[Discuss] restoring Windows on different hardware

[richard.pieri at gmail.com (Rich Pieri)]

On Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:19:27 -0500
Matthew Gillen <me at mattgillen.net> wrote:

> More often than not, I have to make a phone call to do what I legally
> should be able to do.  And while it's always been relatively painless

There is no law that I am aware of that grants you the right to install
any software without having to make a telephone call. There is also no
law that I am aware of that requires software installation to be
painless or easy.

> in the particular case of activating Windows, whenever I'm making a
> phone call, I always wonder "is this the time they are going to start
> making me miserable"?  The system is such that it works at their

The Constitution guarantees the right to pursue happiness. Obtaining
that happiness is not a right, nor is Microsoft, or in fact
anyone other than yourself, responsible if you fail to find it.

> whim, and could stop working at their whim (e.g., if they started
> requiring evidence that you're not using the license on another
> computer, all the people who are saying that WPA isn't so bad would
> start complaining loudly).

How is this materially different from what Red Hat and Oracle do with
their Linux support TODAY?

-- 
Rich P.