It is a license.... you are licensed to use it. You do not own it Microsoft doesn't tell you how to use their stuff... but they implement things that can identify the owner without having all knowledge of who that person is. Dodge does the same with multiple VIN numbers throughout a vehicle which are on your vehicle registration just like the license code is on your registration for Windows.
Dodge also puts a rev limiter and a top speed limiter on their vehicles, which is similar to how Microsoft may limit functionality in Windows. Schwin, Frigidaire and Dodge are all companies that sell things you would actually own, none of those items are LICENSED. Unless the software you purchase or receive free of cost does not have a license that specifically states you may do with it as you please there are certain guidelines you must follow and in the case of most software that you purchase you cannot just give it away. Microsoft has the right to protect their product, because it is their product not yours. You can also reject installing Geniuine Advantage you just won't be able to install updates from their website, which is the only place I have ever encountered WGA interaction. When you received your legally licensed copy of Windows, WGA may not have existed, but security fixes, bug fixes, and feature changes introduced into service packs would be considered additions to the original software and can have different agreements. Just like the addition of crypto algorithms can change export restrictions (which does change the rules of the game in many ways) and how a company can go from GPL v2 to GPL v3 at a specific release of their software. Installing WGA will allow you to install updates that fix bugs and add features... if you don't agree to it you can't install. Very much like not agreeing to the license of MySQL 5.1 (if there was a license change) would not allow you to use partitioning (since you can't install 5.1 without agreeing to a license). This has nothing to do with Microsoft's practices, if they are being shady they are being shady, but your reason for disliking WGA is not based on that, it is based on apples vs oranges. I do agree that security fixes should be installed without the need for WGA and in a lot of cases you can get these updates from other sources (rollup packs for unattended installs for one example) Anytime I have ever installed WGA or used Windows update I have never had any identifying information on any part of my computer and it does not call home according to the monitoring I have in place. A while back it was also mentioned that they were aparently not getting any idenfiable information, WGA was simply used to disable copies that were using illegal keys (could be a lie). Microsoft may not be a core topic of socallinux, but licensing and the use of software is Btw, this was not meant to sound as agressive as it may sound, but I do hear a lot of trash talked about Windows at work and outside of work and most of the time it is stuff that is either not true, a problem caused by the lack of experience with the OS (which happens a lot in Linux too) and simply because people feel like finding a target and bitching. I use Linux, Mac OS, Windows, etc, and I have reasons for using each one, and complaints about each one. While I dislike practices of Microsoft, and some of the problems that really should have been addressed in Windows, I do sometimes jump on the "stop hating on microsoft" boat from time to time. On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 5:35 PM, Paul Saenz <[email protected]>wrote: > > > ------------------------------ > Oh and as far as I know, this is a linux list. I don't mean to be rude or > anything, but it's not only windows but a dirty hack. Almost porn. > > With all due respect, I strongly disagree. I bought my legally licensed > windows box years before genuine advantage. > Microsoft then decided to change the license after I paid for their OS. > I don't care what they wrote in their agreement. > They sold me the friggen OS, and they took my friggen money, and now it's > mine. > Genuine Advantage was not part of the agreement but now they say they are > changing it. > I did not agree to genuine advantage. > When I was a kid we had a saying. It went like this: > You can't change the rules in the middle of the game. > Furthermore, Dodge doesn't tell you how to drive your truck. > It has software and hardware in it. > Frigidair doesn't tell you how to run your frigerator. > And Schwin doesn't tell you how to ride your bike. > I didn't agree to genuine advantage, and as far as I concerned, > when they sold me the OS, they agreed to support it as long as they support > it for the rest of the world. > As far as I am concerned, Microsoft is the pirate, and is as bad as porn. > And I better stop there, because what I have to say about Microsoft right > now > in regards to this subject is not suitable for this list. > > ------------------------------ > Get Windows Live and get whatever you need, wherever you are. Start > here.<http://www.windowslive.com/default.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Home_082008> > > _______________________________________________ > LinuxUsers mailing list > [email protected] > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > >
