Thou shalt keep windows on thy machines (was Re: [ILUG] Naive..etc.)

[paul at clubi.ie]

On Thu, 21 Jun 2007, Timothy Murphy wrote:

> Such as: Updating machine BIOS, and other firmware.

- FreeDOS. Indeed, didn't/doesn't one PC vendor even use FreeDOS to
   distribute bootable update floppy disk images?

- You can also update many eeproms from Linux (ask Padraig Brady).

- Some vendors even provide tools for Linux, such as Dell.

- Some vendors put 'system partitions' on their machines (Compaq,
   Dell), with a small bootable OS and various diagnostic and update
   tools. (It's usually DOS and/or Win3.1, but it could be any OS -
   the point is your machine has an OS-=independent, vendor-supported way to
   update ROMs that doesnt need more than a few tens of MB of disk
   space).

- Write your own firmware update. Ask the vendor for the procedure
   and write a utility for your own OS.

I'm sorry, but you're just making (rather poor) excuses.

> Testing if problem is in software or hardware, eg Skype works under 
> Windows XP for me, but not under Fedora-7. If I didn't test it 
> under Windows, I'd have no idea where the problem lay.

I dont know how to answer that one.

>> That all non-windows users must keep a windows partition around?
>
> Yes, unless you are a masochist.
>
>> That non-windows users can not use all of their hardware?
>
> No. What is the connection with the previous question?
> Or are you saying you can't spare any of your precious hard disk?

A (modern) windows install costs at least 1GB, doesn't it? That's 
more than 1% of many laptop disks, mine anyway, that could not be 
used normally.

> As I pointed out, if there _is_ a CD there may well be a question 
> on it which you have to answer in order to register with your ISP, 
> eg giving the password they gave you.

That'd be mad. I don't know of ISPs who do that.

>> The desire that it continue to remain possible to have a choice in
>> what OS to run is not zealotry.
>
> Surely you are the person who is trying to stop people having a choice ...

How exactly???? You're the one arguing that a windows-only ISP would 
be a perfectly fine thing.

Such ISPs are quite rare today, thankfully. So I really can't 
understand why you'd argue it would be acceptable (especially on this 
forum) for that to change.

regards,
-- 
Paul Jakma	paul at clubi.ie	paul at jakma.org	Key ID: 64A2FF6A
Fortune:
Hope is a waking dream.
 		-- Aristotle