[ale] $299 Linux PC's

[Greg]

In the past, MS has twisted the arms of several hardware mfg's to 1) use
only the MS OS and 2) to increase the pc makers cost of the OS license (what
is referred to as "the MS tax").  Up until Wal-Mart, no one really has had
the clout (or the fortitude) to go against MS.  While MS is big, WalMart is
bigger (and I would argue meaner and more fanatical). I think Dell used to
put Linux on a box, then stopped.  HP/Compaq got squished.  IBM does what it
wants to as does Apple, Sun, and SGI (since they all do hardware &
software).  Alpha's got squished by MS (I heard), as MS got rid of their OS
for Alpha's - though many use a BSD for them, since the hardware is
desirable.  So, ... any big name store with a box running a *nix (even
Lindows) is big news.  And a small $300 box can be loaded with a whole slew
of Linux stuff for small business (server) or even as a workstation for the
masses.

However, the biggest thing is that it represents consumer choice in the
market place to some degree.  'Bout time.

Greg

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-admin at ale.org [mailto:ale-admin at ale.org]On Behalf Of Sean
> Kilpatrick
> Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 5:17 PM
> To: ale at ale.org
> Subject: Re: [ale] $299 Linux PC's
>
>
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> On Saturday 09 August 2003 05:11 pm, Eric Melo wrote:
> > What is Sam's Club? is it a store??
> > And why all the entiasm in geting a box all setup?
>
> Sam's Club is a competitor of Costco and other "discount"
> marketers who require an annual fee to shop in their stores.
> Careful shopping can net significant savings -- but all
> items come packaged in large amounts. This is fine when
> feeding teenagers or running a boarding house, not so useful
> for a married couple whose children are long gone from the
> nest.
>
> The appearance of a low-end computer with any verison of
> Linux already installed is significant as it marks a crack,
> even if microscopically small, in M$'s monolothic structure.
> By way of comparison, the other computers on the showroom floor
> this afternoon all had Windows SP Home Edition as the installed
> OS.
>
> Sean
>
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