Hi all, I have always found it weird to see labels on hardware which say "Designed for <some proprietary _software_>".
What would it take to have similar labels which say "Open standards compliant" or "open hardware" or "hardware libre"? Kim ---- Ramón Cahenzli wrote: > Hi Theo and all, > > On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 19:26, Theo Schmidt <theo.schm...@wilhelmtux.ch> > wrote: > >> There are also a few other Dell laptops with preinstalled Ubuntu, but I'd >> hesitate to buy from a company which "recommends Windows 7" on every webpage. >> Even if there are only interested in profits, it leaves some doubt with >> regards >> to the quality of the ubuntu configuration. > > This is the result of a kickback deal that Microsoft offers these > companies, and Dell has no choice about what they write on that page. > They have to recommend Windows. > > If you look at PC manufacturers' websites and even printed material > advertising PCs and mainboards, you will find the sentence "Company > XYZ recommends Windows 7" etc. The sentence is always the same and is > often located in the top right. This is probably according to a CI > document from Microsoft that states how large and how prominently the > sentence is displayed. During the Vista phase, companies taking part > in this campaign even recommended Vista, when no analyst in the entire > industry would have recommended that... > > Companies taking part in this Microsoft program either receive special > prices or advertising kickbacks from Microsoft. Even Belinea, which > someone mentioned as selling Ubuntu PCs, has the sentence on every > page. > > It's one of the strategies Microsoft uses to ensure its continued > total market dominance. Another trick is requiring OEMs to preinstall > an operating system on all PCs. Of course "an operating system" just > means "any operating system", but the wording of the clause might be > so that OEMs believe they have to ship a Microsoft operating system. > If you ask a bunch of OEMs, you will often get that sort of reply. > > So it's not like Dell actually has any choice in what words they use, > they _have_ to recommend Windows because not recommending Windows > would mean their competitors who _do_ recommend Windows earn more > money. > > I would love to get my hands on an original Microsoft contract to see > what this deal actually includes. > > - rca > -- Ubuntu-ch mailing list Ubuntu-ch@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ch
