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Is There An OS On My Hard Drive?
stm2 writes "Thanks to an agreement between Lindows and Seagate, from October you will be able to choose a hard drive with or without Lindows. Michael Robertson, in his usual marketing speak, compares this to adding "Fluoride in the water", because now you get for free something you used to need to go after (people used to go to dentist to get their Fluoride). According to the PR, the OS can autodetect and configure itself on the host machine."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
There is a big chunk of people out there who aren't afraid to open up their own machines, but use Windows because they don't have enough Round Tuits to try Linux.
If Lindows is easy enough to give a go it might last for a few days before being scrubbed (doesn't play game X)... but then the idea that Linux systems can do things pretty well will stick in the back of the mind for the next time they have to assemble a 'second machine' for general use in the house.
Beep beep.
with or without an Lindows
Silent L? Hmm...
At any rate, I have trouble seeing what Lindows is trying to accomplish with this move, outside of PR. Joe Sixpack will never buy his own drive, or at least his own system drive, and DIY people will, well, do it themselves. I'm sure it would be easier, and less failure-prone at that, to let OEMs install and configure for their hardware and then image their drives rather than hope that a preloaded OS on the HDD will work.
So, what's the point of this?
I can't think of a good reason that any of these situations would merit booting a default OS from a hard disk, rather than formatting it, and installing what you want.
The only people who might leave the Lindows OS on the hard disk are shops that build beige boxes, and don't want to burn a windows license to deliver a working computer. Maybe the mom and pop PC market is what they're after.
-- lk t lv ll th vwls t f wrds. T svs lts f tm t wrt bt ts pn n th ss t rd nd mks m lk lk cmplt dpsht.
First off, it's not MS Windows so it's not *that* bad. second, you can opt to just get a blank drive. Third, it's kinda convenient.
:P nobody has a gun to your head saying you need to buy Lindows pre-installed on a seagate drive. I'm certainly not, although if i was buying a seagate i'd consider it.
:)
so quitcher bitchin
Plus for consumers this'll be "wow, no configuration, just plug the new drive in and the OS is there?" it's going to be great. Might even cause another mini-migration from windows for people who decide to get these drives.
But i could be wrong.
You like your new Mac more than you like me, don't you, Dave? Dave? I asked...She said Yes.
The first ten comments consisted of:
- 1 first post
- 5 complaints about the submitter's lack of English skills and/or the editors' failure to correct same
- 2 comments on how fluoride is not good for you
- 1 comment making a double entendre about "getting stuff for free"
- 1 Gentoo fanboy comment
- Exactly zero comments about the article itself
I predict that these proportions will be true for this article no matter how many comments it collects.
From the article:
Fifty-five percent of the computers sold today are "white boxes" meaning they don't carry a brand name. They are typically assembled by small to medium size companies.
s/OEMs/small to medium size companies/ in my previous post, and it still holds; unless these are really small companies, that only put out a few boxes a month or something, it'll still take not significantly more time and be more reliable to configure and image instead of using preloaded installers. Unless the companies in question have absolutely no computer expertise, and would Lindows really want to trust its reputation to such companies?
Who cares if most people will wipe their drives? Some might not, and either way some people will find out about the existence of Lindows. I don't think Lindows is betting their company on this move, so there is no need to rip on them for being dumb. If a drive is going to ship, it might as well have something on it by default. And if its going to have something on it, why not Lindows? Seems like they got a deal, even though its not going to make a huge difference. I think this is a smart move, and props to Lindows being smart enough to do it. People are so anxious to call Lindows (the company) stupid that they are overreacting to a small move made by the company.
I like this idea. Those guys at Lindows sure know how to get publicity. Proof in point, they're on the front page of Slashdot for what, the 50th time? I'm going to guess that they'll be on Wired.com, News.com, a few newspapers, and elsewhere in the morning.
Sure, most people will format the software upon arrival. Sure, few people are going to convert to Linux because of a preloaded OS on the HD. BUT, it costs nothing. Nothing to Lindows, nothing to Seagate (they have to test the drives anyway, it's trivial to load some software), and nothing to the end-consumer.
At the very least, we shouldn't be dismissing this effort. It's another small step to bringing consciousness of Linux to the average PC user. Isn't that something we all want to bring some balance to the OS market?
I never thought this would be a way to undercut MickeySoft's OEM practices....
Now, instead of asking, "Why should I over-right Windows? I have an OS that comes with my Dell!" People will say, "Why should I pay an additional $200 for Windows? I have an OS that comes with my hard drive!"
Why should it cost more? You don't think Seagate writes a crapload of bits to the drive during testing? You don't think they could see to it that the last pass leaves a certain combination of bits (Lindows) instead of some other combination of bits (1010101010.. or SEAGATE OWNERZ YOU!!!)
Anyway, even if there is a cost, it seems clear that Lindows is paying it. Lindows isn't going to sell more hard drives, if anything it will sell less since people don't need the uber-GB that an XP install requires. So if Seagate isn't getting anything out of it, there's no reason for them to increase the cost to customers and hurt themselves in the market.
Rather, it makes sense they are selling this otherwise empty space to whoever wants to use it. Lindows gets a change to make a convert. If nothing else, its free advertising. Hell, if I buy a drive that comes pre-loaded I'd probably check it out for curiousity sake.
It's a smart idea. I predict that other hard drive makes make similar deals. What if someone decided to load the drive full of DRM music that people could just click-n-buy? Think about it...
- JoeShmoe
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-- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
Lindows the OS is free.. If you want to take advantage of Lindows, you need to PAY for the SERVICES that open Lindows up to a useable product..
If you get a drive with or without lindows.. its still the same price..
"Consider how lucky you are that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far
OK.
So the biggest problem Linux faces on the Desktop is the Microsoft-sponsored stranglehold on the industry.
Not only are OEMs strongly discouraged from installing Linux, they are usually contractually obligated not to install anything else!
So, Mr. Cowpland, making the best of a *bad* situation, goes one back in the supply chain - to the hard disk manufacturers!
Wow. Good thinking! No OEM contracts! Product delivered, ready for use!
I know, 90% of these preinstalls are going to be nuked. So what. If Lindows gets 1%, given the cost of duplication on the drives, this is a smashing success.
And, what else is he going to do? Knock Lindows as the orphan child of Linux, but, like Red Hat, this is clearly a positive commercial influence.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
This is somewhat nonsensical.
:) I wonder if Mandrake or Red Hat will cut a similar deal with Quantum or whoever?
Flouride as a preventative measure against cavities was first discovered by the dentists. Of course, the industry/government might be exploiting the situation, but I think the author of the linked article perhaps is paranoid to the irrational.
But pre-installed Lindows on hard drives sold seperately is an excellent idea
Stop the brainwash
Anything in quantity is a poison. Hell you can die from drinking too much water.
Yes flouride is a poison, but it is also good for you in small doses, the kind of dose that they put in drinking water.
I'm having trouble deciding which sucks harder -- Lindows or HanzoSan. They're both so far beyond any conventional, comprehendible level of suck.
Suppose a copy of Lindows costs $50.
Suppose the version packaged on Seagate drives is subsidised to $25 because there's no media, etc with it.
Suppose as many as one in ten users keep Lindows on their drive.
That means that the extra cost is only $2.50 per disk. Is that going to affect people's choice of drive so much? Most people use one brand and stick to it.
After reading (and agreeing to) all the comments pointing out that this pre-installation totally misses any targeted audience, I think at the end of the day this might be just a strategy to inflate the number of "sold units" of lindows.
You know, much in the same way as it is argued that the real installed user base for Windows machines is actually lower, since OEM sales of boxen that are later re-formatted and Redhatized are also counted as Windows installations in industry statistics. So, every drive sold marks one unit of Lindows out there, whether it's DOA or not.
These are the tactics that we accused Microsoft of when they were trying to push other browsers like Netscape and other OSes like Linux out of the market. I'm pretty convinced they work.
:-) I'm a lazy guy!
Give people for free the stuff that you want them to at least try once. They they have to DO THINGS to get rid of it or change it. People are lazy, so at least some won't.
As to where will this end up? Well the small white-box assembly shops might be tempted to use the Lindows install on the drive to burn-in the computer. And leave it on if the customer didn't order a MicroSoft install. So the end users might end up seeing it. Great.
Some people buy a new HD, and will install it as the first drive, move the old one over. Bingo!
I installed two machines last week. They came with Seagate drives. Had a Debian based installation already been present, I'd just have upgraded that.
and later...
In fact, IIRC, the effect of fluoride on dental care was discovered when someone (anthropologists?) realized that people in some regions had excellent teeth in spite of poor general dental hygiene.
You lost me there, maybe you don't "RC" after all. Okay, people were convinced that fluoride was good for [their teeth], does not mean it is. Fluoride in the water is a different kettle of fish. Okay maybe they've found prehistoric remains with great teeth, now show me someone living in a state with fluoridated water with excellent teeth despite no dental care.
I don't really understand why Seagate is mentioned. Lindows is delivering their OS on a HDD. It happens they chose Seagate but it's not like Seagate have added Lindows to their products...
Yup. Even as a _strong_ Open Source and Linux proponent, I think this is a bad idea.
I wouldn't want my "blank" TDK cassettes with Plastic Bertrand pre-recorded on them.
Linux, and all the other options, chould be _chosen_.
YAW.
Your head of state is a corrupt weasel, I hope you're happy.
Fluoride in the water supply is more effective b/c it actually gets incorporated into teeth. Fluoride in toothpaste is a much less effective topical treatment.
Maybe we are. There's an awful lot of unexplained cancer deaths this past 50 years. It's the funniest thing. Before that people didn't really get cancer.
One aspect of what you say is true: People get more cancer now than 50 years ago. Maybe this is because people live MUCH LONGER now than 50 years ago, so they died of other causes before they were old enough to get cancer.
200 years ago no one got Alzheimer's either, but then again, most people died before they were 60....
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
don't understand why i must drink what's in my toothpaste.
I don't understand the fundamental basis for gravity but I'm glad I don't float off into space while I try and work it out :-)
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.