You're using the wrong analogy, I think.

I see this more as a "stealing off the lot but helping the police catch the thief before he blows through an intersection and collides with an innocent pedestrian".

Microsoft may not have a desire or even a responsibility to keep pirates patched, but those who DO buy the OS will be pretty peeved if they can't use it because someone harnessed a couple thousand machines to knock them offline. Microsoft, if they're smart will realize that the overall perception of their OS is more important than the short-term income here, and seems to be responding appropriately.

By your axiom, linux developers don't have a responsibility to keep their OS secure at all.

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