[Newark] Dell supplying Ubuntu... or not

[Steve Caddy]

On 25/07/10 11:44, Richard Street wrote:
> 
> Dell annoy me with this, because even when they do supply a PC/Laptop
> with Ubuntu, it generally costs more than the equivalent XP machine! I'd
> prefer them to ship it with no OS.

Indeed. I regret not reclaiming the value of my unused Vista licence, but the
hoops are just too much bother to jump through.

> One of the lads even installed Ubuntu over his
> home PC a couple of days later (after taking advice on making sure
> everything was backed up that he needed), an easy transition for him as
> 99% of everything he needs it for is online now.

This was my experience of switching from Win2k to Ubuntu back in April 2008.
Ok, I admit I've had a Linux PC of some description knocking about since 1997,
having worked my way from Redhat 4.1 to 9, then trying Suse for a couple of
days, then Gentoo for a couple of years, before discovering Ubuntu. Even so,
you can imagine my surprise when my Firefox favourites imported without
question, and my Thunderbird email folders simply copied across with no ill
effects. There was only one windows app (which happens to be GPL too) that I
couldn't get a Linux replacement for, and it runs in Wine. I see no need to
use Windows for anything any more.

The question is, what more can we do to shrug off this apparent image of
requiring a degree in computer science to even look at Linux? As such a small
LUG, I don't think there's much we can do, which is why I posted this news to
Nottingham LUG too, however, there hasn't been much response. Maybe a few
interviews on local radio? I know the BBC are always looking for "user
generated content", and then there are loads of small community stations,
including one in Newark. However, what do we say, without appearing to be
nerds or open source zealots?

Steve

-- 
Steven M Caddy, MEng ------------------------------------------------------
Email: steve.m.caddy at ntlworld.com