Microsoft goes after e-recycler fixing old pcs

[HappyGuy]

He got prison time for trying to extend the life of old computers running WIndows to reduce waste. Microsoft wanted to make an example of him:

n 2012, while living in China, longtime e-waste recycler Eric Lundgren manufactured 28,000 PC restore discs to be used in refurbished computers sold in the United States. The shipment of discs, exact copies of Dell-branded Microsoft Windows CDs, immediately raised suspicions with U.S. Customs officers, beginning a chain of events that would alter Lundgren’s life for the next seven years. VICE follows the prolific computer refurbisher as he's sentenced to—and released from—federal prison.

[Shemp]

Anyone luring unsuspecting and naive endusers into running an older version of Windows on these recycled PCs, instead of a modern Linux distro, deserves a lot more than 7 years in prison, IMO. (Nothing horrible about current versions of Windows, on the other hand.)

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

Anyone luring unsuspecting and naive endusers into running an older version of Windows on these recycled PCs, instead of a modern Linux distro, deserves a lot more than 7 years in prison, IMO. (Nothing horrible about current versions of Windows, on the other hand.)

I understand MS's capitalistic migraine here, but I feel that yes Shrimp is right: he should have refurbished those PCs with open-source Linux distro like Mint (Cinnamon 18/19) or Ubuntu 19.04 which the average American of IQ 75 could have figured out with minor training. CentOS, Debian, and openSUSE would thwart the typical-average American today. Why are Americans allergic to Linux unless they are working in DevOps and/or the backscenes of I.T.? The only Linux Americans like is Android (yes it runs on a Linux "sub-"distro) PS: There's a "new" kid on the block in the Linux-distro game: elementaryOS that looks a lot like macOS Sierra. I ran a virtual instance of elementaryOS, and it didn't tickle my fancy one bit.

Linux Mint (Cinnamon 18/19) is the BEST Linux distro for home users on SSD hard drive. It runs on an Ubuntu kernel with a GNOME-Cinnamon runtime desktop and folder experience. I use it at home, but in my VMs, I use Windows 10 (using Powershell cmd-lets to shut off CPU-intensive superfluous services), Ubuntu, and Fedora Scientific 30.

I have a 64GB RAM (not disk space, but physical memory) desktop tower in storage in Chicago, and I will take it out once I get settled back in H-town. I have 4 external HDDs running the mill of gambit super system. Although it runs on Windows 10 Home on HDD, I produce, mix, master, record my music, record my video games. I MISS QUAKE III ARENA and Quake Live on STEAM!!!!!! Quake Live on STEAM on my MInt laptop doesn't configure correctly so I gave up!

I used to use Ubuntu 17.10 LTS (long-term support) as my main non-virtual host OS on my older laptop, but I fell in love with Linux Mint 18 and it's been a wrap ever since!

[HappyGuy]

@Shemp

He probably would consider that except he wasn't selling used pcs himself he was helping resellers fix their old corrupted pcs so they could still be used instead of being scrapped and they were sold or donated on the basis that Windows was installed. A lot of people today and even more in 2012 wouldn't buy a replacement pc if it was Linux because they are used to Windows or they need to be able to use Excel or some other Windows based software for their office where all the other computers have the same setup.

[E Irizarry R&B Singer]

@Shemp

He probably would consider that except he wasn't selling used pcs himself he was helping resellers fix their old corrupted pcs so they could still be used instead of being scrapped and they were sold or donated on the basis that Windows was installed. A lot of people today and even more in 2012 wouldn't buy a replacement pc if it was Linux because they are used to Windows or they need to be able to use Excel or some other Windows based software for their office where all the other computers have the same setup.

Yeah but LibreOffice is made for Linux distros which is a great if not better replacement than MS Office!