[Cialug] Linux hardware support

[albus]

FYI, I was told by our vendor that they will sell laptops with no OS if
I wanted. 

Not sure as to how much they are HCL wise. But at least they offer them.
I haven't tried one as yet either. But I may be tempted one of these days.

The brand is Equus out of Minneapolis, MN. I would pass the systems through
at cost for the CIALUG members if interested.

Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch. Just wanted to pass that along.

Joel

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Champion" <dave at visionary.com>
To: "Central Iowa Linux Users Group" <cialug at cialug.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Cialug] Linux hardware support


> Aaron Porter wrote:
>> On 10/18/05, David Champion <dave at visionary.com> wrote:
>> 
>>>Obviously emailing or calling them and requesting the drivers is one
>>>method. We could do a petition, but I've never been a big fan of those.
>> 
>> Vote with your feet (or your pocketbook). Make an effort to buy from vendors
>> and manufacturers that support linux. Do so even when you don't really have
>> to. Let them know that you appriciate their linux support. Do the same thing
>> at work.
> 
> I choose Dell servers, partially because they allow you to either select 
> a Linux OS (RHEL) or purchase with no OS at a discounted price. When I'm 
> talking to my Dell sales rep, I specifically tell them when I'm 
> installing Linux on them. Unfortunately they don't offer the same for 
> laptops, at least on their web site. They do have selected desktops 
> available with Linux, but looks like you have to pay for RedHat - there 
> is not a "No OS" option like on the servers.
> 
> But IMHO, this is a very passive way about it. For instance, with the 
> WiFi card situation, the vendors may not know how much demand there is 
> for Linux driver unless people actually request them. If you just buy a 
> card with Linux support... you're a tiny blip on their sales radar. 
> Chances are they won't even notice, because 90% of their customers are 
> buying the card to use under Windows anyway.
> 
> That's why I think we need to make a little noise about it... and let 
> them know that you'll purchase products that have Linux driver support.
> 
> -dc
> 
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