Why I think this is good: 1. I already recommend Dell to people I know when they ask me where to buy a computer, now I can add "they sell computers with Linux" to the list of reasons I like Dell. 2. No Microsoft tax. Hell, I don't buy computers any more, I build my own. But if I were to buy a system, I'd like to buy a computer without giving money to Microsoft if it wasn't ever going to have an MS OS on it.
No, this isn't going to make 2007 the year of desktop Linux (ha), but it is a Small Good Thing. Michael Dolan On 3/30/07, -ray <ray at ops.selu.edu> wrote: > > > Not to be negative or rain on the parade, but this isn't going to work > unless Dell really puts some muscle behind it. Basically all they're > saying is, sure we'll pre-install linux. Get your support from the > community forum. > > Problem is, the people that filled out the survey (yes i filled it out) > aren't the ones that *need* Dell to preinstall linux. They can do it > themselves. And they already get their support from the community. The > people that need Dell to preinstall linux are the ones who think a > "computer" is Windows. They don't know/care about 'lih-nucks' and don't > know what it is. They need to be exposed to it. Dell can help with that. > > I know Dell isn't pledging to help Linux or open-source. They are just > responding to customer wants. As most of the people who filled out the > survey are linux/open source users (i assume), i think we could ask Dell > to do 3 things: > > 1. Actively market Linux. TV commercials, online ads, etc. Not MS > bashing. Just say "Linux" a lot. It's just an alternative to Windows. > You still like/want Windows? Well keep it. Just know Linux is here too. > > 2. Systems pre-installed with Linux should actually be *less expensive* > than the same machine with a Windows OS, not more expensive. Duh. The > people that filled out the survey are going to buy the cheaper Windows > box, format and install linux. No one will buy the pre-installed linux > boxes unless Dell does #1. > > 3. Dell could go a long way with easing people into Linux by just > preinstalling open-source apps like Firefox or OpenOffice on their > preinstalled Windows systems. > > Of course they don't have to do any of this. I'd just like to see it. :) > And of course it won't get done as long as every page on Dell.com still > says "Dell recommends Microsoft Vista". > > ray > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Ray DeJean http://www.r-a-y.org > Systems Engineer Southeastern Louisiana University > IBM Certified Specialist AIX Administration, AIX Support > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > > On Fri, 30 Mar 2007, Mathew Branyon wrote: > > > Posted to General because its good news :) > > > > Here is the news straight from Dell's mouth: > > > http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/ideastorm/ideasinaction?c=us&l=en&s=gen > > > > Here is Dell's pledge to GPL drivers. > > http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/03/28/9655.aspx > > > > I really like the fact that they finally put up a user poll to see if > > people were ready for this. > > > > I also think a major factor was that people said they'd be fine with > > community support (which of course works faster than any support I've > > ever paid for in the past). > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > General at brlug.net > http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > -- Michael Dolan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: /pipermail/general_brlug.net/attachments/20070330/844d4174/attachment.html
