__/ [ John A. Bailo ] on Sunday 24 December 2006 23:30 \__
>
> I did a search on the NYT and came up with these, some from HP and Dell,
> and one from Neoware (but that was just the first page of results, there
> are many more)
>
> The HPs install Mandriva. The Neoware doesn't say what distro. The Dell
> says "Linux WS 4.0".
>
>
>
http://tech2.nytimes.com/gst/technology/techsearch.html?st=a&query=linux&date_select=full
Tell the world when they start selling the low(est)-cost machines with
GNU/Linux preinstalled, or at least with a blank hard-drive and a Linux
CD-ROM. As it stands, Dell has begun selling pricey laptops with FreeDOS.
The world must not know about Linux, or let its market share be inflated...
after all, installing a Linux distro is equally 'hard' and 'expensive'. Dell
applies some changes by introducing 'Open Source' laptops just to defend
itself from lawsuits over forced sale of an O/S (the recent lost case in the
UK). These laptops are $100 more expensive than those which come with
Windows. How come?
It's more political than a matter of good will. Microsoft continues to hold
OEM's by the balls... and guess what? the OEM's like that.
Jury Hears Microsoft Competition Suit
,----[ Quote ]
| A judge on Friday told jurors they must accept as fact that a
| federal court found in 1999 that Microsoft holds a monopoly over
| computer operating systems and that it restricted computer
| manufacturers' ability to use competing systems.
|
| [...]
|
| She said she'll show that the company used its monopoly power
| to exclude competition and control prices and that it conspired with
| other companies to restrain trade, maintaining what she called a
| chokehold on software competitors and computer manufacturers.
|
| "It isn't illegal to be successful," Conlin said in opening
| remarks. "We applaud that. ... But you can't freeze out competitors
| and punish and retaliate against people who cooperate with
| competitors. Microsoft did all that and more."
|
| Conlin warned jurors that she would say some unflattering things
| about Microsoft and its billionaire founder Bill Gates, who
| serves as company chairman.
|
| [...]
|
| Conlin's first 3 1/2 hours of opening arguments delved deeply into
| computer industry history and how Microsoft fought off competitors
| attempting to design rival software.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061201/microsoft_trial.html?.v=1
Comes v. MS Antitrust Trial Begins in Iowa
,----[ Quote ]
| Here's part of what Allchin said about how to deal with the competitive
| threat from Novell then:
|
| "We need to slaughter Novell before they get stronger....If you're
| going to kill someone, there isn't much reason to get all worked up
| about it and angry. You just pull the trigger. Any discussions
| beforehand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while
| we pull the trigger."
|
| [...]
|
| Conlin used a variety of computer-generated illustrations,
| including one that showed 15 icons, each representing what she
| said was an illegal action taken by Microsoft in pursuit of its
| bid to become and remain a monopoly. The icons had titles like
| "exclusionary contract," "technical sabotage," "buying out the
| competition," "espionage," and "deception and misinformation."
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2006120516224886
Fortunately, France is awoken.
French consumer protectionists are demanding PCs without preinstalled
software
,----[ Quote ]
| The consumer protectionists of the French organization UFC-Que Choisir
| are demanding of the IT group Hewlett-Packard and the vendors Auchan
| and Darty that they offer PCs without preinstalled software.
|
| [...]
|
| UFC-Que Choisir last year also took action against Sony and Apple,
| taking the two companies to court for allegedly putting their
| customers at a disadvantage through proprietary DRM technologies
| and curtailing their choice of devices.
`----
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/82605/from/rss09
More here:
French consumer group attacks PC software bundling
,----[ Quote ]
| UFC-Que Choisir legal officer Sandra Wouhling said current
| practice effectively forced ordinary consumers to buy computers
| using Microsoft operating systems whereas companies anda
| dministrations were offered a real choice.
`----
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061214:MTFH94365_2006-12-14_14-49-22_L14537403&type=comktNews&rpc=44
http://tinyurl.com/yf7kfu
Just to show you that there is a tight relationship between the software
maker and those supposedly independent hardware departments...
Microsoft, HP expand business alliance
,----[ Quote ]
| A new deal announced Wednesday calls for, among other things, more HP
| workers to be trained to sell Microsoft products.
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6143540.html
France is heading for Linux nonetheless. France, Holland, Finland, Germany...
maybe the UK. There's a similar motion in Asia, Africa, South America...
France pins hopes of growth on open-source software
,----[ Quote ]
| The French government plans to make the region around Paris a center of
| excellence for open-source software development, the French Minister of the
| Economy, Finance and Industry, Thierry Breton, said Monday.
`----
http://open.itworld.com/4915/061205franceopen/page_1.html
French National Assembly switches to Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| Linux, OpenOffice and Firefox favoured
|
| [...]
|
| One deputy in favour of the move is Bernard Carayon, commissioned by
| the Prime Minister earlier this year to report on how European
| businesses could play a greater role in developing global industrial
| standards, in order to reduce Europe's economic dependance on other
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| regions.
`----
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7687
Bull to Supply the Most Powerful Civil Supercomputer in France to the
CCRT, the Center for Research and Technology Computing
,----[ Quote ]
| The system will be operated via an HPC platform specially optimized
| by Bull and featuring, notably: the Linux(R) operating system
`----
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/76313/index.html
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
Roy S. Schestowitz | Play Othello: http://othellomaster.com
http://Schestowitz.com | Free as in Free Beer ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
Cpu(s): 21.4% user, 3.0% system, 1.1% nice, 74.5% idle
http://iuron.com - semantic engine to gather information
|
|
