__/ [ The Ghost In The Machine ] on Wednesday 21 February 2007 21:37 \__
> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, B Gruff
> <bbgruff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote
> on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:37:29 +0000
> <543lbpF1us7g2U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>> On Wednesday 21 February 2007 18:39 The Ghost In The Machine wrote:
>>
>>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Doug Mentohl
>>> <doug_mentohl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote
>>> on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:13:25 -0000
>>> <eri2n1$sdm$1@xxxxxxxx>:
>>>> "We are at our best when we are hearing directly from our customers,"
>>>>
>>>> 'Dell currently supports Linux on its servers, and offers a set of three
>>>> desktop computers preinstalled with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4'
>>>>
>>>> http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/g0KzNaPMJq4HBi/Dell-Users-Seek-Linux-
>>>> OpenOffice.xhtml
>>>
>>> FSVO "support". Dell servers may indeed offer that option
>>> (which is a plus any way one looks at it), but the desktops
>>> and notebooks are a very mixed bag, and Dell's website is
>>> peppered with recommendations for Windows Vista(tm). Linux
>>> support appears to be restricted to the higher-end machines.
>>> The low end stuff might get one a FreeDOS installation kit and
>>> a nastygram stating basically that one's on his own.
>>>
>>> Not exactly "separate but equal" in my book. :-)
>>
>> Indeed:-)
>>
>> Also, if you find Dell selling anything with Linux, or FreeDOS, or even
>> without any OS for less than the identical machine *with* Windows, do let
>> us know!
Well, you wouldn't want to hurt Microsoft's 'market share' figures, would
you? They could 'whack' you.
> Hmm...well, I did note one option the other day where
> one could save $100 by using FreeDOS instead of Windows
> (probably Vista Basic) but now I can't find it. I did
> find a "save $100" by switching from one version of Windows
> to another, though.
IIRC, the FreeDOS offer makes the desktop /more/ expensive, if not just the
same price as that which comes with XP/Vista. It's deliberate. Many Linux
users will then choose to get a copy of Windows and wipe it. Software does
not cost anything to 'manufacture' and Microsoft gets to say that everyone
buys a Dell with Windows.
> AFAICT, the easiest way is to just go through the
> pullmenus, looking for Open Source Notebooks or Desktops.
>
> However, Dell's still confused. Select the n series E520,
> and customize it; then select video card. Two are shown:
>
> * 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache [Included in Price]
>
> o green highlight
> 256MB ATI Radeon X1300 Pro [add $50 or $2/month1]
> Dell Recommended for an enhanced Windows Vista experience
> green highlight
>
> I frankly don't know which one's better for Linux gaming,
> but the second one's good for a laugh (and slightly
> pricier). Also, the OS shows flag-in-a-disc but only
> allows selection of FreeDOS (since it's an n-series).
> I'll admit I'm not sure how one would indicate the concept
> of an OS, and showing a blank gray box with the flag,
> the penguin, the horned ball, the FreeDOS whale, the HURD
> fourbox, and the Sun diamond/4S logo would probably be a
> bit much.
>
>>
>> I get the distinct impression that they charge the Windows tax whether or
>> not you take Windows, though of course some or all of the difference might
>> be accounted for by the "trial-ware" that they install.
>
> I thought that was deemed illegal way back when by
> since-somewhat-discredited Judge Jackson?
>
> Ow, my brain.
>
>>
>> btw, note that "without the 'additional' S/W" was another high-ranking
>> request!
>>
>
> Well, obviously, we should all just shut up and happily pay Microsoft
> the tithe. :-)
Dell was caught engaging in high-scale kickbacks affair with Intel. It's
natrual to assume that this was not an isolated case. In fact, here are some
links that fit here (yes, I know you've seen them).
Dell's secret Linux fling
,----[ Quote ]
| Dell's love affair with Linux is a clandestine affair these days,
| conducted in secret, away from disapproving eyes. But now the pair
| have been spotted in China.
|
| When Michael Dell first saw the web-footed beauty, he fell head over
| heels. Six years ago Dell pledged a series of strategic investments
| in Linux companies, including Eazel and Red Hat. The romance
| attracted the disapproval of Microsoft however, and barely lasted
| weeks. Very quietly, Dell dumped the bird.
|
| It later emerged that Microsoft's OEM enforcer Joachim Kempin had
| promised Steve Ballmer that he'd be putting the screws on PCb
| uilders, or "hitting the OEMs harder" in his words.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/09/dell_linux_china/
Microsoft 'killed Dell Linux' - States
,----[ Quote ]
| The States' remedy hearing opened in DC yesterday, and States attorney
| Steven Kuney produced a devastating memo from Kempin, then in charge of
| Microsoft's OEM business, written after Judge Jackson had ordered his
| break-up of the company. Kempin raises the possibility of threatening
| Dell and other PC builders which promote Linux.
|
| "I'm thinking of hitting the OEMs harder than in the past with anti-Linux.
| ... they should do a delicate dance," Kempin wrote to Ballmer, in what is
| sure to be a memorable addition to the phrases ("knife the baby", "cut off
| the air supply") with which Microsoft enriched the English language in the
| first trial. Unlike those two, this is not contested.
|
| [...]
|
| Earlier memos described that it was "untenable" that a key Microsoft
| partner was promoting Linux. Kuney revealed that Dell disbanded its Linux
| business unit in early 2001. Dell quietly pulled Linux from its desktop PCs
| in the summer of 2001, IDG's Ashlee Vance discovered subsequently, six
| months after we heard Michael Dell declare his love of Linux on the desktop
| the previous winter.
|
| Compaq was also mentioned in other memos, with Microsoft taking the line
| that OEMs should "meet demand but not help create demand" for Linux.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/03/19/microsoft_killed_dell_linux_states/
Did Microsoft want to 'whack' Dell over its Linux dealings?
,----[Quote ]
| A 2002 e-mail exchange filed with an Iowa court during one of the last
| state antitrust suits seems to say so; Redmond defends the thread.
|
| "We should whack them, we should make sure they understand our value,"
| wrote Paul Flessner, a senior vice president in Microsoft's server
| applications unit.
`----
http://news.com.com/Did+Microsoft+want+to+whack+Dell+over+its+Linux+dealings/2100-1014_3-6153904.html
Microsoft Shuts Down Linux 10 Years Ago Says Iowa Attorne
,----[ Quote ]
| Going back now to as early as 1998, Microsoft starts to realize that
| Linux might pose a possible threat, and Vinod Valloppillil, who is
| a program manager at Microsoft, is asked by Mr. Allchin, Jim Allchin,
| to analyze potential strategies for combatting open-source software,
| and specifically Linux.
| His memos are leaked to the press in April -- I beg your pardon --
| in October of 1998 and become known as the Halloween documents.
| And the evidence will be that Microsoft uses its influence in the
| OEM channel, the computer manufacture channel, to make sure that
| end users have a difficult time buying PCs with Linux preinstalled.
`----
http://www.linuxelectrons.com/News/RoundUp/Microsoft_Shuts_Down_Linux_10_Years_Ago_Says_Iowa_Attorney
Microsoft's Dirty OEM-Secret
,----[ Quote ]
| They are, in short the secret to Microsoft's success. And the word
| secret is to be taken quite literally: No OEM may talk about the
| contents of his contract, or he will lose his license, and (assumption)
| likely be sued for breach of contract as well.
`----
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/10/23/13219/110
Jury Hears Microsoft Competition Suit
,----[ Quote ]
| A judge on Friday told jurors they must accept as fact that a
| federal court found in 1999 that Microsoft holds a monopoly over
| computer operating systems and that it restricted computer
| manufacturers' ability to use competing systems.
|
| [...]
|
| She said she'll show that the company used its monopoly power
| to exclude competition and control prices and that it conspired with
| other companies to restrain trade, maintaining what she called a
| chokehold on software competitors and computer manufacturers.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061201/microsoft_trial.html?.v=1
The French have grown tired of all this corruption...
French consumer group attacks PC software bundling
,----[ Quote ]
| UFC-Que Choisir legal officer Sandra Wouhling said current
| practice effectively forced ordinary consumers to buy computers
| using Microsoft operating systems whereas companies anda
| dministrations were offered a real choice.
`----
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061214:MTFH94365_2006-12-14_14-49-22_L14537403&type=comktNews&rpc=44
http://tinyurl.com/yf7kfu
--
~~ With compliments
Roy S. Schestowitz | You can never get nine women to deliver a baby in a
month
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy pts/4 Wed Feb 21 11:30 - 11:31 (00:01)
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
|
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