[phaemon]

> and this right here...is the reason that Linux has always been consigned to the ranks of the also-rans on the desktop. Someone will always come up with a reason why flavour x is better than flavour y.

No it isn't. The number of people who don't use Linux on their desktop, simply because someone else commented on a forum that they preferred one distribution over another, is utterly negligible. In fact, the theory is just ludicrous!

[scholia]

But it does impact companies that might otherwise try pre-installing Linux. Whichever distro they pick, they lose 100% of the Windows market plus the 97%* of the Linux market who bitch about not getting their fave version.

* Made up number but I remember Acer shipping netbooks with Linpus Lite...

[drcube]

Not at all. I bought a System 76 laptop that came pre-installed with Ubuntu. But I don't like Ubuntu.

However, I knew that Linux ran on it out of the box, and that meant I could run Slackware without worrying about missing drivers, etc. Also, it was a great way to support a company that supports free software.

To me, a company that sells pre-installed Linux on decent hardware has my admiration and support, regardless of the distro.

[phaemon]

No, it does not impact companies that might pre-install Linux, unless they perform their market research by picking random anecdotes from web forums.

They lose exactly 0% of Windows market by offering another option in Operating System (in fact, I tend to avoid hardware that only does Windows as it tends to be crap, so it might actually be a gain).

If you remember people bitching about Linpus Lite because it wasn't people's favourite distro, you remember wrong.

[scholia]

Actually, it does, and I know this from talking to their senior managers.

Otherwise (1) you're being illogical and (2) my memory is accurate.