All ths talk of supporting laptops with foss is well and fine, but I wonder how many of many of us would *actually* buy a laptop just because it has FOSS installed in it (i know i wont) because most of these comanies use non MS os just to make cheap laptops even cheaper. Also if i was going to have just one laptop i would rather pay a bit more and buy something which i *know* comes with good and reliable after sales service.
On 2/19/08, Rony <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Nishit Dave wrote: > > > > 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. > > > > There are not many FOSS engineers available to service FOSS based > computers. It brings to my mind a question for all:- > > How much does a FOSS service provider charge to install GNU/Linux on a > computer? What would be the annual maintenance cost per year per FOSS > based system? Any average figures? > > Another problem is that FOSS is ready for the people, but people are not > ready for FOSS. Both users as well as programmers/developers. A guy > working for one of the biggest software companies in India told me that > FOSS programmers are few and too expensive. Windows based pros are > available in lots. Software giants that make banking software use things > like dot net for banking solutions. How can such software be expected to > run on FOSS? Everyone is looking at the economical side of hiring > cheaper programmers who are available by the dozen. > > > > 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. > > > > > > > This need not be a major issue if a handy CD is made available that a > user simply pops in and restores the GRUB boot loader by simply clicking > Yes in a dialog box. > > -- > Regards, > > Rony. > > GNU/Linux ! > No Viruses > No Spyware > Only Freedom. > > -- > http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers > -- http://mm.glug-bom.org/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
