Dell's Open Source Desktop Systems

An anonymous reader writes "An article at XYZComputing goes over Dell's open source line of desktop computers and workstations. The N line is something which Dell began to sell recently, but the situation is much more complex that it would seem. There is often little or no discount given if consumers opt to go with FreeDOS as their operating system. There is also a great link in the article showing how Dell is selling AMD processors in their Accessories section!" From the article: "A major hurdle preventing the growth of Linux with non-professional users has been installation the operating system and dealing with the resultant compatibility issues. An ideal solution to this would be a major manufacturer which is willing to sell computers with Linux preinstalled. This would not only make it easy for users to buy a computer and have Linux running after simply plugging it in, but it would theoretically allow the manufacturer to lower the cost of a computer because software licensing costs could be minimized."

Comments

Good review but ...

[hotspotbloc]

Good

Review

but

a

hassle

to

read.

Maybe with Web 2.0 someone will invent a way to put more than two paragraphs of text on a single web page.

Re:Sadly, not likely to happen soon

[mooingyak]

I have heard OEM license numbers as low as $30 for XP Home. It retails for $99 - so the total spread is $70. I know margins are tight, but will $70 (assuming the mfg ends up paying retail, which is unlikely) really make that much difference?

$70 makes no difference whatsoever. Consumers are always happy to pay an extra $70. They often complain that prices are too low.

is anyone else tired of Zonk's love for xyz?

[ianmassey]

Every day it seems like there's a new link to xyzcomputing, which is possibly the most uninformative and sophomoric tech site in existence. Without exception, every link he's posted to their crappy site has been either A) dumb and uninteresting or B) a repeat of a previous Slashdot post as well as dumb and uninteresting.

Here is the text of an email I just shot off to Zonk, i'll be curious to see if I get a response:

Zonk,

At a frequency which is RIDICULOUS, you post links to xyzcomputing.net on the Slashdot front page, for articles ranging from stupid and uninformative to COMPLETE REPEATS of stuff that was posted on Slashdot A MONTH AGO. To me, the only reason that would make any sense at all for you to be doing this is that you're pocketing money from xyzcomputing ad revenues. The site is garbage, their articles are juvenile, and they have never ONCE posted anything that hasn't already been dissected up, down and every which way elsewhere on the web. I request that you either provide a logical and proveable explanation for your repeated links to their site, or that you quit polluting Slashdot with their garbage.

I eagerly await your response.

Ian L. Massey
Slashdot subscriber #743270

In all seriousness, I do not spend money subscribing to Slashdot to see this dirge on such a frequent basis. No one and nothing is perfect, and I certainly do not expect this site to be an exception, but this has just gone too far. If he's pocketing xyzcomputing ad money then he can use some of it to refund my subscription fee, cause I'm tired of being exposed to this trash.

Re:Sadly, not likely to happen soon

[bogie]

My sarcasm detector just exploded.