Robert Pogson

“After a little clicking around to compare different laptops, I ended up on a comparison page for the Vostro line. Naturally, I was drawn to the $299 priced laptop, when I noticed that there are 2 computers that differ only in the OS pre-installed, AND $70! This is the first time I’ve just naturally stumbled upon such a blatant exposure of the Windows tax.”

see The Raving Rick: Dell Vostro without Windows Tax.

It’s not an accidental find either. Dell makes it easy:

1. From www.dell.com, choose small and home office,
2. choose laptops and ultrabooks,
3. choose laptops Vostro,
4. choose Vostro 2420 and 2520, the lowest priced option, and
5. 15″:

See the tax? $70 for nothing. Don’t pay it. Make the choice of Ubuntu GNU/Linux. There’s still “Dell recommends Windows” at the top right but it sure seems smaller today.

It’s not all roses over at Dell, however. The Var Guy points out some inconsistencies still.

“Since the Oct. 26 launch of Windows 8, consumer notebook and desktop sales in the U.S. have fallen 21% compared to the same period last year, said Baker. Laptop sales were down even more — 24% year-over-year — while desktop numbers were off considerably less, just 9%.”

see Windows 8 brings zero 'pop' to consumer PC sales | ITworld.

USA gets ~20% of global PC shipments so this means M$’s revenue for the client division could take another big hit. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is buying smart thingies instead of PCs. Wintel is on a downwards trend. It’s about time retailers tried selling GNU/Linux on PCs at reasonable prices. Price matters.

“The virus is affecting not only high school and middle school students who received a laptop for the first time this year, but also devices at the district office and elementary schools.

That’s 50 schools and more than 25,000 computers. And here’s the ironic thing about it: The Lake Washington School District comprises the cities of Kirkland and Redmond, the latter, of course, being the hometown of Microsoft. Those laptops are all running on PCs with Windows 7.”

via Windows virus causing havoc for school district in Microsoft’s backyard – GeekWire.

There, you have it. The kind of thing I saw in several schools in the North of Canada running that other OS and bogging down IT to unusability. Folks there just did without until I showed them how to migrate to GNU/Linux. The folks in Washington state are hiring five IT guys to try to undo the damage. They won’t succeed. You cannot rewind the clock on everything.

I recommend Debian GNU/Linux, an OS that works for you and not for M$ and it’s malware “partners”.

Google Translation: “Over 12,000 urban PC workstations to work with the open PC workstation system Linux. The open source office suite OpenOffice.org communication are the employees of the City of Munich and used to work with LiMux has become routine.
Despite the long duration of the project, each new project milestone was followed by other municipalities and states with interest. And the interest is still undiminished.”

see Munich with over 12,000 PCs Running LiMux | Munich IT Blog: target achieved.

It did take a long time but they did break even by the time of the second avoided “upgrade” of that other OS. They didn’t break anything but dependency on M$. Congratulations, Munich!

In Linux it is often said that every device is a file. To most of us a file is something just there. The kernel boys and girls actually tweak the bits right down to the hardware to make the magic of a file somewhere becoming accessible to the system, mounting the file.

Last week, one developer found a recent version of Linux mounted files considerably slower than it usually did. He noticed because he mounted a lot of file-systems. When careful timing was done the difference was measured. Indeed mounts were an order of magnitude slower. By repeating the measurements for several versions and finally versions with and without certain patches/changes, the cause was found. Then discussion broke out about how to fix both issues, why the change had been made and how to do it differently.

In the process, coach Linus stepped in having noticed some perspective was missing. He quickly turned the pack around to solve the “real problem” and Linux now is as fast as ever and other problems have disappeared. Yeah team!

“It seems the recent kernel is slower mounting hard disk than older kernels.”

see LKML: Jeff Chua: Recent kernel "mount" slow.

Indeed, GNU/Linux is a cooperative product of the world with everyone contributing what they can and getting the job done. It’s the right way to do IT. In fact, I rarely mount much because I use my system for hours and only mount between session but I think it’s important that someone actually cares if IT slows down for any reason, unlike that other OS when M$ actually benefits when their OS slows down through use and folks buy a new one…

BTW, “here’s the comparison …

0.500s 3.7.0-rc7
0.168s 3.7.0-rc2
0.012s 3.6.0
0.013s 3.7.0-rc7 + synchronize_sched_expedited()
0.350s 3.7.0-rc7 + Oleg’s patch.”
That’s caring.

“Microsoft will make businesses pay 15% more for licenses that let workers access servers from as many devices as they want, which – depending on how workers do their jobs – may still be cheaper than the alternative.”

see Microsoft jacks up client license fees, but they may still be a good deal.

If some brute stood on the sidewalk and demanded $5 to pass, would that ever be a good deal? Nope. Not even in an emergency. The brute would just slow you down. If the guy charges $5 to go on the left side while he charges $7 to go on the right side, he’s not offering any savings. Call the police to arrest the guy. If M$ charges you any amount of money to access any number of devices (taxing your own LAN!) it’s never a good deal. Stop using M$’s stuff. The EULA on the client OS licence limits you to 15 devices, for pity’s sake. Don’t accept that. Don’t pay M$ to get around an obstacle M$ created.

Use Debian GNU/Linux. You can download it from here. The price is always the same, $0, and you can connect together as many devices as you want. You can turn your PC into a server or database, too, at no extra charge. In addition you can examine, modify, run and distribute the code.