Jeff Waugh wrote:
>
> Tony Cook wrote:
> > Does anyone know of PC retailers in the Sydney area who are supplying PCs
> > with Linux preinstalled?
>
> Why do we want Linux preinstalled again? That's right... Newbies.
Not neccessarily so....
When I purchased my Alpha I had RedHat preinstalled even
though I intended to do a complete installation myself from
scratch. Reason? To make sure that the hardware actually
worked OK. In that particular case the SCSI card was
delivered to the supplier with no BIOS. I would have had
real probs in installing RedHat or anything. Thats where a
supplier who really knows their stuff comes in useful and
where a preinstallation can save time, $ and arguments.
When I got the PC I had a play around with the new toy then
completely wiped the entire drive, set it up from scratch
and documented everything I did.
Jill and I are currently buying another PC from the same
supplier and again we are getting SUSE preinstalled. Neither
of us are newbies (Jills been using UNIX since the late
70's) but we know that there are many things that can go
wrong with PC hardware - from compatibility probs to chip
version changes that the manufacturer does not tell the
retailer.
Again some time Jill will do her own re-install.
> I don't really see preinstallation as a necessity for user-friendly computer
> purchases... Think about it this way:
>
> IBM sell their Aptiva boxes, both business and home versions, with a startup
> installation system. It asks a few questions, and (as one would expect)
> reboots. Compaq used to do the same thing (no idea these days).
They can. IBM and Compaq sell fixed packages with known
components from the video card to the sound card. All are
known be compatible as those companies order a specific
version of a card. They will prob have some ISO acredited
quality procedure written into their suppliers tender. If
even a little trace or algotithm or register is modified in
a chip the manufacturer informs IBM/Compaq.
This doesn't occur for the little PC retailers. Its 'this is
the SB16 you get this week'.
It may not work with the Nvidia card next week.
To sum up; there are good reasons to get a preinstall. For
newbies and non-newbies.
Mike
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Lake
University of Technology, Sydney
Email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Ph: 02 9514 1724 Fx: 02
9514 1628
URL: http://www.science.uts.edu.au/~mikel
Linux enthusiast, active caver and interested in anything
technical.
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