4 ms·

What's stopping Grannies from adopting Linux is the fact that legislators still seem to believe that it's not an abuse of monopolistic power by Microsoft to for

What's stopping Grannies from adopting Linux is the fact that legislators still seem to believe that it's not an abuse of monopolistic power by Microsoft to force laptop manufacturers into forcing the consumer to pay for an OS he doesn't need. The EU's commission whose job it is to ensure healthy competition has been sleeping on this since a few decades now. They should get some of that coffee. It's really beyond me how MS is still allowed to operate like this. Why have companies like Redhat, Canonical, etc. not filed a complaint with the EU yet?

poolpool 13y ago
"pay for an OS he doesn't need." Pay for an os HE? doesn't need. I know the hn community isn't exactly sensitive to gender and age issues but come on. Why is the consumer he? Especially when we are speaking about this mythical "granny."
- josteink 13y ago
  It may just be me, but it hardly seems constructive to be nitpicking on a gender-specific article in a sentence which would become convoluted if rewritten to use a gender-neutral form.
- theandrewbailey 13y ago
  This is one of the countless known bugs in the English language. You're welcome to try to fix it (the core developers died centuries ago), but the large userbase is unlikely to accept fixes.
ryanackley 13y ago
Maybe you're experiencing some residual anger from 10 years ago because Microsoft is nowhere near a monopoly anymore. You can buy a laptop loaded with Linux from Best Buy or Dell. Most creative professionals I know own Mac OS X laptops including myself. The Samsung Chromebook is the #1 sellng laptop on Amazon (or was a few months ago). Now if only IE would go in a corner and die...
diaz 13y ago
I agree on his one. For example in Portugal it's almost impossible to buy a computer with linux or no OS, you simply can't. Last time I asked about it and told them that if they sent the computer to the manufactor or if they contacted them they would sell it to me without OS, the seller simply told me that he can't sell the computer like that and that the pc + os are a package and there's no way to separate them. Recently I saw like 2 asus eeepc with ubuntu at shops, but that's it. Weak, small computers that almost nobody will buy and then they will tell the excuse "ohh, computers with linux don't sell". Simply stupid, I mean too damn smart for microsoft. Monopoly rules and still exists. Most people won't buy stuff from amazon or any other online shop, specially a computer that's something expensive and that if they have problems they can't simply go to the shop for maintenance. I think most people here live in a dream world when they say this kind of problem is solved. Please stop thinking only about how you see the world ( hackers that dominate technology and internet, living in 1st world countries ) and think how normal, granny type users live and experience the world. And I must laugh when people also say that ipad or mac computers are cheap enough for these users, seriously I don't know what to think... And sorry, I know I may be ranting a little but this must be said.

poolpool 13y ago

"pay for an OS he doesn't need." Pay for an os HE? doesn't need. I know the hn community isn't exactly sensitive to gender and age issues but come on. Why is the consumer he? Especially when we are speaking about this mythical "granny."

josteink 13y ago
It may just be me, but it hardly seems constructive to be nitpicking on a gender-specific article in a sentence which would become convoluted if rewritten to use a gender-neutral form.
theandrewbailey 13y ago
This is one of the countless known bugs in the English language. You're welcome to try to fix it (the core developers died centuries ago), but the large userbase is unlikely to accept fixes.

ryanackley 13y ago

Maybe you're experiencing some residual anger from 10 years ago because Microsoft is nowhere near a monopoly anymore. You can buy a laptop loaded with Linux from Best Buy or Dell. Most creative professionals I know own Mac OS X laptops including myself. The Samsung Chromebook is the #1 sellng laptop on Amazon (or was a few months ago). Now if only IE would go in a corner and die...

diaz 13y ago

I agree on his one. For example in Portugal it's almost impossible to buy a computer with linux or no OS, you simply can't. Last time I asked about it and told them that if they sent the computer to the manufactor or if they contacted them they would sell it to me without OS, the seller simply told me that he can't sell the computer like that and that the pc + os are a package and there's no way to separate them. Recently I saw like 2 asus eeepc with ubuntu at shops, but that's it. Weak, small computers that almost nobody will buy and then they will tell the excuse "ohh, computers with linux don't sell". Simply stupid, I mean too damn smart for microsoft. Monopoly rules and still exists. Most people won't buy stuff from amazon or any other online shop, specially a computer that's something expensive and that if they have problems they can't simply go to the shop for maintenance. I think most people here live in a dream world when they say this kind of problem is solved. Please stop thinking only about how you see the world ( hackers that dominate technology and internet, living in 1st world countries ) and think how normal, granny type users live and experience the world. And I must laugh when people also say that ipad or mac computers are cheap enough for these users, seriously I don't know what to think... And sorry, I know I may be ranting a little but this must be said.