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When Hovsepian signed a pact with Ballmer, it was tantamount to an admission of guilt over IP infringements, and thus put every other GNU/Linux distributor in a compromising position, putting pressure on those distributors to also make that "confession" and join that protection racket. This further undermined the perceived integrity of GNU/Linux - forcing companies to re-evaluate their positions on Open Source - and decide between either abandoning their GNU/Linux adoption plans, or stick with the "safe" Novell distribution. Pity it didn't quite work out the way Microsoft hoped but nevertheless, the intention was malicious, and Novell was complicit. I hope they enjoy their 30 pieces of silver, and don't spend it all at once.

17 September 2007 - All government agencies must change to open source software, the national government says in an action plan presented today. Amsterdam is already testing such software and will decide on whether to renew its Microsoft contract in December.

http://www.nieuwsuitamsterdam.nl/English/2007/09/open_source.htm

After the scandal of Gateway's bigotry last month, this month it's the turn of PC World in the UK to don the black hat, and refuse to honour warranties for hardware simply because the customer installs GNU/Linux.

In this case, as in most cases, there is absolutely no question whatsoever that the software has anything to do with the nature of the fault - a broken laptop lid hinge - but that glaringly obvious fact seems inconsequential to the bigots at PC World, who believe they can only repair a broken piece of plastic if Windows is installed. If PC World's arrogance and ignorance wasn't so shocking, it'd be hilarious.

Fortunately in the UK we are blessed with the Sale Of Goods Act to protect consumers against criminal retailers. Let's hope the victim of this outrage has the determination to use it to remind PC World of their legal and moral obligations.