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Comment by michael_dorfman | Hacker News Reader

That's what passes for a "smoking gun" these days-- that somebody says they were frightened?

I enjoy PJ and Groklaw, but this time's she's really over-stepping.

If I say my horse is faster than yours, and you says yours is faster, and we let our horses race around the track, that establishes the point. But if you shoot my horse, that leaves questions in the air. Is your horse _really_ faster? If so, why shoot my horse?

Except that in this case, nobody shot the horse. One of the jockeys got scared that somebody was going to shoot the horse, used that as an excuse to pull out of the race. Not quite the same thing, smoking-gun-wise.

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So you explain it better. Why can't I get a Linux "netbook" with the same configuration as a Windows "netbook" ?

That does tend to be annoying. A lot of times certain hardware configurations aren't offered, even though there are mature drivers for the hardware in question.

Still, it's better than five years ago.

Probably it's a question of support. Supporting a given config costs money. While I never called Acer's for the Ubuntu I use on my netbook, it's fair to say I am not a typical user.

That said, the netbooks in question not only don't come with Windows, they are as Windows-proof as can be.

I'd be content with zero-support[0] PCs sold without any OS. At a guess, some 5% of the market would go for that, including most Linux users as well as many Windows power-users who have a wipe-before-use policy on store bought PCs.

[0] There would still be a hardware warranty.

It's still cost until you discover the hardware problem was not a hardware problem.

As much as I love Linux, I recognize there is a legitimate reason to bundle Windows with many models - the support and remote diagnostics infrastructure is already deployed whereas with Linux OEMs would have to build one. It would be a better one, of course, but with the razor thin margins they operate, they may not be able to afford it.

Seems perfect for a startup: a linux support group that supports all flavors and geared toward the newbie/non-hacker computer users.

I think the percentage should be bigger. Besides the obvious powerusers, most companies do their IT in-house...

Having called support in my life very few times, and having received the answers I did, I have come to the conclusion that it is a waste of time to even consider calling. I have a hard time imagining what people see in tech support and how they help.

Most people who call tech support do so in lieu of reading documentation, rather than because something they know how to operate isn't working properly.

How is it any better?

For a brief period Asus offered better Linux models than Windows ones (for example a 20gb SSD instead of an 8gb SSD, for the same price).

Now that seems to have changed, sadly.

hm ... I understand your point but I'm wondering if it is splitting hairs since Microsoft has shot such horses in the past (for example, Dell) so the "fear" is not totally unjustified.

I agree, but justified fear is still different than a "smoking gun". PJ is spinning this as "the definitive proof of improper behavior by Microsoft with regards to netbooks", when it is no such thing.

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