How pathetic can you guyz geT!!! these guys have the hardware in their head missing.. dont you get it???? you dont play ball with babies do you.. LOL
V!bbZ On Thu, 26 Sep 2002 23:35:53 +0530, LinuxLingam wrote: >hi all, > >yesterday, i opened the Economic Times, New Delhi edition, to note a splashy >ad from IBM, promoting a range of their new laptops. another page had an ad >from HP+Compaq, also for laptops. all the ads prominently displayed they ship >only with Microsoft WindowsXP or other flavours of windoze. they also carried >a small line on .../software/piracy/howtotell.html. > >duh! > >so i picked up the phone, boldly called up IBM (the guyz who pledged nearly >US$ 1 billion on gnulinux). > >"Hi! saw your ad in the paper, wish to buy the laptop model xxx, but does it >ship with the *original* ms windoze?" i asked. > >"yes!" asserted the helpful woman voice. > >"good. so if i buy the laptop, *but* i do not wish to use win, and only use >gnulinux, could u provide me with that?" > >"uhhh.... sure! we will provide you with the laptop, you could install the >linux." > >"sure. but since i will *not* use the ms win sottware ever, and you bundle >it, could u please sell me an unbundled version, with the money for the >software deducted?" > >"nope" she sighed, "the machines come bundled. we do not unbundle. you may >install linux on your own if you wish." she said. > >"okay, don't unbundle." i persisted. "if, in front of your staff, i switch on >the machine, see the EULA, and click on 'disagree" do i get my refund. hey! i >am not breaking any law, i am complying with it, since i disagree with its >terms and conditions i'd rather disagree than break the agreement. why don't >u check with your management, or suggest a way out, or something." > >"gimme your name and number, and i'll call back in 2 hours." she promised. > >"after about 26(!) hours, which is the next day, i got her call. > >"did some dealer from us contact u?" she asked. > >"nope!" i said. > >"okay, lemme check" and she hung up. > >meanwhile, i also called up the hp-compaq number, and tried the same thing. >the conversation was nearly identical, the only difference "you could try one >of our dealers, maybe they could give you a discount." >! >so i tried a dealer, who promptly told me, "you gotta call up the headoffice, >we don't do no such thing." > >duh! > >encouragingly, saw a news in the papers (TOI) today, that LG is about to >introduce linux-based PCs in the market very soon. they also have in place >some training and orientation for customers, the article said. > >i hope the other players follow the same path. > >meanwhile, would be really quite wonderful if other ilugd members could call >up the big giants in computing, and ask for gnulinux boxes. they need to hear >the demand, and to give customers a choice. and microsoft should be given a >chance to respond positively and favourably towards people who are honest and >fair enough to 'disagree' with the eula. and of course, return them the money. > >c'mon guyz. > >the number of compaq, that i called : 9628-123-123. >ibm's number: delhi: 3702022 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >compaq did not have an email id, but i suppose u could check out their >website. > >the ads contain a list of dealers in the delhi and ncr region. u could try >their numbers as well. > >we could post our experiences on the ilugd website. and we will use the >information to educate end-users on the choices they have, and promote those >companies who give end-users a choice. companies need to understand that >ilugd includes people from corporates, enterprises, as well as tech >consultants who advise and consult such organizations on deploying gnulinux. > >important: the info is obviously not restricted to laptops. it applies >equally on desktops as well. > >but what about toshiba, dell, sharp, sony, etc. >would be fun if someone could call up microsoft and get their take on this. > >c'mon guyz. we need to see some action! > >LL > > ================================================ >To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in subject header. Check >archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org ================================================ To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with unsubscribe in subject header. Check archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/ilugd%40wpaa.org
