Lenovo Will Sell Ubuntu Laptops In India 77
puddingebola notes the news, as carried by Tom's Hardware, that Lenovo will soon ship laptops preloaded with Ubuntu in India.
"The first of these systems will be the Lenovo Thinkpad L450, featuring only one of two CPUs, but the selection may widen over time and expand to other countries ...Overall, switching to Ubuntu reduces the system cost considerably. Currently, the standard L450 system with Windows 8.1 Pro utilizing a Core i3, 4 GB of RAM, and a 500 GB HDD costs 59724 INR ($943.02 USD). An Ubuntu version of the system with the same hardware specs, however, will only cost 48000 INR ($757.91 USD).
Xubuntu isn't so bad (Score:3)
Set sail for fail!
If you're referring to the perceived widespread dislike for the Unity desktop environment, it takes about four commands in a terminal to clear that up:
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Uhhh and how many of the average users that will end up buying these laptops will know the archaic terminal commands required to pull this off?
In India? A lot. Minds not as lazy, you see. But you're already off on a tangent. Configuring a decent, easy desktop environment and base system is the responsibility of the vendor. Of course as a user its always nice to know that you can reconfigure it any way you want, because that's just how debian->ubuntu is.
Automating the package manager (Score:3)
the simple changes require a fucking terminal and knowledge of a bunch of CLI
"Require" in what way? The first two steps can be done from Software Updater, and the last two from Ubuntu Software Center. It just takes longer to explain, takes longer to perform, and can't be automated through the clipboard. How would you recommend automating package acquisition and installation on your own favorite desktop PC operating system?
guess what your average user has pretty much no need of? If you said scripting and performing the exact same task the same way thousands of times, why you'd be right!
To me, certain system configuration tasks are "the exact same task the same way thousands of times", performed once on each of thousands of machines by each machin
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FTFY. Seriously, KDE is pretty smooth these days. Never mind that kmail fell down and can't get up, likewise anything that has anything to do with akonadi or ever did. Somehow, those epic fiascos don't seem to affect the experience much any more, and KDE has finally clawed its way back to where 3.5 was: you don't think about it, just do stuff, and it manages the windows without surprises and not a lot of configuring. Like 3.5 but prettier and a few creature comforts.
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I just can not like KDE or its derivatives. I am not a huge fan of Gnome either. I do like Cinnamon a great deal though and I seem to recall that it sort of forked off of Gnome. The KDE is just too... Well, it tries too much to be something it isn't or, maybe, something it should not be. It is hard to articulate and entirely subjective. I offer not one shred of evidence to claim one is better than the other - nor do I offer a suggestion that I insinuate such. Instead I simply prefer the Cinnamon environment
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Translation into non-technical language: "If you don't like Unity, you can try other desktop environments such as KDE Plasma and Xfce by installing them through Ubuntu Software Center." The difference is that Windows Store doesn't have alternative DEs.
I doubt the hardware is identical (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I doubt the hardware is identical (Score:4, Insightful)
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Some countries don't allow bundling or selling stuff under it's market value in order to prevent monopolies. In those cases, MS would have to sell Windows licenses at full price.
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Market value... very ambiguous. What is the actual market value of a product? The regular retail price? The cnf price (not really applicable to software which doesn't have shipping cost)? Or some wholesale price? All these prices one could argue to be "market value".
Of these, retail price would be the worst, as it would effectively lead to government-supported price fixing. Manufacturer states retail price as "market value" and all have to sell at that price.
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That is the point. You force the same price to everyone. I can't say as I think it's right but it might be the only way to deal with shit companies like microsoft.
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Still the question: what is "market value"?
Microsoft may simply say that the market value of a certain version of Windows (say a Laptop Edition) is $10 for a copy, and that this is to be sold pre-installed on hard disk only. Then they have the Full Version - this is sold to retailers at $100 a copy, in fancy box with CD, making the market value of this version at $100. It's easy to argue that this are different versions of the software. They may even add/remove functionality to these versions. Different pro
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The way it works in some European countries (at least it did ~10 years ago, don't know if the EU changed these rules), but you would have to sell the software with no further restrictions at a set price regardless of your customer.
Microsoft couldn't bundle or tie the software to a hardware or person; they couldn't sell just to a certain company or set of companies, they couldn't even limit the resale or number of times it was reinstalled on different machines (as long as it didn't exceed the licensed number
What's with the prices? (Score:2)
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High end laptop with low end hardware and mid end price might be something very desirable, though. Low heat and good cooling, good keyboard, good display (even if not very high res - a great 1600x900 would be about right), good hinges, good battery life (in last place because virtually everyone uses a laptop with the power supply plugged in)
And it's still closer to a video editing workstation than something to do word processing on. Though I'd like it better with 8GB RAM and 2TB HDD (or 4GB RAM and 2TB HDD)
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Microsoft tries really hard to get $100/machine from the vendors, I seem to recall a powerpoint leaked about that some years back. Anyway, there's also the Linux efficiency factor: you can just do a lot more with a Linux based machine than a MSFT one.
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I really can't think of a place where that is true really. I have yet to find something that I do on Linux that I can not functionally perform on Windows. I even have access to some of the Windows source. I can not read Windows source code. I can do that with Linux. I do not. That is not a function though. What can you not do on Windows?
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will they stop calling about my Windows machine? (Score:3)
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Hardly surprising there are more millionaires in India than in Russia, as there are many more peasants who can be ruthlessly exploited in India than in Russia and if fact try to do in Russia what you can get away with in India (in terms of what is charged to customers for workers labour compared to what is paid to workers for their actual labour and the working conditions they are forced to work in or starve) and you likely would be, prosecuted or killed. This is likely to make Russia safer for business th
India?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well when the hell are you going to sell Linux Thinkpads in the U.S., Lenovo? I had to settle for buying an x131e Chromebook and flashing the firmware.
And what is with this 'Cheaper alternative' nonsense? Last I checked, Linux users don't choose it because they are cheapskates; if anything they are more likely to buy higher end hardware
Disclaimer: I am fully aware that there is probably a higher demand in India, but I still had to rant.
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I don't think Linux users is the intended market here. It's more likely a move to get lower income people to purchase. They might keep linux installed or void the warranty and install some pirated windows version. When i say void the warranty, I mean disqualify the setup for support and make it difficult to get warranty support (because the diagnostic utilities don't run right in user supplied operating systems ).
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$750 laptops can't be aimed at lower-income people, especially in India. I've never paid as much as $750 for a computer in my life, my laptop was around $300 and my desktop around $250.
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You're getting really shit hardware for $250-300. Perhaps an ultraplastic piece of shit. Unless your idea of developing is using notepad to ponce around with small html files, you won't be doing any serious development on it.
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Not an Indian. But looking at the income numbers you mentioned, it seems that this is the market that can best be served by tablets, unless you happen to be a poor software developer who needs a full-blown Intel-based PC to do your stuff. Developers are the minority of minorities. I'm probably being economically biased here, but the more successful developers probably come from background that can afford to buy $300 computers (since developing good software requires some good education that requires $$$ as
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People doing development work on their laptop are a tiny minority in this world (/. is not representative for this world).
Most people use their laptop for browsing, e-mail (if not in the browser), playing a movie, organising their photos, and maybe typing a resume or so. That's about it. For those people, pretty low-end hardware will do just fine.
I've always gotten myself low-end (cheap) hardware. Last year's models. Doing fine, I can do all of the above (which is probably >90% of the time I spend with t
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But before laptops were cheap hardly anyone bought them. They became a consumer item about 10 years ago or so.
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And what is with this 'Cheaper alternative' nonsense? Last I checked, Linux users don't choose it because they are cheapskates
That's certainly supposed to be the idea, in fact cost shouldn't be the issue at all. End user funded development should be encouraged otherwise the majority of development comes from the corporate interests that pay for it. The consumer end is just driven by hobbyists.
Re: Microsoft needs a CEO (Score:1)
You're trolling right? The CEO of Microsoft is a native of India. He grew up there before moving to the US.
Pop-ups nagging the user to join a mailing list (Score:1)
No more nagging popups.
How did you accomplish that? I run Firefox in Xubuntu and still get nagging pop-ups [tabcloseddidntread.com]. And a lot of these are served from the same domain as the page, so hosts won't block them.
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Noscript, two adblockers, and requestpolicy or policeman.
And how easy would it be for a less-technical user to manage a NoScript whitelist?
Oh, and set your Firefox to block popups. Sounds like you must have disabled that.
These aren't "pop-ups" in the sense of opening new windows or new tabs; they're modal dialogs within the page.
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They struggle with it? It is usually a dialogue over the system tray. It does not even steal focus.
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As a DOS/Windows old timer I can set it up so it is very decent. In fact, a huge flaw of Windows Update is that it may get stuck and not install or offer updates, or fail to find them if you ask it to search.
If you come across a random Windows 7 laptop though, you pretty much should format it first because malware has rigged it so that trying to get rid of it is pointless (hell, you can even trigger countermeasures that will make the situation worse. And Windows Update might be disabled by the malware too)
I
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Which ubuntu flavor? Unity sucks unless you're only launching Firefox, LibreOffice and the file manager (which might be good enough for many people still).
For everything else the GUI requires you to type the program's name instead of selecting it from a menu. Which is braindead, especially if you don't know what's installed.
Seems a bit expensive (Score:2)
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I've been using Linux on the desktop for over 10 years. I've never had any problems. I'm able to do all the things I wanted to do. I've no headache with downloading drivers, failing security patches, antivirus software that makes my PC cripple as if it is a 20 years old PC that tries to run the latest software.
I just do whatever I need to do, and I do my work on my Linux desktop whenever I'm able to work from home. There is no problem with installing the latest development tools without getting nagged about licenses issues.
The year of the Linux desktop is already established. And even more, there is plenty of choice, and if you really want to keep running an outdated version of a distribution, what 'security' issues will you encounter by not upgrading?
Nope for me, and many others, Linux on the desktop is a long established fact.
I came here to say exactly the same thing.
You're probably right that Windows is the most sold operating system. But looking at the many cheap PC's out there that run Windows, they're aren't doing anything worthwhile. They just browse the internet and do some emails and stuff.
Most of which could be done just as easily using a tablet or phone.
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A tablet or phone, most likely running Android is the only thing worse than a Windows PC. The OS itself is malware.
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I've been using Linux on the desktop for over 10 years. I've never had any problems.
Sure... and my uncle is Santa Claus.
Re: I smell a fish here (Score:1)
My main gripe is that most users are given a laptop in order to use the latest and greatest from Microsoft: Office, SharePoint, Lync/Skype for business, Project. I hate laptops for work. They are expensive, generally slower, takes space from
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I installed fedora a few weeks ago, it did an upgrade instantly after install and never booted again, win
Ubuntu's Value is Now What They Can Do for Mint (Score:2)
Mint is the new Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is the new Fedora.
Fedora is the new Redhat.
Redhat is the new Novell Linux.
thousand bucks? jeez (Score:2)
you can buy a i3 HP with 6 gigs and a 720 gig hard drive for less than 400 bucks brand new... AT BESTBUY
why is this chunk of shit Lenovo so expensive
Top Packers and Movers (Score:1)