On Netbooks and Redmond, Death and Taxes

""Yes, users of GNU/Linux pay a tax to M$," blogger Robert Pogson told LinuxInsider in an email. "They do it directly if they buy a PC or hard drive with that other OS installed, but they may also do it indirectly with any partner of M$ (nearly anyone in IT...) because a partner is required to promote that other OS."

"Not all taxes are paid in the form of money, either, Pogson asserted.

"For example: "I waste time every day because some of the systems in my building run that other OS," he said. "It complicates my life to have to deal with it. Instead of a secure LAN, I have a dangerous place, because every client running that other OS can spam the place if overrun by malware."

"In other words, "Time is money," he noted."

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