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Falling Hardware Prices Favor Linux
An anonymous reader sends us to a blog posting arguing that, as hardware prices fall below $250 for laptops and desktops, Linux should gain as the Microsoft tax stands out in sharper relief. "In previous years, if you were spending US$1500 and up on a laptop, the Microsoft tax you were paying didn't seem like such a big deal. XP or Vista was pre-installed, fairly convenient... But as the price of hardware for small basic machines comes down, (think under US$250 by the end of next year), then software price starts to become a big issue. Why would you pay the price of your new laptop again just for the software, when all you want to do is really basic things?"
No. A tax is an obligatory payment to some higher powers. You don't want Windows? Good , buy a Mac, use Linuzzzz, Amiga, BeOS or write your own OS. Nobody actually is putting a gun in in your mouth.
Could you point me to the laptop or desktop I can buy that doesn't have Windows on it? The desktops are just now starting to come out without Windows. I don't know of any laptops off the top of my head (there may be one or two) that don't give a surcharge for Linux in one form or another. So my "choice" is to either a) Buy and pay for a Laptop with windows, or b) Not purchase a laptop.
Yes, I could choose B, but if I WANT A LAPTOP, I HAVE TO BUY WINDOWS. It's just like, if I WANT to live in the US, I HAVE TO PAY TAXES. Sure, I COULD live somewhere else, but if I want to live in the US (if I want to buy a laptop), I HAVE TO PAY for something I don't want. There are taxes I am willing to pay for, but there are many I'm not. Yet, I'm still forced to pay them, just like I am forced to pay the MS Tax to buy a laptop.
So yes, it's a tax.
*head explodes*
You are a fucking retarded. You have to license the algorithms to decode mp3 - the patents have not been shown to be too broad in court, so until they are, you need to pay or sue - ignoring the issue is not an option in bussiness jesus fucking christ. Not that it's even that expensive.
Licensing rates - as low as $0.75
Get your head out of your opensource ass, if Linux wants to play in the business world, you have to pay licensing for technologies that are NOT open source that your customers want. If you don't understand that, then you need to grow the fuck up.