Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by keevie 3438 days ago
Open source doesn't mean free....
3 comments
patrickaljord 3438 days ago
Actually it does mean free to redistribute, this is the essence of the BSD or even GPL licenses. And free to redistribute (for free) would be a huge loss for windows. Therefor, not happening.
link
tormeh 3438 days ago
Technically not, but look at CentOS. We'd have a knock-off Windows from Samsung or whatever in less than three months.

Edit: Every OEM would have their own spin, for differentiation. Lenovo too...

link
kowdermeister 3438 days ago
Be realistic, the next day 10 forks would appear distributing it for free.
link
dogma1138 3438 days ago
Windows is always pirated distributed for free doesn't mean they don't violate copyright laws and other restrictions.

One can buy an oem or restricted region license for windows for 20$ but legally it's about the same as pirating it.

link