On Nov 1, 2:52 pm, Kier <val...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Thu, 01 Nov 2007 11:14:22 -0700, Rex Ballard wrote:
>
> > Linux introduced "Live-CD" to allow those who wanted to know whether a
> > PC would run Linux, to test it in the retail store, making it much
> > easier to purchase machines that could easily be converted to Linux.
> > Microsoft seems to have stipulated that Retailers must lock or
> > otherwise prevent the ability to boot from the CD-ROM as a condition
> > of their status as Authorized Microsoft Retailers.
>
> Seems like none of them took a blind bit of notice of this stipulation,
> then, since not one of the machines I own makes it difficult to boot from
> CD-ROM. In fact, three of them have to be explicitly *prevented* from
> doing so if they detect a bootable CD in the drive. With my two modern
> Dells, I only have to hit F12 while booting to choose which device I want
> to boot from.
I'm not sure which country you are living in, but got to Staples, Best
Buy, Office Max, or even Circuit City and try booting your Knoppix
Live-CD on a laptop.
Usually, the laptop is held down with metal brackets - primarily to
prevent theft of the laptop, however in recent years, (about the last
3), the brackets have been resized to make sure that the CD-ROM/DVD
drive is NOT accessible.
In many stores, the desktop machines are configured to disable boot as
well (disconnected IDE cable?).
> Maybe you should give up making bogus claims here, Rex, or start backing
> them up.
You are very clever. I admit, I didn't express myself very well. You
took what I was trying to say and interpreted it differently. Valid.
I apologize for my lack of clarity.
> Kier
The point I was trying to make in my original response is that Linux
has initiated a number of breakthroughs which, had Microsoft NOT
responded, might have increased it's market share significantly.
Which is why we have been seeing "This is the year of Linux" or "Linux
is the next big thing" since as far back as 1994, especially in this
group.
It is BECAUSE Microsoft is able to use not only it's monopoly power,
but also it's ability to engage in fraud (vapor-ware), extortion
(threats to revoke ALL OEM licenses), sabotage (fixes and upgrades
designed to "break" competitor products ranging from DR-DOS to GEM to
Stacker to OS/2 to Cyrix, and it's ability to avoid criminal
prosecution through the use of strategically negotiated settlments,
along with the ability to bribe the current president while he was
still 3rd place in the primaries, that Microsoft will continue to
dominate the market in terms of OEM preinstalls and Retail displays.
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