It is hard to forget how the Microsoft-led "Business Software Alliance" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

It is hard to forget how the Microsoft-led "Business Software Alliance" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSA_(The_Software_Alliance) threatened companies who planned to introduce free software. Personal story: When I was a teenager in the 90s I didn't understand why companies bought their inferior product - in terms of hardware requirement, because in the former Soviet block you likely had access to obsolete hardware, even in corporate offices - over the free alternatives. Then, when I started my own business in 2002, one day the BSA suddenly visited on my office door with two policeman and asked for proof for the licence we use. We had Linux and BSD boxes, so we showed them the online MIT and Linux licences, but they wasn't happy, because it wasn't in Hungarian and wasn't officially issued on paper by a recognised organisation. So I we had a pre-court summoning, had pay for a lawyer and pay for an official translation that cost us a lot of cash we didn't have, some falling out hair and cold sweat, because if we the judge fines us, we didn't have the cash to pay and that means jail time. Luckily the local Linux User Group made some noise and the BSA dropped the case, but I can guess the majority of the businesses just force-fed the IT dept with Windows and Office for the safety. To put the cost into perspective comparison, in 2000, the National Minimum Wage in Hungary was $119: https://tradingeconomics.com/hungary/minimum-wages https://tradingeconomics.com/hungary/minimum-wages, and a Microsoft Office 2000 was $499: https://news.microsoft.com/1999/01/07/microsoft-announces-office-2000-pricing-and-prelaunch-promotions-2/ https://news.microsoft.com/1999/01/07/microsoft-announces-of... and the Microsoft Windows 98SE $199: https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/13/ms_pricing_strategy_exposed_cheap/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/13/ms_pricing_strategy... , so companies had all the interest to use the free Sun OpenOffice (née StarOffice) and X Window System, skip the need for more expensive Windows Servers and not to mention these were able to run on dated hardware. I really wish the people who welcome Gates' generosity would think of the millions of institutions and governments who had to choose Microsoft to show off for Western countries and the companies who were extortioned by the Microsoft-funded BSA. For many of us, Microsoft was the East India Company of the modern world.