How Microsoft Crushed Linux’s Chinese Rebellion

“David Kirkpatrick lays it on a bit thick in the current Fortune
magazine paean to Bill Gates, ‘How Microsoft Conquered China.’
There’s an obligatory couple of paragraphs near the bottom of the
piece attempting to take Microsoft to task for getting in bed with
the Internet-censoring Chinese Communist Party, but the gist of the
story can only make Microsoft’s public relations staff smile.
Somehow, facing a market where piracy was rampant and the
government openly pro-Linux, Microsoft turned it around. China,
says Gates, will one day be Microsoft’s biggest market. Yay for
Windows!

“For all those whining about China’s cavalier attitude toward
intellectual property, the key paragraph is Gates’ admission that,
you know what, piracy sometimes ain’t all that bad…”

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