

Why History Needs Software Piracy - Irregardless
http://www.pcworld.com/article/248571/why_history_needs_software_piracy.html

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mtgx
I was thinking just yesterday about how much piracy has helped Windows in
becoming the dominant OS on PC's. I think a very small percentage of the
population would've bought Windows in poor countries, including big ones like
China and India, but also many other smaller ones. The rise of Windows
happened in parallel with the rise of PC.

So if using Windows without paying in these countries would _not_ have been an
option, there would have been a big push for Linux on PC's in these countries
15 years ago. And the Linux from 10-15 years ago would've looked a lot better
than it did, because the PC manufacturers themselves would've invested
billions of dollars in making it better for those markets, and it wouldn't
have remained just a "hobby" OS that they would use in those markets, just
like they are doing now with Android.

But since there was an option to pirate Windows, the OEM's just took the easy
way out, and didn't bother "fight" the trend of everyone wanting to use
Windows on those PC's, and having to support it on them.

