No OS as a right

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 09:12:20PM -0400, I. Khider wrote:
> As I get responses from you (thank you very much) I would like you to
> look at this issue beyond HP and apply it to all manufacturers. To their
> credit, HP had a policy where they voided harware warranties if Linux
> was installed, which they since rescinded. This policy should be
> applicable to any manufacturer across the board, be it Dell, Sony,
> Toshiba, Ummagumma, whatever. The reason no O/S is available as an an
> option manufacturers in other countries is because consumers were active
> to voice their concerns and make a change. 
> 
> Some said 'vote with dollars', I respectfully submit that this is not
> possible to do in Canada at this time. For instance, with Dell, only
> select models have Ubuntu installed. What if I wanted a model where
> Ubuntu is not an option? Such is the case--the computers I want have
> Windows installed. A consumer ought to purchase ANY model from ANY
> manufacturer and decide whether s/he wishes to have the Windows O/S. 

Who says you should have that choice?  If you buy a Mac, it comes with
Mac OS X installed.  If you buy some HP models, they come with Windows
installed.  That's just how they come and that is how they are built.
It is called mass production, and it helps to lower overall costs.

If you want a Toyota Camry in lime green with purple flowers on it,
should Toyota offer it in that colour, or offer it unpainted so that
you can get it painted yourself and reduce the cost by the amount they
didn't spend on painting it?  It's the same thing.  Just because making
a laptop without an OS is pretty easy, doesn't mean it is simple to do
with a given manufacturing process without adding useless extra costs.

> I do not think this is asking for the moon. In our society, we should
> have choice.

And if HP decided that the model includes what OS is on it for simplicity,
then you want a model that includes windows.  If you don't want windows,
then you want a different model, which isn't one HP makes, probably
because they don't think there is a market for it big enough to justify
the costs.

I would love to see lots of computers offered without windows on them,
but I also like to spend as little as possible for good hardware.

-- 
leN Sorensen
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