On Fri, 2006-02-10 at 18:52 +0000, Adam Bower wrote:
(Also of note I saw that the Linux Emporium now sells IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads which come without Windows, and that they sell Linux compatible Wireless networking gear)
That's interesting to see because despite being an IBM partner they refuse to sell me Laptops or Desktops sans OEM licenses...Looks like another chat with my business manager is due.
Another weird thing (I've only checked a couple of machines admittedly) is that Linux Emporium's prices seem to be pretty much the same as standard IBM RRP...so it looks like any saving in not paying the Windows tax has been swallowed by their costs of putting on an alternative OS. This probably because in terms of cost to the manufacturer (at least in the case of large scale manufacturers like IBM) the actual cost of the OEM license is probably almost negligible.
Linux as a default installation still has value, but I wonder how much real value it has to those already using it...There is a reasonable chance for example that the Distro installed will not be the users first choice, or the configuration (choice of Window manager etc) will be wrong.