🚀 go-pugleaf

Bernd Paysan wrote in message <70fine$3gr$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
    [snip]
>> state of the market is now that Windows is all there is for PCs.  MS has
>> no reason to cut their pricing so long as there is no alternative.
    [snip]
>The competition of Windows doesn't have to compete on equal grounds. It must
>be just good enough. Linux' technical qualities are not what is needed by the
>unwashed masses. They want easy to operate computers. Linux needs to be just
>good enough in that field, and the price pressure of a $500 PC will do the
>rest. You barely get MS Office with OS for $500, so that's simply a
>showstopper. And M$ can't reduce their pricing that much.


Apparently Intel and Netscape may agree with Bernd's business case
analysis, since they just invested in Red Hat, the premier distributor
of Linux -- I'm not quite sure this is the first time Linux made it to the
hallowed pages of "The Economist", but I _am_ pretty sure it's the
first time "The Economist" tagged it as a direct, head-to-head competitor
product to Microsoft's OS's (nor did they fail to mention that somebody
in Redmond must be very _happy_ about Linux's emergence -- quite
a handy chance to ridicule accusations about Microsoft's "monopoly",
isn't it, if it's challenged so directly and powerfully on its home turf).

My local, and favourite, small computer shop, has a $500 PC for sale
today (actually a bit less, since it's barely more than $500 _including_ 
the 20% VAT we pay in Italy) -- the price-tag does *not* include any
software; Windows98 is an extra cost option, or, you can get it with 
Linux pre-installed for free (I guess the shop gets enough volume that 
they could afford to prepare a good installation once, then, just clone 
it for each new box sold, it being a fixed, known configuration).  No
science fiction, this -- today's business reality for one small shop
(admittedly quite close to one of the many university "hot-spots" in
a widely university-pervaded, "high-tech" middling-small city...).  The
shop owner did mention to me that they sell more of these with the
extra-cost Win98 than with any other option (free Linux, extra-extra
cost Win/NT, etc), but apparently each option makes enough volume
that it's still worth carrying (what I bought for my daughter came up
a bit more costly, as I think 32meg of RAM and 2.5 gigabytes of disk
would be a bit short-sighted to buy today, so I had it configured with
64megs/4.5gigs, larger/better monitor and video card, etc -- and,
sigh, Win98... she _does_ need/want the games, encyclopedias,
etc etc, commercially available mostly for Win32 setups).


Alex