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Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Microsoft middlemen rebel against removal of free software licences
More than 2,500 resellers and integrators have signed a petition opposing Microsoft's intention to remove free software licences granted to members of the channel to run their business.
The changes are described here:
Effective July 1, 2020, we will retire the internal use rights (IUR) association with the product licenses partners receive in the Microsoft Action Pack and included with a competency. Product license use rights will be updated to be used for business development scenarios such as demonstration purposes, solution/services development purposes, and internal training.
Beginning October 1, 2019, the product licenses included with competencies will be specific to the competency you attain. Please review the benefits you will receive with your competency in Partner Center at time of purchase. Additional licenses can be purchased through commercial licensing to run your business.
[...] The barriers to entry are low and companies who sign up can qualify for a range of competencies, starting with an "Action Pack" subscription that comes with a wide range of benefits, such as five Office 365 seats, five Dynamics 365 licences, 2-core SQL Server, ten Windows 10 Enterprise packages, $100 per month Azure credit and so on. The Action Pack costs around £350 per year but represents excellent value if you would otherwise have to purchase the licences. The same is true of the higher levels, Silver and Gold competencies, which command a higher fee but provide a wider range of benefits.
Resellers are not allowed to resell these specific licences, but critically, they do allow use for "internal business purposes". Smaller Microsoft channel firms have been able to operate their businesses, in large part, using these subsidised licences.
That offer is now ending. "We will retire product licenses for internal use purposes on July 1 2020," stated the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) guide.
(Score: 5, Informative) by SDRefugee on Tuesday July 09 2019, @10:26PM (5 children)
Holy SHIT!! I used/supported MS crap for twenty years as a sysadmin, but I am SOOOOOOOOOOO damn glad I quit using their garbage when
I retired. Now its 100% Linux.. MS can go fuck itself....
America should be proud of Edward Snowden, the hero, whether they know it or not..
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Tuesday July 09 2019, @10:29PM (1 child)
LOL. Ditto!
So glad everything I do is Linux/BSD now. I only have to be worried about MS, as much as I'm worried about Apple, and that's just whether or not the browser support is there. That's the extent of my cross platform concerns.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Wednesday July 10 2019, @12:13AM
Now if some linux browser would get hardware accelerated video decoding and 4k Netflix support we'd be in like Flynn.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday July 09 2019, @11:06PM (1 child)
I am very glad for you.
I am not quite old enough, or rich enough to retire yet, so here I am troubleshooting some stupid local profile crap on a Win 10 laptop.
Ah well, it pays the bills I suppose.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @11:11PM
You might think so, until the SBA raids you, and you find all your free licenses have been revoked, and now you are on the hook for $250,000 in
bribes . . . extortionfines.(Score: 5, Interesting) by boltronics on Wednesday July 10 2019, @02:55AM
When I first started at my current company 9+ years ago, one of my assigned tasks was to renew the Action Pack subscription every year. I don't remember the specifics, but I hated it. Microsoft's site wouldn't work properly unless you used IE (but you could get by with Firefox and some page formatting issues - I personally use Debian GNU/Linux), and you would need to take a small exam to explain why you need it, and prove that you were eligible and understood how the licensing worked, etc. Then MS would review and approve it, and you'd pay them a few hundred dollars.
After a couple of years, I came to the conclusion that most people weren't using it. Pretty much everyone here is using either a Mac or Ubuntu or Debian GNU/Linux. LibreOffice works just fine. Some people use Google Docs.
In the past our marketing department has said "we have to have MS Office licenses to ensure 100% guaranteed compatibility with clients" but even that isn't an issue anymore.
So I think when it was time to renew for my 3rd time, I said we wouldn't be renewing, would save the time and money, and life's been better ever since. Nobody has ever requested one of these useless MS Action Pack licenses. Good riddance.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!