Who needs Windows? Not me.

???????
 

Just as a point, the bit about the restrictive contracts operated by micro$oft, seems to ring true, as a regular follower of the register they have mentioned this many times, also, recently, various of the server type machine manufacturers have actually dropped dell as a reseller for their product, presumably because dell also sell their own machines which would indicate that micro$oft aren't the only manufacturer who doesn't like competition.

This is one of the reasons that I have become a micro$oft refusenik, that and other, what I would describe as dubious business practices. They seem to be out to screw the very last penny out of the consumer. What with all this TCMP, DRM and Palladium crap that they are spouting (and lobbying for) I feel that all the stuff that they have put out about security and so on is bullshit, they just want to clear the path so that they can see us as walking cash machines, you know, just press the desired amount, followed by the "gimmee gimmee gimmee" button.

maybe they think that will actually kill off linux completely. though I doubt it. the register also often mention stuff about the way some of the big producers get round the restrictive contracts and have been known to recommend some of the various ways, though it does appear that you end up going to one of the smaller manufacturers if you want you linux distro pre-installed, either that or its time to start surfing the "home-brew" sites!!!


regards

John

Personally, the way I see it, most people who want linux really DON'T want it installed by the resellers, as the whole point to having it is the ability to customize it themselves, and this starts with the installation (how many partitions, which packages, emacs or vim, etc etc).

So either it comes pre-installed with windows, or you want it with nothing, nada, zip, and DIY. Of course, there are those that are looking to get a feel for linux, and want to swap, but don't know much about it and would feel easier if it came pre-installed. This is purely because they are used to the MicroSHI... er -soft way of doing things (IMHO). It would be better for them to get it blank and DIY, with the latest distro's this is fairly painless if you go for a default setup, and that way they would get to know the system a bit better.

Of course, just because it is a good idea doesn't mean people will actually prefer it... but until people in general are familiar with this sort of thing, it won't be mainstream... The best bet is not to convince retailers to sell linux pre-installed, but rather to teach the public the joys of open-source

Pop-quiz: I have heard rumour that if a reseller sells you a machine with windows pre-installed, it is required by law that they give you the original cd's. Is this true, and would it hold true here in South Africa as well? Can I rightly demand my cd's when buying a pre-installed pc (not that I ever do)?

Haven't bought a car recently have you? That's *exactly* what all the car makers are doing now...

The problem is that he DOES NOT want windows installed. He DOES NOT want to pay for something he will not use (or possibly already has). If I *have* to have windows installed on a machine for any reason whatsoever, I already have 95, 98 and 2k that, to the best of my knowledge, have not ceased to operate due to their age (and 2k is still arguable the best windows made). If, for some unforseen reason I need to buy a prebuilt machine (something I've never done, and don't intend on doing, but anyway..), I certainly have no intentions of paying for another copy of windows, and absolutely would not buy from somewhere that attempted to force such a thing on me.