On Thursday 21 Feb 2002 9:34 am, Gregor Zeitlinger wrote: > On Wed, 20 Feb 2002, Jens Benecke wrote: > > > > A) Preloading. Persuade Dell or Compaq to load Linux > > > > on *ALL* machines (and sell Windows as an optional > > > > upgrade). > > > > > > That helps for business machines. > > > > It helps for everyone. Not only Dell and Compaq, but also > > companies like Staples, Walmart, MediaMarkt and whatever > > should preload Linux on their computers, and offer > > Windows as an optional upgrade. > > Just a few days ago, I read that Dell stopped shipping > preloaded Linux machines because of low demand.
I asked them to ship me a laptop without windows and they just plain refused. (Dell UK). Actually, I prefer to install myself (using a debian image from a lab-wide CD image); perhaps that's why nobody wanted it. Actually, they have just lost the contract ot supply us big time. Quote for a dual proceessor machine with 1GB RAM and about 40GB SCSI drive came in at c. £4700, eventually sourced same spec machine for £1800 (with Athlons in it -- even faster!) Even if the service I get stinks (which it hasn't so far -- it has been great), at that price differential I can just buy two of everything. That said, I have absolutely no complaints about the laptop, which runs sid/kde very well, except I've not sorted out the sleep mode properly (close the lid when it's on battery and it crashes; suspend behaves itself but you loose sound). Nick/
