On Thu, Oct 12, 2006 at 09:13:33AM -0500, Seth Goodman wrote: > Roberto C. Sanchez wrote on Thursday, October 12, 2006 12:12 AM -0500: > > > The short answer is to only buy systems or components from vendors who > > support Linux. > > Fine if you have enough money to make a statement, but that leaves out > most vendors of affordable hardware. It's much cheaper, even with the > preloaded throw-away O/S. > Really? I spent about $400 on a small form-factor PC from iDotPC (not including monitor). They "support" Linux (their default OS unless you choose something else is Linspire). There are also tons of smaller vendors out there who support Linux in way or another. That means you probably won't be able to get the rock-bottom WalMart PC for $200 and still be certain that everything on it works in Linux. But, for a midrange PC, I'd venture to guess that something from a smaller vendor would be within $100 of a comparable Dell offering. I guess that question you need ask your self is "Will it take more than $100 of my time to make the Dell PC work with Linux?" Or even "Is it worth $100 to know it will Just Work(TM)?" Not just that, but if you buy from a smaller vendor who supports Linux, you take a copy of the invoice and then snail mail it to Dell with a letter saying "I tried to buy a consumer level PC from you guys with Linux, but I you would not sell me one, so now my money goes to vendor X."
Regards, -Roberto -- Roberto C. Sanchez http://people.connexer.com/~roberto http://www.connexer.com
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