[brlug-poly] M$ Tax for all LSU Students.

[Will Hill]

If you thought you could avoid the Microsoft tax by building your own computer 
while studying at LSU, guess again!  In an ugly parallel to the RIAA's effort 
to suck more money from Universities, Microsoft has made a deal with LSU.  A 
spam broadcast to all students let them know just how lucky the were to now 
be taxed by Microsoft through their student technology fee.  Stuff like this 
only delays the inevitable adoption of free software and I resent paying for 
it.  Details of the dirty deed is glorified in the spam and at this site:

http://www.lsu.edu/microsoftFAQ

Salient details are quoted:

"Student licensing was funded through a commitment from the Student Technology 
Fee made by the STF Oversight Committee."

Ugh! my dollars at work.  I'm committed, this sound serious.

"LSU is one of only a handful of schools doing online distribution of 
software, and the only school that distributes licensed software 100% 
online. ... Indiana University, as the developer of TigerWare's base software 
(IUWare) is the only other university to have such an extensive software 
distribution system. Other universities, however, do have more modest 
versions of software distribution systems; University of Texas is one such 
institution. "

A M$ tax pioneer, woot.  I've read that MIT students have had access to 
Autodesk and other useful programs through their Athena Net for years.  

"Students who receive Microsoft software from TigerWare will be able to take 
the software with them when they leave LSU; to continue to use it, and to 
have a legitimate license for the product so that subsequent upgrades to new 
versions can be purchased at a reduced upgrade cost."

That's how things worked for my little brother.  When XP died, he became a 
Linux user.

"What about Linux/UNIX users?

None of the Microsoft software runs on Linux/UNIX systems. "

Not that I want their junk, but Wine support would be nice for those that do.

"TigerWare senses what type of device is trying to access it, and depending 
upon the system (Windows, Mac, or Linux) automatically presents the 
appropriate software set to the connecting user. "
 
So, they won't even give me the chance to download and try it because they 
identify me as a Mac user.   Anybody heard of an OSXbox or Mac Wine?

"Does this mean I don't have to buy the Microsoft Windows operating system 
when I buy my computer?

No, you still must buy the operating system when you buy a new computer. The 
CLA only provides for upgrades to a previously purchased operating system 
license. "

So you still have to pay your $100 Microsoft tax to start the ball rolling.
 
"Does this mean I don't have to buy Microsoft applications like Office Suite 
or OneNote when I buy my computer?

Yes, you need no longer purchase these products 'bundled' on your new computer 
purchase. ... Simply order the system with only the operating system, and 
then download the Microsoft applications you want ... . If a computer vendor 
tells you that "these applications are bundled at no additional charge" press 
harder on them, as it is not the case that these software products are given 
away; their costs are rolled into the overall bundle price. "

Wow, a nice admission but what a nasty thing to do to their vendors!  I wonder 
when they will admit that they make Dell and others charge more for a PC 
without M$ than one polluted with it.  Dare they admit to the dreaded M$ Tax?  
Not from the nonsense here, promoting "free software" that you have already 
paid for but can only have under their exact conditions.

"The reason for acquiring the CLA is to allow for standardization WITHIN the 
Microsoft software toolkit, so that users that are using this company's 
products can have access to the most popular ones, and get the latest 
versions/upgrades without paying an additional amount. By eliminating the 
problem of supporting multiple versions of Microsoft operating systems and 
applications, and facilitating the most modern software for users who choose 
this company's products, LSU will gain significant support benefits. 
Strategically, the Office of the Chief Information Officer and ITS envision a 
diverse computing platform and software environment consistent with an 'IT 
Abundance' model."

Another amazing admission - that Windows versions are inconsistent and that 
inconsistency costs lots of money to support.  I'll bet they think this will 
help them solve their worm problems - ha!  Good luck to them supporting all 
of those people who take the plunge only to find out their favorite software 
does not run under XP SP2 or whatever the latest and greatest is.

Not all is wasted, however, LSU is promissing Linux from the same place:

http://tigerware.lsu.edu/list.aspx?id=48

Not all of it is up yet, but the "distro_name.lsu.edu" sites are very cool 
sounding.  I imagine it will cost them much less to mirror that software than 
M$'s dump price and think that small portion of their budget is well spent.  
I look forward to speedy Mepis iso downloads and a full debian mirror.