you. So this doesn’t mean the consumer now has to deal with extra mambo jambo.
This is a good thing for both Microsoft and Free Software. Microsoft has taken granted the preinstalled PC’s for over a decade now and look where they’re at now. None of my friends are happy with their Windows 7′s -or Vista’s for that matter. Most of them have installed XP or Ubuntu on their machines.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Windows XP runs a lot more software and takes up less resources in the process. Microsoft admits that it has a real challenge pushing for upgrades.