> > I wanted to bounce some thoughts off your collective minds. I > recently saw an ad for a cheap laptop launched by HCL - probably > trying to compete with the XO and the Eee, with a 7" LCD. Contrary to > their image so far of being friendly to FOSS, they seem to be > preloading MS-ware (discount versions?) on this PC. I think FOSS > starts with a big handicap when manufacturers offer preloaded Windows > even in case of computers intended for home or educational use. > > Should the community start the two following, connected initiatives? > > 1. Lobby local computer makers like HCL and Zenith to offer an option > for loading Linux or selling systems without a pre-loaded OS (and with > a tiny little discount). The pre-installed OS can be on a secondary > partition, to allow Windows to be installed on a primary partition at > the user's option later. I know, the manufacturers would risk paying > the Microsoft Tax (TM) heavily if they tried to do anything like this, > but this could at least help bring an unfair practice out into the > open. > > 2. Build up an effort to force Microsoft to let its boot loader > recognize and (hopefully) accommodate other operating systems that > have been installed previously. This would at least keep them intact > instead of being overwritten / rendered unusable when the user > inevitably installs Windows, licensed or unlicensed, thus keeping up > the possibility that it will get used sometimes, even out of > curiosity. > > Your constructive comments please. > A good idea,but we need good influence and enough people in the respective good books of the manufacturers we intend to influence.The second suggestion needs a world-wide movement,which looks like a task for the FSF.Kenneth? Also,the manufacturer might not mind paying the MS tax if either 1]he is actually interested in FOSS or 2]the community(since FOSS lacks a company/firm which can be dealt with directly) reimburses him for the loss.
Problem is case 1 is very rare while case 2 is almost impossible.Best way is that whenever FOSS supporters buy a new box,they should insist on either a clean HDD or a FOSS OS.Customer demand will eventually goad manufacturers into action.But,problem again is that we hardly ever need to change our boxes due to GNU/Linux' inherent properties of running on really old h/w just as good as on the bleeding edge.We need to solve this conundrum first. Regards, Easwar -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
