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Comment by chrisseaton | Hacker News Reader

> A vast number of users use their computers to check email, look up things on the web, and type up an occasional document.

Yeah... so why do they need to switch to Linux to do that? Windows can already do those things fine.

Is Linux cheaper? Computers without Windows seem to cost the same as computers with Windows. And the actual cost to the OEM is probably something petty like $50 so it's not really an issue.

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Yes Linux is cheaper because you do not need to change your computer as often. It is also cheaper because you spend far less time for system administration. Since may 2017 (when I bought my last computer), I have a dual boot windows/ubuntu. I use windows around 5 minutes each month for a single application. I have lost far more time in administrative tasks on windows than on linux: on linux all updates happen in background. On windows, computer was stuck during hours incrementing a percentage.

> It is also cheaper because you spend far less time for system administration.

This is highly dependent on how much experience one has with Windows and Linux, as well as the specific workload the computer is running.

I've had both Linux and Windows installations that always worked without any issues. I've also had both Linux and Windows installations that break on a weekly basis.

Dell will reduce the price of many of their computers by $101 if you select Ubuntu instead of Windows.

As much as people spend on training and support, I doubt that is enough to get many people to switch.

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