ChoicePC gathers support for LindowsOS resellers

LindowsOS has opened a new Web site, called ChoicePC, to elicit support for its resellers, who are under attack by Microsoft. Originally, that support was for resellers in the Netherlands, but Microsoft has launched similar legal blitzkriegs in Sweden and France, and ChoicePC has responded by adding support for resellers in those countries as well.

The site has already gathered more than 500 donations of $100 each to support resellers in the Netherlands. It appears that Sweden will reach 500 donations shortly, and France shouldn’t be far behind.

The Microsoft legal tactic is already paying off for them, however. As reported in the Inquirer, a Swedish judge has issued an injunction blocking the sale of LindowsOS in that country.

For their $100, all of which is slated to go directly to the support of the resellers, contributors also receive:

• Download of every desktop version of LindowsOS released during your lifetime
• Lifetime membership to CNR, normally $49.95 per year
• A ChoicePC T-shirt
• Recognition on the ChoicePC Web site (if desired)

The Microsoft versus LindowsOS legal battle, being fought because MS believes the Lindows name infringes on their trademark of Windows, has been delayed until March. But Microsoft has begun its legal offensives in Europe while biding its time in the U.S.

I don’t use LindowsOS, but I think this is a good opportunity to support a Linux distribution by offering aid to the small businesses Microsoft is turning its monopolistic muscle against in its desperation to slow the Linux tide as it seeps onto the desktop. I hate to borrow an old cliche like “taking coals to Newcastle,” but isn’t that what Microsoft is attempting to do here, by putting a dike around the desktop in the Netherlands?