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Stephen Downes

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You Own Nothing

Michael Robertson, May 04, 2005

Michael Robertson - founder of the Linux company Linspire (formerly known as Lindows) - explains why he funded a $200,000 prize for the first person to install Linux on a Microsoft Xbox. "With an Xbox, the user is merely renting the box. Microsoft decides what software (games) users can load and even how they can use it. When it connects to the net, Microsoft can and has instructed the machine to change its behavior to block certain users, functionality or software that it does not agree with. They are changing the rules after you purchase it to suit their needs and not your needs." I agree with Robertson's concern and worry about the day that our use of a computer is only allowed under the guiding hand of the manufacturer.

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