After the end of support for Windows 7 earlier this month, the FSF (Free Software Foundation), often criticizing the operating system if I remember correctly, has just launched a request in which Microsoft is requested to offer Windows 7 to be free.
Obviously this is not going to happen. Microsoft would never consider launching a "free" operating system. Not, at least, until they were 100% sure that is was stripped of anything Microsoft proprietary. The official website (which you can check here ) says the following:
On January 14th, Windows 7 reached its official "end-of-life," bringing an end to its updates as well as its ten years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security. The end of Windows 7's lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead. We call on them to release it as free software, and give it to the community to study and improve. As there is already a precedent for releasing some core Windows utilities as free software, Microsoft has nothing to lose by liberating a version of their operating system that they themselves say has "reached its end."
To the executives at Microsoft:
- We demand that Windows 7 be released as free software. Its life doesn't have to end. Give it to the community to study, modify, and share.
- We urge you to respect the freedom and privacy of your users - not simply strongarm them into the newest Windows version.
- We want more proof that you really respect users and user freedom, and aren't just using those concepts as marketing when convenient.
We need your help to send Microsoft a strong message. We want 7,777 supporters to take a stand with us for freedom - not just for ourselves, but for future generations of computer users.
