PCs for People – digital equality through electronic reuse | Hacker News Reader

PCs for People – digital equality through electronic reuse

pcsforpeople.org

21 pointsRevoGen4 comments

Looks like they are shipping Windows exclusively. I wonder if that is because being a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher comes with handcuffs, or if it's just coincidental. At any rate, I imagine most of these machines will go EOL when Windows 10 is retired, since 11 requires TPM 2.0. And they don't look at all very powerful, so they'll like be hogged down by the OS. Never mind privacy. I thought this would have been the perfect opportunity to spread some GNU/Linux love, even if just from a purely pragmatic standpoint.

> I wonder if that is because being a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher comes with handcuffs

Good guess. From https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Microsoft_Refurbisher_Program

1. Only PCs that are at least six months old and have an original valid Windows Certificate of Authenticity may be refurbished

3. Each refurbished PC must be given a new genuine Windows software license (new operating system, Certificate of Authenticity, and recovery solution)

Maybe what is meant is that only Windows-licensed PCs may be refurbished with Windows, but given the wording, the nature of the program that could see a refurbisher arbitrarily denied a license for one of the vague requirements ("Value adds to the MAR sales channel; applicants must differentiate from other MARs in the market."), and the high volume requirement that encourages shipping as many Windows PCs as possible (I'm going to assume MS doesn't count Linux boxes), few Authorized Refurbishers would risk testing this.

Not to mention these are PCs that already had valid Windows installed. So far from getting a discount, this is MS charging twice for a Windows license, just because the PC changed hands.

Indeed, (3) is pretty explicit, and every other part of the program seems to assume Windows will be installed. As far as I can tell the program isn't exclusive, but who knows.

https://kipdf.com/microsoft-registered-refurbisher-program-a...

> Not to mention these are PCs that already had valid Windows installed. So far from getting a discount, this is MS charging twice for a Windows license, just because the PC changed hands.

Ah, a good observation indeed. To think that Microsoft would only sell you a product once would have been outrageous.

Reminds me of Free Geek out of Portland, OR. Good to see others emerging in this space.

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