[SGVLUG] Learning to live with the "Micro$oft Tax"

[Emerson, Tom (*IC)]

OK, yes, first of all this is an April 1st posting

  -- To a linux group

  -- Espousing the "virtue" of buying Microsoft

     [when else could I publish this with a straight face? ;) ]

If you glance through the specs of the various "Lenovo S10[e]" configurations, you'll note that while there ARE some "linux" variants, it's actually cheaper to buy the microsoft version INSTEAD and either wipe the windows partition or plan on duel-booting  (I'm not sure if you can still get a "refund" of the [oem] value of the OS pre-installed on laptops, but from what I remember, the "OEM" value ends up being something ludicrous like $10 instead of the $100 they are charging "on the street")

Of course, this is a really close call -- the spec lineup is as follows [only the "differences" are being noted here:

Feature     4187-2NU      4187-ERU

Memory      1GB [max]     1GB [installed; 1.5GB MAX]
Storage     160GB HD      4GB SSD
OS          win XP home   SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
Bluetooth   yes           no
Price       $349          $379
Availablity Everywhere    Everywhere EXCEPT the U.S.

(ok, maybe that last isn't true if you manage to force your way to an order page to get the -ERU version, but in general it's not /offered/ here...)

This is a tough call -- for $30 less, you get 40 times the stable storage AND bluetooth, but other than that, these are identical units.

Does a 4GB "SSD" drive really cost that much more than a 160GB HD, bluetooth, AND a microsoft license?

I'll wait while you go "shopping" for 4GB "SSD" drive prices...

Ok, did you find the Lexar units for $5?   Yes, FIVE dollars

Did you figure out the "catch"?  [it's really just an express-pci/34 interface to USB with a 4GB usb memory chip all in the same package]

Does that matter?

(it might -- how many read/write operations is a typical "cheap" USB memory card rated for compared to active duty as the repository of the OS and/or userland files?)

But it also "might not" matter -- you see, one of the "features" of the s10 series is that it HAS a pci-express/34 port in the first place -- although "standard fare" on most actual /laptops/ nowadays, it's still very rare for /netbooks/.  I also found a site that claimed you can set the "boot device" to be whatever is on the pci-express/34 port, and with the above $5 card, boot linux instead of windows  [should you ever have to return it for "warranty" purposes, there would be zero evidence that you even HAD linux on it...]  [unless you put the swap on the actual HD, or formatted a large part of it as something other than NTFS...]

So, I propose in this "bailout" tax season to go ahead and buy the MICROSOFT-sponsered version of the hardware, take the "negative" tax break, and learn to live with the enemy :)

Yeah, like I said -- April Fools!