Tag Archives: linux

Dell Ultrabook with Ubuntu Linux OS Costs More Than Dell Ultrabook with Windows, Which is Stupid

For those who don’t know, Ubuntu is the most popular and pedestrian-friendly version of the free, open-source Linux operating system–it’s basically the version of Linux with the UI easiest to use for folks more familiar with Windows. Except it’s a million times cooler than Windows, because it’s run by a community of passionate nerds for the good of the world, and it’s free.

Now:

Dell’s XPS 13 “Developer Edition” ultrabook comes loaded with Ubuntu’s current Precise Pangolin iteration, rather than Windows and all the bloated crapware that usually comes pre-loaded on any commercial Windows machine. This means the laptop is loaded with less software, and the software on it is FREE.

Yet, at $1550, the “Developer Edition” costs $50 more than the usual Windows-laden model.

Why? Because software companies subsidize hardware companies’ offerings. That’s why 99% of all machines out there have Windows, and some lame antivirus program, and 200 other things you don’t want or need–because Microsoft and these other companies pay firms like Dell to put their stuff on the computers. So, eventually, we get to a place where you have to pay more for a machine with not only less software, but free software to boot.

I understand completely the mechanics and economics at work here.

That it’s easy to understand doesn’t make it any less jacked up and wrong. Actually, it makes it more so.

(via Gizmodo)

Jolicloud Might Be Killing It

I’m a tech- and gadget-phile, but I’m not really tech-savvy; I just want my shit to work. So when a generalized dislike of Microsoft and insufficient funds for a new Apple laptop combined to inspire me to get a netbook with the Ubuntu version of open-source operating system Linux pre-installed, I found myself drowning in system hang-ups, compatibility issues and other problems.

(If you understood less than 25 percent of that last sentence, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t have either before this whole fiasco. Go read something else, today I’m recommending Florida Sportsman or anything by Vonnegut.)

It’s not that Linux is a bad alternative to Windows or OS X. It’s just that, to me, it seems designed more for die-hard computer lovers who like to tinker, customize and innovate endlessly. I don’t want to tinker, customize or innovate. I want to connect to my home’s wifi network, see images and videos on the websites I visit, hear sounds, and get my documents to look the way I want ’em, all of which were either hard or impossible to do via the version of Ubuntu that came installed on my Dell Mini 12, and various other versions of Linux that I tried. (To be fair, Dell screwed the pooch by using some obscure hardware that isn’t properly supported by Linux, then went ahead and put the software that didn’t support it on the damn machine.)

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