__/ [ Larry Qualig ] on Wednesday 08 March 2006 16:03 \__
> ray wrote:
>> On Wed, 08 Mar 2006 04:25:12 +0000, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>> > http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3822185143.html
>> >
>> > ,----[ Snippets ]
>> > | "If we say we like Ubuntu, then people will say we picked the wrong
>> > | one. If we say we like and support Ubuntu, Novell, Red Hat, and
>> > | Xandros, then someone would ask us, 'Why don't you support Mandriva?
>> > | The challenge we have with picking one is that we think we'd
>> > | disenchant the other distributions' supporters."
>> > |
>> > | [...]
>> > |
>> > | One company has not played a role in Dell's Linux decisions.
>> > | "Microsoft has not talked to us about Linux. If they did,
>> > | I wouldn't care. It's none of their business," concluded Dell
>> > `----
>>
>> IMHO - they would not even have to sell systems with Linux preinstalled
>> (though it would not be that big a chore to offer a choice of half a dozen
>> distros) they could merely offer systems without OS installed that has
>> been certified to be hardware compatible with 6 or 8 or ten named
>> distributions. They would not even have to do any work on this - there are
>> hundreds of Linux geeks around the county who'd be happy to check systems
>> out for them.
>
>
> The majority of consumers want/need some OS preinstalled on their
> system. Installing an OS may be easy for someone with minimal
> techinical ability but it's still beyond the (perceived) ability of
> most people. For anyone who wants a computer with no OS, they can
> simply buy one with Ubuntu/Suse/Mandriva/<distro> and install whatever
> they want on it. It really takes no extra time to install a distro over
> an existing one than it does to start with an empty drive.
>
> But for the rest of the people (most people) at least they would get a
> system with some OS that is usable to them.
I agree with Larry on that one, albeit with caution and hesitance. Being
told that Distribution X was tested for compatibility is not always suffi-
cient. Y years down the line, will version Z of Distribution X be easi-
ly-obtainable? Would the customer truly have the skill and patience to in-
stall the distribution? Any inclination at all when you work as a mechanic
at daytime?
What if the customer has never come across the term "partition" or even
"drive" (laugh all you want) before? Will the CD's of the named distribu-
tion be bound to the computer's package? Is there any guarantee that the
CD's will work one year later? Are they checksummed?
Many questions can be raised. I believe that a product that works 'out of
the box' (with all the necessary added software) makes a marvellous sell-
ing point. Think about it: Linux that does not require that you understand
Linux. Dissatisfied with the distribution? Go to the Web, read others' ex-
perience with that same model (or receive a list from the vendor), then
select your poison (distro).
There is nothing more satisfying than a product that works with minimal
effort. Example: I bought a 300GB external hard-drive this morning and it
worked as soon as I had plugged in onto the USB port? Should I have re--
partitioned it? Should I have changed the filesystem to something that
suits me better? I think not. I am just happy to have got a new backup
unit within 20 seconds.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Lions are like hippie tigers"
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
4:25pm up 9:02, 7 users, load average: 0.27, 0.55, 0.34
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
|
|
