Taking HP to the BBB...?

[Evan Leibovitch]

I. Khider wrote:
> The second part is HP insists I buy the computer with Windows as they 
> are powerless to remove the operating system.
It' s not a matter of power, it's a matter of volume.

HP calculates the price of the system based in part of the work required 
to make it. Clearly it's more efficient -- and cheaper -- if everything 
is set up the same way. (This is why pre-built packages are almost 
always cheaper than systems that you "assemble" on the website.)

> With regards to hardware diagnostics, I could switch to Ubuntu to test 
> the wireless devices et al as I have a support contract with 
> Canonical. It is no biggie to operate outside the wonderful world of 
> Windows.
Not for you, but it could be a biggie to HP tech support. And if you're 
giving in a system for warranty repair, they need to use their own tools 
of choice to determine what's wrong.

> Bob quoted $100 for the Windows OS, maybe chump change to you but 
> that's a lot of coffee money to me.
The $100 is closer to a retail price. OEMs pay a LOT less, especially if 
it's XP rather than Windows. When doing research a few months ago I 
found OEMs who were paying $45 each -- and even that could be reduced by 
subsisides from companies (like Symantec) that want to pre-install demo 
software on every system. And bigger volume buyers such as HP could be 
paying even less per copy.

So if you expect to get back more than $40 or so you're probably 
dreaming. That's less than three weeks of Starbucks.

Which brings me back to my original question... what is your time worth?

> Sure it's a royal pain to go through this, but someone has gotta clear 
> the way for Linux users. I know of at least one other Linux user who 
> plans to buy an HP laptop in the next couple of months. He should be 
> able to ask for a warranty and removal of Windows without hassle.
That sends NOBODY a useful message and is just painful for all involved. 
You should be telling your purchaser that HP laptops do not support 
Windows and that (s)he should be partronizing a vendor that does.

It's one thing to be taken by surprise by HP's actions, but now you 
should know better. Encouraging someone else to make a new HP laptop 
purchase, KNOWING that HP laptop division is Linux-hostile, is just 
exceptionally poor consumerism. And your fight against HP will be 
largely solitary, and as likely as not to be unsuccessful.

> As long as a Linux customer gets hassle from sales at HP or any 
> corporation, the latter is anti-linux in my books. They may display 
> all sorts of public acts about how nice and Linux friendly they are, 
> but they should be 100% pro Linux or not at all. 50 or 60% or whatever 
> is not good enough.
So says you. The marketplace does not work that way, however. If people 
choose to boycott HP printers -- that have fantastic Linux support -- 
because their laptop division is Linux-hostile, then HP has *less* 
incentive to support Linux moving forward. In other words, your actions 
-- if followed by others -- will surely make HP move closer to 0 than to 
100%.

I prefer more positive strategy. It's more-fullfilling (and easier) to 
reward the friendly rather than to punish the hostile.

- Evan
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