Is There An OS On My Hard Drive? 553
stm2 writes "Thanks to an agreement between Lindows and Seagate, from October you will be able to choose a hard drive with or without Lindows. Michael Robertson, in his usual marketing speak, compares this to adding "Fluoride in the water", because now you get for free something you used to need to go after (people used to go to dentist to get their Fluoride). According to the PR, the OS can autodetect and configure itself on the host machine."
Comment removed (Score:2, Insightful)
Might have hit the right market... (Score:5, Insightful)
If Lindows is easy enough to give a go it might last for a few days before being scrubbed (doesn't play game X)... but then the idea that Linux systems can do things pretty well will stick in the back of the mind for the next time they have to assemble a 'second machine' for general use in the house.
And this is aimed at who? (Score:3, Insightful)
with or without an Lindows
Silent L? Hmm...
At any rate, I have trouble seeing what Lindows is trying to accomplish with this move, outside of PR. Joe Sixpack will never buy his own drive, or at least his own system drive, and DIY people will, well, do it themselves. I'm sure it would be easier, and less failure-prone at that, to let OEMs install and configure for their hardware and then image their drives rather than hope that a preloaded OS on the HDD will work.
So, what's the point of this?
This is weird (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't think of a good reason that any of these situations would merit booting a default OS from a hard disk, rather than formatting it, and installing what you want.
The only people who might leave the Lindows OS on the hard disk are shops that build beige boxes, and don't want to burn a windows license to deliver a working computer. Maybe the mom and pop PC market is what they're after.
Not a bad thing... (Score:4, Insightful)
so quitcher bitchin
Plus for consumers this'll be "wow, no configuration, just plug the new drive in and the OS is there?" it's going to be great. Might even cause another mini-migration from windows for people who decide to get these drives.
But i could be wrong.
Prediction (Score:3, Insightful)
- 1 first post
- 5 complaints about the submitter's lack of English skills and/or the editors' failure to correct same
- 2 comments on how fluoride is not good for you
- 1 comment making a double entendre about "getting stuff for free"
- 1 Gentoo fanboy comment
- Exactly zero comments about the article itself
I predict that these proportions will be true for this article no matter how many comments it collects.
To clarify (Score:3, Insightful)
From the article:
Fifty-five percent of the computers sold today are "white boxes" meaning they don't carry a brand name. They are typically assembled by small to medium size companies.
s/OEMs/small to medium size companies/ in my previous post, and it still holds; unless these are really small companies, that only put out a few boxes a month or something, it'll still take not significantly more time and be more reliable to configure and image instead of using preloaded installers. Unless the companies in question have absolutely no computer expertise, and would Lindows really want to trust its reputation to such companies?
Why rip on them? (Score:3, Insightful)
Smart move. Good for PR at least. (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure, most people will format the software upon arrival. Sure, few people are going to convert to Linux because of a preloaded OS on the HD. BUT, it costs nothing. Nothing to Lindows, nothing to Seagate (they have to test the drives anyway, it's trivial to load some software), and nothing to the end-consumer.
At the very least, we shouldn't be dismissing this effort. It's another small step to bringing consciousness of Linux to the average PC user. Isn't that something we all want to bring some balance to the OS market?
Hmmm... (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, instead of asking, "Why should I over-right Windows? I have an OS that comes with my Dell!" People will say, "Why should I pay an additional $200 for Windows? I have an OS that comes with my hard drive!"
Re:Might have hit the right market... (Score:1, Insightful)
Michael Robertson sucks, and so does his sucky Lindows. As for Seagate, I'd rather they paid more attention to the declining warrantees and declining quality control on their IDE hard drives than on turning a little extra profit by using their drives as billboards.
Re:Unanswered question... (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyway, even if there is a cost, it seems clear that Lindows is paying it. Lindows isn't going to sell more hard drives, if anything it will sell less since people don't need the uber-GB that an XP install requires. So if Seagate isn't getting anything out of it, there's no reason for them to increase the cost to customers and hurt themselves in the market.
Rather, it makes sense they are selling this otherwise empty space to whoever wants to use it. Lindows gets a change to make a convert. If nothing else, its free advertising. Hell, if I buy a drive that comes pre-loaded I'd probably check it out for curiousity sake.
It's a smart idea. I predict that other hard drive makes make similar deals. What if someone decided to load the drive full of DRM music that people could just click-n-buy? Think about it...
- JoeShmoe
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Re:Prediction (Score:3, Insightful)
And rarely does any of the first 50 or so comments seem to come from anybody who has RTFA.
I found setting up my Slashdot preferences to show newest posts first best for me.
Its also why I have yet to mod a post "redundant", as I often do not make it to the very beginning of a thread.
Note to others.. never be discouraged from entering a late post thinking it will never be read. I get the idea the Slashdot gurus would not have provided that reverse-listing option unless it was pretty well used. The last posts entered into the forum are the first ones we see.
Generally, I find the very last posts of most of the Slashdot topics to be the most insightful of them all.
Re:Unanswered question... (Score:3, Insightful)
If you get a drive with or without lindows.. its still the same price..
Brilliant! Really! (Score:5, Insightful)
So the biggest problem Linux faces on the Desktop is the Microsoft-sponsored stranglehold on the industry.
Not only are OEMs strongly discouraged from installing Linux, they are usually contractually obligated not to install anything else!
So, Mr. Cowpland, making the best of a *bad* situation, goes one back in the supply chain - to the hard disk manufacturers!
Wow. Good thinking! No OEM contracts! Product delivered, ready for use!
I know, 90% of these preinstalls are going to be nuked. So what. If Lindows gets 1%, given the cost of duplication on the drives, this is a smashing success.
And, what else is he going to do? Knock Lindows as the orphan child of Linux, but, like Red Hat, this is clearly a positive commercial influence.
Re:Fluoride... (Score:5, Insightful)
Flouride as a preventative measure against cavities was first discovered by the dentists. Of course, the industry/government might be exploiting the situation, but I think the author of the linked article perhaps is paranoid to the irrational.
But pre-installed Lindows on hard drives sold seperately is an excellent idea
Re:Fluoride... (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes flouride is a poison, but it is also good for you in small doses, the kind of dose that they put in drinking water.
Re:Its absolute genius. Wait for the next MSblaste (Score:1, Insightful)
The cost factor...? (Score:1, Insightful)
Suppose the version packaged on Seagate drives is subsidised to $25 because there's no media, etc with it.
Suppose as many as one in ten users keep Lindows on their drive.
That means that the extra cost is only $2.50 per disk. Is that going to affect people's choice of drive so much? Most people use one brand and stick to it.
I think the reason could be to boost sales figures (Score:5, Insightful)
You know, much in the same way as it is argued that the real installed user base for Windows machines is actually lower, since OEM sales of boxen that are later re-formatted and Redhatized are also counted as Windows installations in industry statistics. So, every drive sold marks one unit of Lindows out there, whether it's DOA or not.
Good news. Good news..... (Score:5, Insightful)
Give people for free the stuff that you want them to at least try once. They they have to DO THINGS to get rid of it or change it. People are lazy, so at least some won't.
As to where will this end up? Well the small white-box assembly shops might be tempted to use the Lindows install on the drive to burn-in the computer. And leave it on if the customer didn't order a MicroSoft install. So the end users might end up seeing it. Great.
Some people buy a new HD, and will install it as the first drive, move the old one over. Bingo!
I installed two machines last week. They came with Seagate drives. Had a Debian based installation already been present, I'd just have upgraded that.
Re:Fluoride... (Score:3, Insightful)
and later...
In fact, IIRC, the effect of fluoride on dental care was discovered when someone (anthropologists?) realized that people in some regions had excellent teeth in spite of poor general dental hygiene.
You lost me there, maybe you don't "RC" after all. Okay, people were convinced that fluoride was good for [their teeth], does not mean it is. Fluoride in the water is a different kettle of fish. Okay maybe they've found prehistoric remains with great teeth, now show me someone living in a state with fluoridated water with excellent teeth despite no dental care.
Its not Seagate (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Formatting (Score:3, Insightful)
I wouldn't want my "blank" TDK cassettes with Plastic Bertrand pre-recorded on them.
Linux, and all the other options, chould be _chosen_.
YAW.
Re:Fluoride... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Fluoride... (Score:3, Insightful)
One aspect of what you say is true: People get more cancer now than 50 years ago. Maybe this is because people live MUCH LONGER now than 50 years ago, so they died of other causes before they were old enough to get cancer.
200 years ago no one got Alzheimer's either, but then again, most people died before they were 60....
Re:Fluoride... (Score:3, Insightful)
don't understand why i must drink what's in my toothpaste.
I don't understand the fundamental basis for gravity but I'm glad I don't float off into space while I try and work it out :-)
Cheers,
Toby Haynes