On Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 01:14:44PM -0500, Seth Goodman wrote: > Paul Walsh wrote on Friday, March 30, 2007 2:23 AM -0600: > > > Seth Goodman wrote: > > > > > Most people could not complete a Linux install without a phone call > > > to tech support. I suspect that's one part of the reason there are > > > so few no-OS boxes. When the install doesn't turn out right, their > > > first call is to the people who sold them the hardware, even though > > > that's the least likely place to have a problem. Technically > > > sophisticated users do not tend to do this, but that's a pretty > > > small market. > > > > > > > But surely the people most likely to buy no-OS boxes are also most > > likely to be clued up when it comes to installation? Someone new to > > Linux (or computing in general) isn't likely to buy a box without an > > OS on it, just as a newly qualified driver isn't likely to buy a car > > without an engine in it (unless they happen to be an auto-mechanic, > > of course). > > That's true as long as the price is the same. Other posters in this > thread have given credible arguments why mainstream PC vendors have a > similar cost whether they install Windows or not. If PC vendors > nonetheless did offer a no-OS box at a lower price, people who are not > capable of Linux installation would buy them and immediately call when > they can't install their personal choice of Linux distro. your comment has just given me an epiphany as to why pc's must come pre-installed. It has to do with the inability of average folks not being able to install windows. It also has to do with the installation discs that require custom modification. If a user got a Dell pc without an os, they supposedly need to get an windows install Cd. This cd would not be customized with perhaps vendor drivers for network cards, video cards, sata hard drives and similar. So the comsumer would need the windows os cd and then would need a dell pc 'driver disk'. But it might be possible that a generic windows os cd would not work. So the consumer would get a pc, pop in the cd and not know what the hell they are doing and call tech support. This would mean that Dell would have to hire double the amount of tech support for 'new installs'. Then the user would have to do the 25 reboots and spend 6 hours on the phone after getting his/her new pc. And if everything worked, they he/she would still be frustrated and if it didn't work, they send back the pc and say 'fix it'. So this saves Dell lots of tech support costs, lots of workers, and saves the reputation of Dell and Microsoft too boot. So by hiding all this 'work', it makes windows 'cheap' and 'easy to install'. While if the sitution was reversed, then windows would look expensive and 'hard to install'. -- | .''`. == Debian GNU/Linux == | my web site: | | : :' : The Universal |mysite.verizon.net/kevin.mark/| | `. `' Operating System | go to counter.li.org and | | `- http://www.debian.org/ | be counted! #238656 | | my keyserver: subkeys.pgp.net | my NPO: cfsg.org | |join the new debian-community.org to help Debian! | |_______ Unless I ask to be CCd, assume I am subscribed _______|
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