[extropy-chat] A nonZen story

[BillK]

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 17:54:57 -0800, spike wrote:
> I asked about this.  He complained about a Microsoft tax:
> he refuses to buy a machine that has any Billware already
> loaded.  He lives out in the sticks too, I don't know
> if that is a factor.
> 

You're all talking about different animals. Amara wants an Apple Mac
laptop, Spike's friend wants a Linux box, Dirk is offering a Windows
complete setup.

The computer industry in UK is very competitive. You can get anything
you want, but you get what you pay for. There is very little excess
profit margin for suppliers.
(Apple excepted - they live in their own little world).

If you need a lot of handholding, (i.e. your first pc), you go to the
big stores like PCWorld and buy a Windows setup with everything the
salesman can talk you into. Say £600 upwards. But you get (in theory)
phone help, engineers that come round to your house, support desks in
the store where you can bring stuff back to get it fixed, no problem
swaps if something breaks, etc.

If you can do it all yourself, (i.e. your 3rd or 4th pc) you go to one
of the small shops who will assemble a box with no operating system,
exactly as you specify. You are talking about £200-£300 depending on
how exotic your spec is. Insert one of the new Linux cds, like
Xandros, and half an hour later you have a running Linux system.

It is still hard work to avoid using Microsoft. You need to buy Linux
magazines to find out where to get stuff, get to know your local Linux
group, join Linux groups online, etc.
i.e. you have to educate yourself to survive outside the cozy Windows cocoon.

Laptops generally are still about 50% - 100% more than desktop boxes
and Apple is more expensive still. And Linux tends to be a bit picky
about which laptops it is completely happy to run on. Some laptops
have specialised hardware that need their own Linux drivers written.
Laptops for Linux is a favourite topic in Linux support groups. ;)

At present Linux and Apple boxes are generally ignored by almost all
the viruses and spyware that infest the Windows world. They still get
flooded with spam emails tho! :)

BillK