More on Dell and licenses

[Marcel (Free Thinker at Large) Gagne]

Hello everyone,

Every few days, I get these wonderful special offers from Dell via my fax line 
(I never gave them or anyone the number, but fax offers from various 
companies come nonetheless).  After reading all the Dell and Windows refund 
posts, I decided to see what happened if you went through the "I don't want 
Windows installed" process BEFORE you bought a system.  In other words, no 
question of refunds -- you just don't buy it first and ask later.

Anyhow, the young lady was friendly and helpful, but she was also totally 
confused when I suggested that I wanted to purchase the machine without 
Windows (the deal really is a good deal and I could use a test machine).  She 
explained that all computers come with Windows and I very nicely explained 
that while this was indeed the most common scenario, it wasn't the only one.  
When she asked me how I would use the computer, I told her I would run Linux 
instead.  She then asked me if I would then like to have Linux installed and 
I said "Yes".  Wow, I thought . . . could it be so simple?

No.  She told me that she had to confirm this with her manager and asked me to 
hold for a moment.  When she came back, she told me that her manager had told 
her that all I had to do was forget the Windows installation and install 
Linux instead since they could not (or would not) install Linux for me.  
Fine, I told her.  I can do that.  Will you offer me a discount for not 
getting Windows?   Again a chat with the manager.  She came back and told me 
that they could not do that since all PCs come with Windows -- all I had to 
do was erase it.  Surely, I said, there is some cost involved in a copy of 
Windows XP (home edition), WordPerfect, and Quicken.  Again, a chat with the 
manager.  No, he told her, there is no cost.  All the software is FREE, so no 
discount is possible because it doesn't cost anything to begin with.

The implications of the word FREE here are a powder keg waiting for a match.  
I chose not to persue it any further and told her I would think about it.   
The PC is $499 for a 2.2 Gig Celeron with 128 meg RAM, 40 Gig HD, a 17 inch 
monitor, integrated ethernet and sound -- still a good deal.

Later, eh.

-- 
Marcel (Writer and Free Thinker at Large) Gagné
Note:  This massagee wos nat speel or gramer-checkered.
Mandatory home page reference - http://www.marcelgagne.com/
Author : "Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye!"
   Also by Marcel : Linux System Administration, A User's Guide
Join the WFTL-LUG : http://www.salmar.com/marcel/wftllugform.html

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