Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

[David Minton <dminton AT mindspring.com>]

I don't think MS counts your first example as a real computer, since it
didn't come with MS software pre-installed. I don't think they really care
about the box, they just want to keep track of installs of their OS and the
install disks.

In your second case, I don't think MS cares if the software is installed,
just that the original install disks come with the computer. This is
probably to make you buy additional licenses for any new computer you buy
(can't build your own, as in your first example, and use the MS OS license
from the hardware you are donating).

I suspect this is to encourage institutions to buy new computers, with a new
license, rather then accept a donation, which would not contribute to the MS
bottom line.

David

On 4/18/02 10:59 PM, "William F. Geschwind" <geschwin AT email.unc.edu> wrote:

> I'm sorry, but this is the biggest crock of nonsense I've heard in a long
> time. What if somebody wants to donate an old PC that was built from
> scratch? (basically by going to your local friendly computer parts store and
> buying a motherboard, case, memory, hard drive, etc. and bolting all the
> parts together - I have done this time and time again over the years). No
> operating system comes with a PC of this type straight out of the box (well,
> actually an ABit mobo I bought two years ago did come with some version of
> Linux on the driver CD!!). Should a cash-starved institution automatically
> reject something like that just because it didn't come out of the box with
> an O/S? What if you put either a store-bought full version of a MS OS or
> some sort of open source OS on it? Is it suddenly not legal anymore? What a
> load of $hit!!
> 
> Or looking at this from another standpoint, my boss at UNC tells me that
> when I prepare to take old machines to surplus, that I should wipe all of
> the software off of the hard drive, including the OS, mainly to avoid
> liability issues in the case that sensitive information should be on the
> computer when it was taken out of service. If I have a batch of computers
> (usually a dozen or three at a time) to take to Ye Ole Surplus Shoppe, I'll
> be damned if I spend a day installing an OS on each of them. They get them
> on a pallet with empty hd's. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I
> understand, computers from UNC's surplus shop end up at central surplus in
> Raleigh, where they are refurbished with prison labor and then distributed
> to more needy school districts throughout the state.
> 
> - Bill
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Josef Komenda" <joe AT komejo.com>
> To: "InterNetWorkers" <internetworkers AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
> Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 5:45 PM
> Subject: [internetworkers] FUD alert!
> 
> 
>> This is interesting:
>> 
>> http://www.microsoft.com/education/?id=DonatedComputers
>> 
>> "If you feel it is in the best interest of your school to accept the
> donated
>> PCs, make sure that the hardware donation includes the original operating
>> system software. Keeping the operating system with the PC is not just a
>> great benefit - it is a legal requirement."
>> 
>> Joe K
>> 
>> 
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