The Linux Extremist

Presumably, we’re moving into an era where Microsoft is going to play nicely; I believe this about as much as I would believe Madonna saying she was going to stop producing crap albums, but that’s what they say they’re going to do. Unlike Madonna, however, they’ve not only made this commitment, they did so in writing: in their recently announced “12 Principles”, they stated they were not going to penalise hardware manufacturers who install non-Microsoft software.

Terrific. The likes of Dell and HP should be able to poke their heads out and offer laptops with Linux on them. Or at the very least, they should be able to offer laptops without any operating system on it at all, which would be a very easy starting point. However, a month after Microsoft’s announcement, these laptops are proving difficult to come by. In fact, in some countries, one can’t find suitable hardware at all.

I may be a curmudgeon, but it goes against my principles to pay for an operating system I’m never going to use. I simply refuse to pay for a machine that has a Microsoft tax on it, no matter how hidden. Still, if one does a straw poll of major manufacturers, there’s little sign of freedom breaking out, particularly in the United Kingdom.

It really should not be that problematic; in addition to being devoid of an operating system, the hardware needs of a Linux / BSD user are fairly simple:

1. A PC should have an Nvidia graphics card, as ATI’s Linux and FreeBSD support is so dire, and…

2. In the case of laptops, wireless networking should be provided by an open source compatible chipset; Intel’s Centrino chipset is the most commonly used.

As near as I can tell from searching on Google, the number of UK hardware vendors accommodating this need is approximately zero. None. Bugger all. The closest is Novatech, who laudably have machines that come without any installed operating system, however their laptops either have the dire Intel Extreme Graphics (the only thing extreme about it in my experience is how awful it is) or again, the dreaded ATI.

One can get these machines from the United States; however, there is the rather prickly matter of customs duties, and of course, the United States and UK are two countries divided by different keyboards and power plugs. I’d really rather keep my £ key, thanks very much and not fry myself on your funny electricity.

What is frustrating about this situation is that it is a perfect market opportunity; surely some vendor can be clever enough to offer blank laptops that are ideally suited to those using Open Source operating systems. If not Dell or HP or Fujitsu Siemens, there should be at least one bright spark who realises that the rise of Open Source has presented a unique opportunity to satisfy a relatively well paid yet fussy market.

For the moment, the wait goes on. Perhaps it will take some time for the 12 principles to sink in. Perhaps the 12 principles are utter rubbish. Perhaps some entrepreneur is gearing up right now to accommodate this market space. But until this development occurs, it appears that too many of us are going to left be crying out, “Wherefore art thou blank laptop?”

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