Slashdot Mirror
Ubuntu Won't Moan To EU About Microsoft
Barence writes "The company behind the Ubuntu Linux distro says it has no plans to follow Opera's lead and file a complaint against Microsoft to the EU. Ubuntu 10.10 is the most 'consumer-friendly' version of the Linux distro to date, but it faces an uphill battle against Microsoft's marketing machine. Even high-profile supporter Dell has dropped Ubuntu machines from its website in recent months, while continuing to remind visitors that 'Dell recommends Windows 7' at the top of every PC page. 'I don't think we've ever considered [an EU complaint],' said Steve George, vice president of business development at Canonical. 'The improvements we're making to Ubunutu ... are a better route for us to reach out to users and get a bigger user base.'"
Dell is still shipping PCs with Ubuntu preloaded. You can find them here.
"Frequently wrong, never in doubt."
Dell didn't drop Ubuntu. You can still buy Dell computers preloaded with Ubuntu.
Dell has NOT dropped Ubuntu
The story is BS. PC Pro has zero credibility.
Dell, HP and Lenovo don't put up " recommends Windows 7" on each page because they actually do recommend Windows 7. They do it because Microsoft pays them money to do it.
"But ordering those systems without Windows would have been an additional level of effort with not enough financial gain to justify it."
I don't know how many machines you deal with, but the microsoft tax is fucking huge when you're dealing with hundreds of machines. There's been a couple people that have managed to order laptops without windows and received a discount for it. It takes a few hours on the phone, but you receive a laptop without an OS and a check for about $50. Multiply $50 by however many machines you have and you end up with a lot of money.
I suspect that vendors like this completely refuse to offer this no-windows option at the business level even if it means losing a sale of many hundred machines, lest they have to explain to MS why they're not getting lots of money.
To be honest, I don't know how it all works at the business level, all I know is that I'm ordering my next laptop without windows and I'm going to spend up to 12 hours on the phone to get the discount for it.
-1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
It's an uphill battle, and we've still got a ways to go, but Linux in general and Ubuntu specifically has been making great strides here.
Linux is treading water.
In most stats, it is barely visible as also-ran.
Stat Counter Global Stats
I want expecting this.
But the Linux Stat Counter stats for countries like Argentina, Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Venezuela etc., are really quite pathetic. Either these countries have gone off-line or the FOSS geek has spent too much time listening to his own propaganda.
The picture is somewhat less bleak in Uruguay - one of OLPC's great success stories. But in Rwanda - where OLPC had a confirmed, significant, deployment of 100,000 units - Linux is easily outpaced by OSX and Win 7.
Top Operating System Share Trend, iOS Tops Linux
Even when you factor in Android, the numbers don't change all that much.
OS Platform Statistics
24% Win 7: Up from 0% in Jan 09, Linux 4.5%: Up from 2.2% in Mar 03. The W3Schools stats for Linux are as good as it gets.