Punch Cards.

[Da Rock]

On Mon, 2008-04-07 at 21:03 -0400, max wrote:
> Da Rock wrote:
> > On Mon, 2008-04-07 at 13:59 -0400, max bianco wrote:
> >> On Mon, Apr 7, 2008 at 1:43 PM, Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com> wrote:
> >>> Tim wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On Fri, 2008-04-04 at 13:28 -0700, David L. Gehrt wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> The disk drive were pretty good EXCEPT the spindle bearings were made of
> >>>>> some space age material prone  to disintegration after a short period of
> >>>>> use.  I knew DEC  was going to be in trouble when  the repair guy stated
> >>>>> that the problem we had with  those bearings was because we were running
> >>>>> UNIX not DEC's VMS OS.
> >>>>>
> >>>> I've heard similar bulldust about using Linux being the cause of some
> >>>> problem that it couldn't possibly be.  It makes you wonder whether these
> >>>> people believe their own rubbish, are incompetent, or think that you're
> >>>> stupid.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>  Or just want to get out of warranty... there was an article (Slashdot IIRC)
> >>> about HP voiding warranty on laptops converted to Linux, even though they
> >>> sell similar models with Linux installed. Never checked it out, don't care,
> >>> but I assume it's true.
> >>>
> >> I have heard similar stories. Recently I bought my better half a new
> >> laptop. I went around to the usual stores and point blank told them
> >> that Windows would last long enough for one boot just to make sure the
> >> thing was working before I wiped the harddrive and flashed the bios.
> >> They told me they wouldn't honor any warranty on the hardware if the
> >> original OS was not there. Needless to say they didn't get the sale. I
> >> called Dell and told them that since their Linux offerings were so
> >> weak I was going to get an XP laptop and wipe it off to install Linux.
> >> They told me they would honor the hardware warranty regardless of the
> >> OS. Sold. Now she's happy and so am I.
> > 
> > Is there any success in getting Dell to sell hardware without the OS?
> > They don't sell the linux systems anywhere but the US.
> > 
> 
> They wouldn't sell me one with no OS but they are willing to support the 
> hardware which in my book is just as good and no less than they should 
> do anyway.
> I think in the future they may offer blank hardware but they'd find 
> someway to keep charging just as much so it really doesn't matter. I'd 
> like to see Dell offer RedHat on a desktop , there are plenty of small 
> businesses that would quickly jump on to save a few bucks, even with the 
> cost of support(which they wouldn't need for more than a year or two) 
> they'd save big on applications, the day is coming I think but not soon 
> enough for my taste.
> 
> Max
> 

Indeed. Considering now M$ is no longer offering OEM which means costs
will go up...

On the blank hardware front- anyone know where to get notebook mb's? I
can find screens and chassis, but no mb. I asked AMD but they avoided
the question, and I don't really want intel. But at this point I'm
beyond caring.

If I can achieve this then I'll support blank hardware- any buyers here?