Interesting discussion. People are saying "a Linux PC should be cheaper than Windows" and - as I've said before - I am firmly of the view that this is a perception that we should seek to correct. The "free" in Linux is NOT as in beer, and time and time again we keep reverting to this concept that it in some way is.
The public are prone to make assumptions on the worth of a product based on its price. Let's face it - if you walk into a supermarket and look at the Baked Bean counter and know you *can* afford the Heinz are you going to buy the "Tesco Value"? Now it may be that the "Tesco Value" is actually better than the Heinz, but it's so much cheaper that the brain says "hang on... clearly inferior..." and it is passed over. Linux is not like that. And we need to FIGHT to correct this erroneous assumption. I think that the problem you're going to have selling Linux PCs to the mass market is that most people going out to buy a PC are likely to pay a bit extra for Windows, because "that's what their mates have" and they know what they're getting - Ubuntu is an "unknown", and uncertainty puts people off. Apple are managing to keep an alternative stream going, but their Mac stuff has taken a quite different direction to Windows with "sexy" PCs etc. Buying an OS-X machine these days is becoming quite a "fashion" thing. We don't have "known" and we don't have "fashion" on our side, therefore we have to have something else. In Tesco one can buy a laptop for around £299, with Vista (albeit the Home Basic). Base units for desktop computing are less than £200, with specifications which (though low by today's "benchmarks") would have cost thousands not many years ago. I am not convinced that pre-installed Ubuntu on a desktop is a market that will ever appeal to the masses and I am fairly sure that it is not something that is likely to be particularly profitable. Unless you're selling locally you have to factor in postage, insurance etc. too which - again - the "big boys" have the edge on. Sean -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
