Linux Forcibly Installed On Congressman's Computer In Act of Terrorism

fermion writes with news of Windows computers being forcefully liberated: "The campaign headquarters of Michael Grimm, a U.S. House of Representatives member from New York, were vandalized. What has not been reported everywhere is that Linux was installed on one of his computers, erasing data in the process. Is this a new attack on democracy by the open source radicals, or it is just a random occurrence?" From the article: "'In fact, one officer said to me today they see this as a crime against the government, because I am a sitting United States congressman and they take it very seriously. You know, especially in light of what happened with Gabby Giffords, we're not in the world today where we can shrug things off,' Grimm said. ... [GNU/]Linux, an open-source operating system, was installed on Grimm's computers, erasing the hard drive contents, which included polling and voter identification data. But staff had backed up the hard drive contents hours beforehand. Grimm and his staffers said the vandalism — cement blocks were thrown through the office's windows — is a cover-up for the attacks on the computers."

Attack against Microsoft

[Mkaks]

I see this as a radical open source movement. Some people hated to see that government was using Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on their computers and decided to take the matter in to their own hands. Linux was forcibly installed on the computers and the suspect was caught seen masturbating in a dark corner as the progress meter went further and further.

Inside job!

[K. S. Kyosuke]

It was an inside job by Government's agents. They are trying to get Linux install media on the list of illicit substances. ("Citizen, you have a Debian media set in your handbag! That was used in the most recent attack on a Congressman's privacy! You're under arrest!")

Re:Attack against Microsoft

[SJHillman]

Police say that they suspect a member of the radical Penguinite cult is behind it. Other devices belonging to government officials are being inspected for Linux installations. Suspected devices include laptops, tablets, automobiles, toasters and those sneakers with flashing lights in the heel.

Re:congressman=ruling class?

[SJHillman]

I sensed an air of laziness. If he were useful, he would be a standing, running, jogging or working congressman, not just a sitting one.

But the real question is...

[gentryx]

Was he satisfied with his new Linux desktop? And did they install KDE or Gnome?

What distro was it?

[erikwestlund]

Tin Hat Linux by the looks of it.

So basically...

[dargaud]

...does that mean that you can install Linux in the time it takes for a cement block to go through a Windows(tm) ? Guerrilla advertisement is getting worse and worse.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:There's more to this story.

[interkin3tic]

You just can't hire competent criminal IT staff these days.

Re:Attack against Microsoft

[mellon]

Holy Crap, Batman! I think I see The Penguin's evil fingerprints on this computer!

Should be easy to identify the culprit

[TarPitt]

They left distinctive footprints walking across the yard in front of the office:

Actual Forensic Photo From Evidence File [nationalge...cstock.com]

Don't see shoes like that every day in New York

Re:There's more to this story.

[Anonymous Coward]

or they could be like Hollywood trying to throw rocks to break the LCD to destroy the data...

Re:Attack against Microsoft

[tqk]

Also Who installs Linux while breaking and entering?

We can't help it. It's a moral imperative. You see a box that isn't running FLOSS, and you've just got to do something about it. Feature! :-)

Re:Attack against Microsoft

[martas]

When caught, the suspect is reported to have said "Hey, her USB ports were clearly exposed, she was asking for it!"

Re:Attack against Microsoft

[CheeseTroll]

After all, if it had been a legitimate forced-install, the computer has ways of shutting down those ports so the naughty bits can't take hold on the internal disk.