If there is one really good thing to come out of this (other than simply visibility of our chosen O/S on the shelf) it's the fact that, in addition to the Suse/Lenovo offering, we now know of at least two laptops that can run linux without any major impediments - makes the purchase of my next laptop a much less fraught experience :)
Pete On 08/08/07, alan c <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Pete Stean wrote: > > alan, cost is not an issue for me either - I wasn't really arguing > > for myself when I talked about the identical pricing. What I was > > thinking about was how could I possibly convince a friend or > > relative who has a vague interest in running linux to buy the > > linux-loaded Dell when they see that the vista machine is exactly > > the same price (and they know that Vista is worth "something" in > > monetary terms, but also that ubuntu is "free"). I can just predict > > how that conversation would go - Jo Public buys on *price* not on > > principles. Thus I can't see these linux Dells flying off the > > shelves, and therefore Dell assuming that there is little interest, > > when in fact there is but they just can't see it > > Accepted yes. I have found that people around me are influenced by > what they see me do and by what I say. The various people who are > using linux because of me directly have had it installed by me (!) and > have based their trust in what they know of me. Their alternative is > to find another 'advisor' (friend or family member, FOFM), or to trust > the retail shop. > > Money is important I fully agree, and particularly for the uninformed > and uncommitted. I do not think the Dell moves will directly influence > uninformed people, but they will notice that an alternative suddenly > exists. And yes they would take notice more quickly if there was a > price drop. But this is a first step in a marketing process - visibility. > > Some of my friends will in the future want a dell ubuntu PC. Some will > still want me to create a dual boot PC. IF Dell are offering the same > as single boot, it will make it much easier to get the possibility > accepted. > > I think Dell believe there is significant interest (profit) in linux. > Micheal Dell bought into some Linux companies a few years ago I think, > but his ventures were moderated (so I heard) apparently by the > association with MS whereby Del was not prohibited from selling linux > but were restrained from -promoting- it. The cleverness in the > existing situation is that a user ideas forum has done the promoting > itself! The line Dell is consistently taking is that this venture is > customer led. No dell *promotion*. Which hopefully will tread the fine > line they have to move along commercially. > > I think it would be a bad situation if by some means the Dell ubuntu > PCs were very much cheaper just now because if a lot of uninformed > purchases occurred, linux would get bad publicity from helpless users > who could not get support from their neighbours. The commercial > pressures Dell are under encourage a slow start, and this also allows > the community, including FOFM's, to adjust and support, I hope. :-) > -- > alan cocks > Kubuntu user#10391 > > -- > [email protected] > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk > https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/ >
-- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.kubuntu.org/UKTeam/
