Thanks for the Numbers
maddog's Doghouse
Published rates of "pirated" software give an indication of how much most countries lose by investing in proprietary licensing.
As a believer in education, free software, and the principle that a nation should produce as much as possible of what it needs, I read a story this week that broke my heart.
Cândido Mendes University in Rio de Janeiro may have to sell its seven-floor headquarters building (which contains a cinema and theater) to pay off the fines and court costs of R$4.3 million Brazilian real (a little more than one million US dollars) for using a "pirated" copy of Microsoft Windows. The building is valued at R$128 million (about $31.7 million), but it had no buyers in the first round of auctions.
This was an interesting case, because I would imagine a company like Microsoft would not directly sue a university over licensing issues, and particularly for a settlement that was so large. Normally Microsoft and other closed-source proprietary software companies use the Business Software Alliance (BSA) [1]. This should not be confused with the other BSA, the "Boy Scouts of America", a lthough if this BSA comes after you, you should "be prepared" for the worst.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.