Technet Expiration

I must confess something, I am a technet subscriber!  Phew, at least now it is out in the open and I don't have to hide it anymore.

I'll be honest, I am not Microsofts' #1 fan.  Not by a long shot.  Whenever I can, I upgrade my machines to the Fedora/CentOS Experience.  I rely as much as I can on FOSS tools to get me through my day.  I am always looking for ways to decrease my dependence on MS products.  When I am at work, I bond with the *nix guys.  We make fun of the point and click simplicity that is windows.

But alas, the world runs on MS products and services.  That is why I subscribe to technet.  As a general IT enthusiast, I want to be able to play around with products.  I want to test their limits.  I want to try customizing it, to try new things, to try and integrate it with FOSS tools, and to try and get windows and linux to play nice together.  As a security enthusiast, I need windows to be able to test out the latest malware and exploits.

I am saddened that the technet subscription service is expiring.  If anything, MS owes me money for licenses that I have purchased (unavoidable) as part of my PC purchases.  I do like the idea of a affordable way for IT generalists and the like to tinker with MS products.  It is unfortunate that MS does not feel the same way.

If you like technet, please sign this petition.  I'm sure that because we don't have Premier support, we cannot expect anyone to get back to us within 4 hours, but it is worth a shot.