I'm not sure how accurate StatCounter is, given that most Linux users use adblockers. However, according to it, Linux has almost a 14% desktop share in India.
this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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You're not breaking the law, you're breaking a software license agreement. That does not automatically make it a crime, at least, that would depend on your exact local laws, and the lawyer's interpretation of it - in many cases the actual wording around this is ambiguous and could be argued both ways. A better term for it would be a "legal grey area", which means if you're a company then don't f*** around with it, and if you're just a random user then no one gives a f***.
In any case, if those scripts were truly illegal, then the Microsoft-owned Github wouldn't host them in the first place. Clearly Microsoft themselves don't have an issue with it, so why should anyone else care about it?
Yes, you are breaking a law. Copyright infringement in this manner is an offence under the Copyright Act 1957 punishable with up to three years imprisonment and a fine.
But you're not infringing on any copyright. You're downloading a copy of Windows directly from Microsoft legally, and then activating it using a free and open-source script hosted on Microsoft's own servers. You aren't breaking any copyright law in doing that.
That's how it should work, but creating a derivative of a copyrighted work, through modification, even if it is for personal use, is technically illegal in the US.
Copyright doesn’t even apply until you attempt to distribute the covered work, so no, this is false.