| Acer, Asus and MSI all tried pre-loading Linux on netbooks. It caused them no end of pain and cost them loads of cash, so they mostly stopped. I did actually suggest to all three that they should combine and pre-load a common version of Ubuntu but they weren't interested. In 2008, in Taiwan, Asus's netbook boss Johnny Chen told me that part of the appeal of Linux was that they could control their own OS. However, at the time, they didn't know how much pain there was in getting Linux drivers for, for example, a couple of dozen USB modems to work with dozens of ISPs in 32 languages across 50 countries, or whatever. (I'm quoting from memory.) They also didn't know how much money they would lose trying to support Linux for non-technical buyers. Netbook prices included so little profit that every support incident put you deeper and deeper into the red. It was actually much cheaper and more profitable for them to install XP ULCPC than to install Linux. With XP they got marketing support (money!) from Intel and Microsoft plus cash-in-hand for installing crapware. They also knew just about every new peripheral in the universe would work out of the box, and that if it didn't, most buyers would get support from friends, the people next door, the IT guy at work etc. So maybe they're not actually as silly as you imagine ;-) |