No OS as a right

[Evan Leibovitch]

I. Khider wrote:
> HP said they will only change their policy if it will impact their
> sales. As it stands, Linux users are too shy to ask for the Windows OS
> be removed. Linux users (it seems) in fact like to pay for Windows.
Sorry, but this statement indicates both why you have no case and why
you *should* have no case.

If you don't like HP's policy, don't buy HP. Or don't buy *that* HP
model, and choose one that has Linux pre-installed (ie,
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13845_3-10076884-58.html)

But please stop whining about it. This is no different than any other
consumer purchase decision in which some of the choices include features
you don't use.

I don't use Bluetooth -- but I recently bought a laptop that had
built-in Bluetooth. That extra electronics (and potential battery drain)
I was prepared to pay "extra" for, because I liked the rest of the total
package (keyboard, weight, peripheral slots, Linux device support,
company reputation, reliability, etc.) It's not AT ALL that I'm too
"shy" to ask for a system without Bluetooth. I simply made the decision
that one overall package of features was a better value than its
alternatives. That occasionally means -- in a car, a camera, or a
computer -- paying for features I don't want in order to get the
features I really do need.

Having Windows pre-installed, for a Linux user, is simply an example of
one such "feature" that you don't use. Treating it as anything more than
that -- as if it's your *right* to get the HP model of your choice
shipped without Windows -- will (and should) get you laughed at by the
BBB and government consumer agencies. I hope they were at least polite
in blowing you off.

You have a choice not to buy HP. That's the strongest possible statement
you can make -- if enough other people make the same decision then HP
will change its approach. And now that an increasing number of vendors
are making Linux options available you can't say you have no choice. Or
if it really really matters to you, buy the no-OS laptop from a foreign
retailer and be prepared to pay the premium that such a choice requires.


> It has been suggested I buy the laptop and take HP to Small Claims
> Court and get the OS cost back that way. Two people from TLUG advocate
> this course of action--can anyone else give feedback on this?

As I wrote in an earlier email, the amount of money that laptop vendors
pays Microsoft varies from $15 (for XP on netbooks) to $70 (for Vista on
larger laptops). After discounting subsidies for demonstration software
pre-loads (ie, anti-virus), the amount you would stand to receive -- in
the unlikely event you win(*) -- would barely cover the cost of parking
under city hall for your court trip and the gas to get you there.

And... what is your time worth?

- Evan

(*) -- just my opinion. IANAL

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gtalug.org/pipermail/legacy/attachments/20090420/eb9d0b72/attachment.html>