Last time I checked, Dell and others were the same as IBM. I have asked
these companies from time to time when they will start selling laptops
without an OS installed and specifically without forcing Microsoft
applications on their buyers. So far, they haven't gptten the message.
I would suggest that everyone on this list periodically "ping" the
manufacturers with a request to sell their laptops without the Redmond
tax. Maybe if they got a few hundred requests a month, every month,
they might get the message.
Fred
rpjday wrote:
>
> a couple of recent articles at www.linuxtoday.com have got me to
> wondering about ibm's apparently schizophrenic support of linux.
>
> as most of us know, ibm has pledged over a billion dollars
> recently for linux support and development, and a very recent
> article talks about the upcoming release of ibm's AIX 5L operating
> system, the 'L' standing for linux. gosh, it certainly seems that
> ibm is standing behind linux.
>
> on the other hand, an earlier article describes one chap's attempt
> to buy an ibm thinkpad, only to find that, for the most part, ibm
> is still soaking the consumer for the despised "microsoft tax".
>
> if you check out information on ibm's website, almost every possible
> configuration for sale comes pre-loaded with (you guessed it) some
> microsoft OS, be it ME or windows 2000. the only non-ms version
> comes with a version of caldera's open linux and is astonishingly
> the same price as for a win2k box of the same model, and $100 more
> than a win me box. there is apparently no option to buy a bare
> thinkpad, so someone who wants to run red hat is still paying for
> an OS they don't want.
>
> to add insult to injury, plastered all over ibm's pages is the
> grating slogan, "ibm recommends windows 2000 professional for
> business."
>
> if ibm really wants to show its support for linux, i suggest the
> first thing they do is stop soaking us for an OS we don't want and
> give us the opportunity to buy an empty system. now *that* would
> show me they're serious about linux.
>
> anyone from ibm care to comment?
>
> rday
>
> --
> Robert P. J. Day
> Eno River Technologies, Durham NC
> Unix, Linux and Open Source training
>
> "This is Microsoft technical support. How may I misinform you?"
>
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