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#1
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Even DELL says LINUX IS A DUD!!!!
I just tried to order a Dell Desktop System without Windows installed
and asked if I could get Linux installed instead. After the guy on the other end of the phone stopped laughing, he asked me: So which one of the 500 plus versions of Linux did you have in mind? (I heard him laughing).... I mentioned Redhat Fedora and he burst out laughing. He told me Dell had tried to sell Linux on desktop systems in the past but the demand was so poor they had to stop. No surprise there. Linux sucks, even Dell knows it sucks and for sure their clients know that Linux sucks or else they would be demanding Linux and Dell wo |
#2
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Sally Vadi wrote: I just tried to order a Dell Desktop System without Windows installed and asked if I could get Linux installed instead. Unfortunately, there are certain prerequisites, minimum orders, and specific channels which much be used. Dell has specific agreement marketing agreements for which Microsoft provides consideration such as discounts, reduction, and other favorable terms. Part of this deal is that Dell is not allowed to sell computers with anything other than Windows, specifically Windows XP home edition or Windows XP professional. It's up to the courts to decide whether this is a violation of the DOJ settlement and the final judgement of the 3rd circuit appeals court, but as we have all learned the hard way, the wheels of justice turn very very slowly. After the guy on the other end of the phone stopped laughing, he asked me: So which one of the 500 plus versions of Linux did you have in mind? (I heard him laughing).... This has been a big problem. Dell does offer two variants of Linux on their server lines, Red Hat Enterprise server, and SuSE Enterprise edition. I mentioned Redhat Fedora and he burst out laughing. Red Hat has not licensed any of the OEMs to publish Fedora, fedora is the free "research" version of Red Hat. It's unsupported (though Red Hat does provide a very good support network). He told me Dell had tried to sell Linux on desktop systems in the past but the demand was so poor they had to stop. Actually, I don't believe Dell has ever offered DIRECT Telephone sales offerings of Linux. Again, if you requested a corporate account, committed to minimum purchases, and agreed to certain other terms, you could purchase Dell workstations preconfigured with Linux. There are some Value Added Resellers such as Penguin computing who do offer Dell computers configured with Linux. Dell also offers "Bare Bones" systems, which typically ship with "freedos" which is an Open Source MS-DOS work-alike. I believe FreeDOS uses the same drivers as Linux. The main point is that the end-user can configure his desktop with the flavor of Linux he chooses. Dell, Red Hat, and SuSE do test their hardware with Linux, and certain hardware, especially "high end" products generally have very good support for Linux. No surprise there. The person you were talking to has probably never worked with Linux, never sold dell systems with Linux installed, and probably gets 20-30 calls/day from people like you who want unsupported versions of Linux installed on their Dell. Linux sucks, even Dell knows it sucks and for sure their clients know that Linux sucks or else they would be demanding Linux and Dell wo As I pointed out above, the Linux market seems to be better addressed by Value Added Resellers (VARs), who purchase computers - often licensed for Windows, and custom-configure them for Linux. They my offer them under their own brand name, or they may offer them as OEM machines configured for Linux. These are all a function of contract agreements between OEMs, VARS, and Microsoft. In most cases, the VAR is not allowed to advertize the Windows capabilities of the machine, since they have not licensed the use of the Windows trademark in their advertizing. Dell also ship Lease-return machines to India, South America, and Asia, where they are often sold as Linux desktops, very often, they don't have enough memory or hard-drive to run Windows XP. If someone, perhaps your friend, has an actual copy of the DELL OEM license agreement, with Microsoft, this may shed some light on the issue. Very simple bottom line, Microsoft will do everything it possibly can to prevent you from being able to purchase anything other than their latest version of Windows directly from an OEM. IBM often had to make special arrangements to sell the previous version of Windows for a year because many of their customers weren't ready to take the leap into the newest "Pre-SP1" versions of Windows XX. On the other hand, most corporate customers are better served by an OEM who is really committed to supporting Linux on the desktop. Generally the prices are a bit higher, but the VAR is often more willing to do customizations, to fix problems, and to make sure that upgrades and security fixes are tested before passing them on to end-users or corporate administrators. Often, if you are getting a large number of identical workstations, the cost of installing Linux can drop significantly. Another very popular trend has been to install VMWare and then install Linux on the VMWare machine. This assures a consistent "Virtual Machine" regardless of how proprietary and bizarre the actual "Windows XP" hardware might be. It's not as secure or stable, but it does provide a huge increase in functionality for a modest price. Microsoft sells their own alternative to VMware for about $95, which runs under Windows. I haven't worked with it recently, but the version I took for a test drive right after Microsoft bought the company - worked fairly well. It would be nice if the OEMs could tell us which machines were "Linux Friendly" and which machines were "Linux Hostile", but I don't believe they are allowed to do that either. It doesn't look like things will be changing any time soon with regard to Microsoft's policies of excluding competitors by any means necessary. OEMs are still not allowed to install Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape, RealNetworks, and other 3rd party solutions that compete with Microsoft's preinstalled/preconfigured environment. About the best they can do is provide a toolkit CD which can be used by the end-user to install the additional applications once they have completely booted Windows XP. I guess you really can't fault Microsoft for doing it. It's a bit like the looters during the New Orleans flood. They were doing what they had to to survive, and if they could pick up an extra color TV while they were shopping at WalMart with their five-finger credit cards, there really wasn't anyone there to stop them. Microsoft has been able to get away with these tactics for 25 years, and when the courts do rule against them in preliminary judgements, they simply craft a settlement which redefines these same actions and motives using new language, which then makes the previously illegal act - Legal. You have to admit, it's very clever. |
#3
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Sally Vadi poked his little head through the XP firewall and said:
[dumb stuff] Hey, "Sally", why di you post from host 209.177.247.73 earlier? Are you breaking into other person's machines? Say hi to "Peter ColonMan" for me. Better keep track of all your personalities. -- Code is community. |
#4
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Sally Vadi wrote:
I just tried to order a Dell Desktop System without Windows installed and asked if I could get Linux installed instead. Not a problem. You can find them on the Dell website pretty easily. Dell Precision 470n/670n systems come with Red Hat pre-installed. Enjoy... |
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