[nzlug] Laptops sans OS possible:

[Simon Bridge]

I'm moving the sales-end discussion off list.

So far I've had two responses to inquiry - one (Ark) will deliver sans
OS, for any HW - but it is difficult to ascertain that I wouldn't be
paying for one anyway (the price seems to be not a lot different).

It is a noted phenominon that it is often possible to buy HW with a
licence much more cheaply than without. i.e. the DELL Ubuntu offerings,
while technically cheaper than an equivalent build on the same HW, are
all much more expensive than the cheapest windows build.

It does seem that I have hit on something when it comes to second-hand
HW - in many cases the original OEM license has expired. Therefore,
adding a new licence represents an overhead to the vendor which needs to
be passed on to the customer somehow.

Vendors typically pre-purchase licenses for install. Not supplying a
license doesn't inconvenience them as they can always sell it to someone
else.

Vendors need to receive requests for HW without licenses to wake them up
to the idea... maybe they'll start *advertising* this is available.

Even just fielding explicit requests for Linux supported HW should
create a pause for thought.

At the moment, linux users are perceived as a fringe, almost a crank,
market. That has to change.

Politically, the purchasing policy should favour the sans license
supplier... however, Jack could have said "yeah - I can get blank nx5000
for $70 off the licence price" and how would I check?

Honesty and openness is also part of the FOSS philosophy, and should be
given weight.

It will be interesting to see how much power the buyer actually has in
this situation. If there is interest, I can keep the list informed.
However, I intend to keep exact negotiations off list.

Bulk purchase increases the clout. So if anyone wants a cheap linux
laptop, please let me know - again, off list - and I'll order an extra
one :)

On Sat, 2007-11-17 at 08:53 +1300, Jack Pivac wrote:
> Ian Beardslee wrote:
> >
> > Heh, in a Linux user group thread about Laptops sans OS, we get someone
> > touting a laptop with XP Home ... classic ;-)
> >