Windows dominates Linux due to piracy

Ever wondered why Windows is so dominant in developing countries? Have a look at this statement from Bill Gates himself:

CNN Money in How Microsoft conquered China - July 23, 2007:
Today Gates openly concedes that tolerating piracy turned out to be Microsoft's best long-term strategy. That's why Windows is used on an estimated 90% of China's 120 million PCs. "It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not," Gates says. [...] Indeed, in China's back alleys, Linux often costs more than Windows because it requires more disks.

The same can be observed here in Panama. Everybody uses Windows and most of the times it's a pirated copy. Linux users are not found easily. It should be just the contrary. Maybe in a future post I should elaborate a bit more on the opportunities that arise when people in developing countries use Free Software and Open Source software instead of committing crimes out of laziness.

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