An Ubuntu story

[studiesrule]

@Frak: Your right that is out of this world. Seriously, the cops for using Linux! ouch!
But I guess we all BELIEVE in FOSS, like anything else. I don't know if I'd go fundamentalist on it though.

[superjet]

Hello whynotchevron,

The ignorance is plentiful.

I was looking at some Dell advertisements today at work--inserts in a local newspaper. Dell "recommends Windows XP Professional."

My thought was, "most people don't understand that their is a choice." Dell recommending XP to most people is like Dell "recommends eating and drinking."

The point is that most folks, can't imagine a computer without Windows. Some think of MacOS. Unfortunately, GNU / Linux offerings are off of most people's radar screens.

Thanks for sharing.

I believe an earlier post mentioned the HP printers only work with Windows and MacOS. That is pretty funny too.

Julie

Hi Julie,
I have heard you can order a Dell with Linux pre-installed. See this page from Dell. http://linux.dell.com/desktops.shtml

BUT the reason you see "Dell recommends Windows XP Professional" is Micro$oft pays/makes them. They pay them to do that, but on the flip side the reason you don't see "Dell computers are available with Linux flavor X" anywhere on the site is because M$ have them under contract to be exclusive. If the advertise Linux of any kind, M$ will raise the prices the charge to Dell and I bet they get a tidy discount.

Money talks, Open source walks?

[aysiu]

There's no way you'd know about the N-Series unless you were specifically looking for them:
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd

The N-Series workstations are designed for businesses and don't look priced as cheaply as the regular desktops.

There are no Linux-preloaded notebooks (or laptops) on the Dell website. There used to be one obscure one with Mandriva on it available at Dell France, but I don't know where that is now.

[Derek Djons]

Loved to read this story... it was very amusing to read.

"The guy sounded like a Microsoft press-release" LOL

[Randomskk]

Pretty different from my experience.
I went shopping for a laptop with a Ubuntu LiveCD in hand, and in all the shops I went to - from PC World and Curries to some small shop and a department store with a computer section.
In each shop, I was allowed to boot up the live disk, try it out and have a play around - in one, the guy had a linux server at home himself!

In the end, I got a laptop that I *knew* worked out the box widescreen and wireless, which is awesome.

[aysiu]

So Surrey is Ubuntu-friendly, eh?

[Randomskk]

It would seem so
Not that I don't know people who order Ubuntu CDs so they can throw them at their neighbour's pet :/

Haha, come to think of it two people who did that now use (K)Ubuntu on their school laptops.

edit: we play Armagetron in biology on an ad-hoc wireless ;P

[H.E. Pennypacker]

Honest, swear beyond this Earth and all life on it!

I ordered a computer from Staples, and called their technical support to regard a hardware problem, and they asked me what program it happened on, and I told them clearly "When I booted into linux"...

They called the cops on me, and the sad part...

THEY ACTUALLY CAME!!!!!!!
They Honest to GOD, thought I was a terrorist!

(They said they had the right to, based on the Patriot Act.)

Frak, is there a website where I can read more about this incident? I am interested in the details (a longer version of what happened).

[Frak]

Frak, is there a website where I can read more about this incident? I am interested in the details (a longer version of what happened).

Not really, I got arrested and put in jail for a day untill some guy came up and convinced them that is was a legit Operating System, everybody just played coy and went on with their lives, and some just advised me to keep my nose out of that stuff, it can get me in big trouble...

Right.

[DoctorMO]

THEY ACTUALLY CAME!!!!!!!
They Honest to GOD, thought I was a terrorist!

Who wants to call up random support people with random support problems all based around linux and see what stories we can make? we'd be able to make a list of all the support peoples and their relative friendly, knowledgeable, experienced quotas.