It demonstrates dishonesty, which is what turns this from someone not knowing what they're doing into someone making the choice to engage in criminal behaviour.

All of his protestation - "I was only selling them for cost" (a lie), and "I was trying to extend the life of computers" (linux would have done that, and the free downloads of Windows would have done that) - is the defence he tried to mount against the criminal charge.

That defence was rejected by the court.