[SOLVED] You know what happens when you assume...

[&)ky#)^]

I'd like to file a complaint against forum staffer LaRoza. Here is the thread this complaint concerns: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=722709

Shortly after this thread was closed, I PM'd LaRoza and defended my thread. I politely explained that I was not breaking any law due to my use of a retail version of Windows which is not tied to the motherboard upon which it is first installed and that I formatted the hard drive on the computer which was cloned after securing the data on the hard drive it was cloned upon. In this way, I am compliant with the Windows EULA. Despite this, LaRoza was unwilling to reopen my thread. I explained to LaRoza that the reason I chose to clone rather than to reinstall is due to the ease with which a clone would transfer not only the OS, but all user data, settings, and third-party programs. It's much easier to clone the drive, which can take a little over a hour, than to reinstall everything, which can take days or more.

LaRoza's only advice was to file a complaint here, which is what I am doing. It is no longer necessary to reopen the thread as I have subsequently fixed the issue myself. However, I'd like to still file the complaint as I believe LaRoza's action was preemptive. This action dirtied my name on the forums without giving me a chance to defend myself and denied other users the knowledge to address this cloning issue themselves. If the problem wasn't solved by another, I would have offered my solution once I reached it.

I'm am very proud of the community built up in these forums for better or worse. However, LaRoza's action in this matter was a marked failure of the community.

Thank you for your time.

[KiwiNZ]

I can see why LaRosa has closed this thread. It is dealing in a cloudy legal area.
I support the action to close it.LaRosa was acting with in the code of conduct for Ubuntu Forums.

If you have a legal retail edition of XP you are entitled to support from Microsoft. I would suggest you contact them.

[&)ky#)^]

First off, have you ever tried to contact Microsoft for support? It's impossible! Sometimes they expect you to pay for such simple support matters. Also, I doubt they'd deal with this issue as they'd probably tell me to seek support with Clonezilla, while I'd bet you Clonezilla would want me to seek support with Microsoft.

Secondly, it is certainly not a legal gray area since I have a retail license. The EULA states that a retail copy of Windows can be transferred to different computers legally as long as that copy is only installed on one computer concurrently.

Finally, I've read extensive discussions regarding the use of game machine emulators in these forums that falls into a far grayer area than my thread and I don't see those being closed. In those cases, I guess legal ROM ownership is assumed. However, I find those circumstances far less believable, especially in the case of arcade machines, than ownership of a retail copy of Windows XP. [sarcasm]Yet I guess it is acceptable to assume that I'm some sort of software pirate by wanting to transfer my data between an old computer and a new one.[/sarcasm]

[jdong]

I'd have no problems reopening this thread, but it's only going to go to a halt at the next step -- you need to use sysprep to strip down Windows for cloning and then once you restore it onto the next system, Windows will require activation again, which will require that you call Microsoft to get permission to reactivate the same license key on different hardware.

At any rate, you are going to be better off asking this question on a Windows-related community, as the number of people here who are proficient in performing this procedure are likely few.

I am, however, unhappy with the way you chose to react to this situation. A lot of your negative remarks towards the Ubuntu community and staff members are totally unnecessary and not helpful towards arriving at an appropriate resolution to this matter. Please choose your words more carefully.

[&)ky#)^]

I have already resolved the situation, including reactivating Windows. No problems there. Also, I had a disclaimer at the beginning of my thread stating my awareness of the possibility that I may not get the most help regarding Windows in a Linux forum. However, I though I might be able to fish some response considering the surprising amount of lengthy technical discussion that goes on here about Windows.

I am, however, unhappy with the way you chose to react to this situation. A lot of your negative remarks towards the Ubuntu community and staff members are totally unnecessary and not helpful towards arriving at an appropriate resolution to this matter. Please choose your words more carefully.

I apologize if I offended anyone involved. I was trying very hard to keep this professional. I don't recall negatively remarking about anything but the actions of the staffer specifically mentioned. I never intended to insult the community. I was just expressing my shock that something like this could happen in the otherwise great community that I love. Could you please quote me directly with any remarks you found to be negative about any staffers besides LaRoza or the community in general so that I may avoid being negative in the future?

[jdong]

This action dirtied my name on the forums

I don't think it had any impact on your reputation whether or not one of your threads was jailed. Please don't take it personally -- we're all volunteers who are here only because we love our duties, so all of us are open to discussion and working things out constructively.

However, LaRoza's action in this matter was a marked failure of the community.

This is the particular comment I was referring to as being unnecessarily inflammatory. The wording is harsh to say the least, and really this statement didn't have to be made at all. Of course, you are well within your rights to state openly how you feel about this community and its staffers, but sometimes trying to be a bit nicer could yield better results faster

At any rate, I hope we've reached a good level of understanding with regards to what happened to your thread, and there's no hard feelings on your side about your thread being misjudged as being shady?


John

[&)ky#)^]

The issue here is not one of the thread in question. As stated before, despite my belief that my thread did not violate the code of conduct, I have no interest in reopening the thread as I have already found help elsewhere.

What concerns me is that I was implicitly called a criminal by LaRoza. I'd certainly call that unnecessarily inflammatory. Even the person who claimed to have killed people didn't face this implication from a staffer. I do feel that this has had an impact on my reputation as it would sway my opinion of another if I found them in this situation. I feel the abrupt closing of the thread denied me the opportunity to defend myself publicly.

All I was asking for was an apology for the brash manor in which this was handled. Short of that, I'd at the very least appreciate an addendum to the closed thread linking to this resolution thread to show my defense and that I did in fact have the chance to defend myself.

[&)ky#)^]

All I was asking for was an apology for the brash manor in which this was handled. Short of that, I'd at the very least appreciate an addendum to the closed thread linking to this resolution thread to show my defense and that I did in fact have the chance to defend myself.

Then I would call this issue resolved.

[jdong]

All I was asking for was an apology for the brash manor in which this was handled. Short of that, I'd at the very least appreciate an addendum to the closed thread linking to this resolution thread to show my defense and that I did in fact have the chance to defend myself.
Then I would call this issue resolved.

Well on behalf of the staff I apologize that this simple misunderstanding had to drag out this far before we reached a resolution.

I will add a link to this thread from the jailed post.

[&)ky#)^]

Thank you very much. I do appreciate the professionalism and seriousness with which my issue was addressed. This is one of the many reasons why I love this community. Keep up the good work!