Re: [tlug] linux netbooks?

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

nigel barker writes:

 > I refuse to pay the MS tax

Why not do something that will make news, and accept the subsidy (by
recent accounts, the extra hardware you get for accepting MS is worth
more than the extra yen you pay), and then hold an installfest in the
store?  When they kick you out, explain to them (and the crowd) that
it's their margins, not your students, who suffer from the Microsoft
tax.  Then continue on the sidewalk (but watch out for Astroturfers
with katana!)

 > (no matter how cheap) and add numbers to their sales, especially on
 > multiple orders.  I had hoped there might be some enlightened PC
 > dealer in Tokyo who had managed to escape the MS blockade that the
 > rest of the country suffers.

Tokyo will be worse than anywhere else.  Tokyo is the place more than
any other where "安心価格" translates to "my retirement will be *very*
comfortable, thank you".  In Japan, the monopoly regulators are there
for the purpose of ensuring that nobody breaks the cartel.  The
current financial crisis may have the effect of somewhat accelerating
the demise of these customs, but they're still alive and well

Your main hope is the foreign mail-order companies, and even they have
to hide the fact that you can get bare metal in the server department
mostly.  And you'll pay for the privilege with generally less
convenient aftercare.