Desktop Linux A Vehicle For Pirating Windows

KingFish

PCs running Linux are growing in popularity in part because they can be loaded with a pirated copy of Windows, according to a study from analyst Gartner.

The consulting firm issued a report on Wednesday stating that about 40 percent of Linux PCs will be modified to run an illegal copy of Windows, a bait-and-switch maneuver that lowers the cost of obtaining a Windows PC. In emerging markets, where desktop Linux enjoys wider popularity, the trend is even starker. Around 80 percent of the time, Linux will be removed for a pirated copy of Windows. Pirated copies sell for around $1 in the streets of Shanghai and other cities in Asia and Eastern Europe, but can also be bought in stores selling brand name PCs. As a result, the number of desktop Linux PCs that ship will exceed the actual percentage of Linux machines that get installed in the real world. Desktop Linux will account for about 5 percent of desktops shipped in 2004, according to Gartner, with 10.5 percent of the desktops in Asia shipping with Linux this year. However, the installed base of Linux will come to only 1.3 percent.

Source: c|net

Crimguy

One of the stranger reports I've read (/. had it too). 1) How do these geniuses know what will happen? Sounds like FUD to me. 2) Why is the gist of the article that "Linux is responsible for people pirating WindowsXP"? Why not just forgo linux entirely and sell pc's sans OS? If what Gartner is saying is true, and all these people in Shanghai and Singapore will be buying linux pc's along with a $1 copy of Windows, there's money to be made selling OS-less pc's cheaper (the cost has to be a little less if you put an unformatted drive in, yes?).